Sports : VS-Union swimmers take second in quadrangular meet; set new records

Lizzie Moore, Emily Levis, Natalie Tecklenburg, & Amanda Cardenas cheer on Arabella Shepard as she swims to break the 100 backstroke pool record Lizzie Moore getting off the blocks to a great start of her 200 freestyle race, directly after swimming in the meet-winning medley relay. Arabella Shepard broke a 16-year-old VSU team record in the 500 yard freestyle - a record her coach, Ashley Hesson had actually held until last week , as the Vinton-Shellsurg/Union girls swim team finished second while competing against teams from larger schools. "I love being able to now coach the team breaking the records, instead of being the one in the water for it." Hesson says. "Arabella then went on to swim an amazing 100 backstroke - and set a new pool record for the Waterloo Central location (as well as a new VSU school record)." The VSU medley relay of Lizzie Moore, Natalie Tecklenburg, Shepard, and Geordyn Webster won the event and set a new meet record by more than 4 seconds. "Like in our two previous meets, every girl scored points for our team," said Hesson. "When our swimmers hit the water, they make it count. They are mentally tough enough to swim an event well, then get right back out and swim again in the next event - and still do well. Larger teams don't have to deal with that challenge - they take the starting blocks rested and fresh - but we're handling it very well. We train for short recoveries after hard efforts, so we're ready to do it in meets. I think the girls are starting to realize they can hang with these bigger schools. We're making those schools take us seriously - VSU is a force to be reckoned with." The girls compete twice this week, at Williamsburg tonight (Monday Sept 11) and Thursday at Grinnell. See the complete results HERE: 3rd annual waterloo trohawk invitational