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Highlands Today

He's Going The Distance

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Lake Placid sophomore Kevin Smit finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and took second in the 100-butterfly in the district meet in 2008.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: December 30, 2008

LAKE PLACID - The sophomore jinx is something that can creep up on any athlete that has an explosive debut, but that subliminal virus never took hold of Lake Placid's Kevin Smit this season.

The LP sophomore shrugged off any sort of pressure and truly dedicated himself to his sport, which showed in his continued progression as one of the top swimmers in the region.

"Kevin's technique has improved so much since last year and I think that a number of records could be in his hands before he's done at Lake Placid," said former LP swim coach Cindy Rivers. "His work ethic in and out of the pool is one of the reasons he's special as a swimmer."

Green Dragon swim coach Tom Creel believes that Smit's competitive spirit and will to improve kept him from falling into the pit of high expectations after such a strong beginning as a freshman.

"Kevin's attitude is what really drove him to continue to improve," Creel said. "Some swimmers are content to do only what naturally comes to them, but the true athletes always want to push themselves and Kevin kept pushing and made a huge splash again - this time at the regional level."

Smit turned heads at the Class 1A regionals this season by placing seventh in the 100-yard butterfly, where he posted a 59.56 in the preliminaries before finishing with a 1:00.64 in the finals.

"I kept working on honing my stroke and making sure I kept improving my time," Smit said. "The competition at regionals was amazing, but it also showed me that I have a long way to go to get where I want to be in the pool."

For his top-10 finish at regionals, his leadership and strong work ethic in and out of the pool, Smit has been named the 2008 Highlands Today All-Heartland Boys Swimmer of the Year.

The LP distance specialist won the district title in the 200-yard individual medley (2:19.59) and took second in the 100-fly while breaking the one-minute mark (59.81) in the event for the first time ever, which is a huge accomplishment for any swimmer.

"I know breaking the 'magic' minute in the 100-fly was a huge goal of Kevin's and we didn't think he would do it this season because he wasn't swimming his best heading into districts," Creel said. "But Kevin found another gear and it was so amazing to see him break it at districts and best it again at regionals.

"It is a huge accomplishment to place in the top ten in as tough a region as Lake Placid is in," Creel said. "And to do that as a sophomore is a testament to the dedication and desire that Kevin has shown."

Smit, who competed with the Highlands Hurricanes over the summer, also earned first place finishes as a member of the Green Dragon 200-yard medley relay (1:56.46) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:45.09) teams.

Creel has faith that the best is yet to come from Smit.

"He's just coming into his own," Creel said. "He'll be even better next season after another summer working with Marvin Wolfe. I have no doubt that we'll be seeing his name on the record board before his career at Lake Placid is over."

THE TEAM

Mitchell Guerndt, freshman, Avon Park - Setting a goal of breaking a 16-year old record is a brash move for a freshman, but Guerndt has the determination that just might get him there before he leaves the pool as a Red Devil.

"I wished I had broken it during my freshman year, but I know that I am on the right track and I made some major improvement in the pool this season," Guerndt said. "I have no doubts that the record will be mine before I'm finished."

The record in question is a time of 1:12.09 in the 100-breast which was set by Dale Heiring back in 1992.

Guerndt swam a personal best 1:20.23 at districts to qualify for regionals as a freshman and improved his time by nearly eight seconds since the beginning of the season.

"I think he's got the drive and the talent to break that record," Avon Park coach Quinlan Wolfe said. "But it's going to have to take a lot more hard work and hours in the pool to drop that kind of time."

Bryan Kirsch, senior, Sebring - An extremely versatile swimmer, Kirsch went out with a bang by qualifying for regionals in three events and was one of the tops in the breaststroke in the region.

Kirsch took the gold at districts in the 100-breast (1:07.30) and was fourth at regionals as he improved on his season best time (1:05.18) during his senior season.

The Sebring senior also placed second as a member of the Streaks 200-medley relay and fourth in the 200-free relay - both were regional qualifiers.

Robert Greene, junior, Lake Placid - Following in the wake of a swimmer like record-holder Michael Wilkes is never an easy task, but Greene took on the challenge and showed that he's every bit the competitor as his predecessor.

"Robert has come a long way the past two years and I think he's another swimmer people should keep an eye on," Creel said. "We didn't get the kind of finish we wanted, but Robert was a very consistent swimmer this season and I think he'll be even better next year."

Shoulder injuries limited Greene in the later stages of the swim season, but the LP junior still finished with a second place finish (54.11) in the 100-free and third (23.93) in the 50-free, while earning a pair of first place finishes as a member of the 200-medley relay and 400-free relay squads.

Brian Miller, sophomore, Sebring - Miller showed amazing improvement during his sophomore season and will surely take Kirsch's spot as the top breaststroker for the Streaks, as he placed third at districts in the 100-breast (1:10.03) to qualify for regionals, where he dropped three seconds off his time.

Miller also finished sixth in the 100-fly (1:06.60) while earning a second and a fourth place finish in the 200-medley and 200-free relay teams, respectively.

Tyler King, junior, Avon Park - King showed a solid improvement this season and Avon Park coach Michael Scofield has high hopes heading into his senior campaign.

"Tyler has all the potential in the world and we're going to work on helping him realize that potential," Scofield said. "He's also one of the leaders on this young team and I hope kids see Tyler as an example and follow in his footsteps."

King finished with a season-best 2:18.85 in his signature event - 200-free - earning him a trip to the regional finals.

Dylan Weber-Callahan, sophomore, Lake Placid - As Creel put it, Weber-Callahan is a 'student of the pool' when asked about the super sophomore, who made it to regionals in only his second year in the deep end of the varsity swim team.

Weber-Callahan won the district title in the 200-free (2:06.88) and placed second in the 100-backstroke (1:09.20), while placing first as a member of the 200-medley relay and 400-free relay teams.

"Dylan is a tremendous young man, who has a wealth of potential ahead of him," Creel said. "It is amazing on how far he's come after being new to competitive swimming as a freshman. He could barely get across the pool last year and now he's swimming with the fast kids.

"What I like most about Dylan is his incredible attitude and eagerness to get better. He's always looking for constant improvement. I can't wait to see what's in store for him next year."

Josh Heflin, junior, Sebring - With his impressive times in the freestyle events, Heflin has made his mark as one of the top sprinters in the Heartland and a swimmer to watch next season.

Heflin posted a season-best time of 55.28 in the 100-free and narrowly missed a trip to regionals in that event, but did punch his ticket with a time of 24.68 in the 50-free, while placing second and fourth as a member of the 200-medley and 200-free relay teams.

Matthew Vickers, senior, Sebring - The Sebring senior instilled a veteran presence that the Blue Streaks needed to provided stability on a very young squad.

Vickers improved his time in the marathon of swimming events - 500-free - and dropped his time to 5:41.78 to become a regional qualifier, while taking the first leg in the 200-medley and 200-free relay teams.

Michael Trujillo, senior, Lake Placid - Trujillo may not have been a superstar for Lake Placid, but the Green Dragon senior proved that he was as dependable a swimmer as you could have in this individual team sport.

"Michael was a strong swimmer and very supportive in helping to develop our young kids," Creel said. "He loved the breaststroke and he made a run at the record books, but came up a bit short. That shouldn't take away from all that he's done as a representative of Lake Placid."

Trujillo placed second (1:14.53) in the 100-breast and third (1:47.70) in the 200-free and was a member of the district champion 200-medley relay team.

COACH OF THE YEAR

In displaying the dedication, perseverance and passion needed to guide a very young Green Dragon squad to the upper echelons of the region's swimming community and leading 12 individual swimmers to the regional finals, Lake Placid's Tom Creel has been named the 2008 Highlands Today All-Heartland Swim Coach of the Year.

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5837 or choffman@highlandstoday.com

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