Independence denies Hurricanes' bid for 10th consecutive league title

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Fort Scott Hurricanes Assistant Coach Jared Leek (far left) and Head Coach Tim Free (far right) stand with SEK Swim Meet award winners Rylan Mason and Nicholas King at the team's banquet Monday night. Mason scored the most individual points of any swimmer in the girls' 6-and-under "A" Division while King accomplished the same feat in the boys' 9-10 year-old "A" Division. (Submitted photo)

CHANUTE -- The reigning Southeast Kansas Swimming League champion Fort Scott Hurricanes traveled to Chanute Saturday as underdogs in the league meet for the first time in 10 years.

Independence emerged victorious nipping the 9-time defending champion Hurricanes by a narrow 41-point margin. The Hurricanes battled for 12 hours under the blazing sun in 100-degree-plus temperatures. Erie, the meet host, used Chanute's new water park as the site for the 2011 League Meet.

Independence finished with a total of 2,799 points, Fort Scott was a close second with 2,758 points, Coffeyville third with 2,162.5 points, Chanute fourth at 2,054, Cherryvale fifth with 1,324, Iola sixth at 1,015.5, Erie 867 and finally Humboldt with 736 points.

The Fort Scott Hurricanes pose for a team photo during their banquet at Buck Run Community Center Monday night. The team finished second in the Southeast Kansas Swimming League Meet at Chanute Saturday. (Ruth Campbell/Tribune)

The Hurricanes entered the meet having won all their dual meets again this season. They have not lost a dual meet in 10 years, defeating Independence in their own pool in June. But Indy proved too much for the 'Canes in Saturday's league meet.

The champion Hurricanes knew going into the league meet there were very strong individual swimmers on other SEK League teams that would steal points from Fort Scott's team. That ended up being the difference.

Other league teams from Chanute, Cherryvale, Coffeyville, Erie, Humboldt, and Iola had enough individual talent to capture some key individual races taking team points away from Fort Scott. Of note, there were also some very talented year-round swimmers from Parsons that had come to swim with Cherryvale. That made things even more challenging for the defending champs. Independence and Coffeyville's teams also swim year-round, which has greatly improved their respective teams over the last several years.

One Coffeyville parent had wondered, in conversation with a Fort Scott parent at the league meet, how the Hurricanes are able to have such good teams perennially when they don't swim year-round? First, the Hurricanes have exceptional coaches. Secondly, the Hurricanes have extraordinary parental support.

Head Coach Tim Free is a former standout collegiate swimmer. Assistant Coaches Jared Leek and his sister, Jennifer Sinn, are both former standout Hurricanes.

Swim team parents are committed to getting their swimmers to each early morning practice and each weekly meet throughout the summer.

Lastly, the Hurricanes' culture of hard, consistent work pays off annually. A successful program like the Hurricane swim team breeds more success. Yearly, new swimmers to the team learn from the seasoned Hurricanes what it takes in commitment and preparation to maximize their potential. The coaches guide everyone through this process. This process promotes more cohesiveness, team spirit and desire to win.

Bryce Hinde, a local Hurricane swimmer, is a good example of excelling and being her best. She has been competing on the national level the last couple of years swimming for the Kansas City Blazers club as well. She wanted to be with her teammates and attend the league meet. A prior commitment swimming at the University of Missouri Saturday kept her from attending. She has several NCAA Division I colleges seeking her talents with college scholarship offers for next year.

There were individual swimmers excelling at the League meet for the Hurricanes this year. Rylan Mason was a strong performer winning the A "high point" trophy this year in the girls 6-and-under division. Nicholas King won his fourth straight A "high point" trophy for the Hurricanes this year in the boys 9-10 division.

Other individuals honored were Spencer Goldston, boys 6-and-under B division "high point" plaque recipient and Kelsie Nelson, girls 11-12 B division "high point" individual plaque recipient.

There were many other outstanding individual performances too numerous to mention for the Hurricanes during the course of Saturday's meet.

Yearly one of the finer achievements comes from those retiring Hurricanes that have exhibited their commitment to team participation over the years. This year Pierce Rienboldt is a senior and 18 years of age, making him ineligible next year. He has been a dedicated Hurricane swimmer since age 7 for the Hurricanes, making strong team contributions over the years.

Cynthia Michael is another swimmer that made her last appearance as a Hurricane this last weekend. She has made contributions to the Hurricanes team effort as well. Both Rienboldt and Michael will be greatly missed.

The Hurricanes had a number of swimmers with personal situations and other activities conflicting with Saturday's meet, swimming only 65 of their 77-member team at the league meet. In total, 426 athletes participated in the day-long meet, which began at 9 in the morning and ended just before 9 that evening. There were a total of 2,461 entries filling the 144 events.

The Hurricanes will look forward to the 2012 season striving to recapture the league championship. Hurricane parents will hold their annual organizational meeting to plan for the 2012 season next spring. Any and all interested youth in the area are welcome to become a member of this fine organization. The Hurricanes hope and expect there will be even more support and enthusiasm toward competitive youth swimming with the completion of Fort Scott's new aquatic center in 2012.