Submitted story: Cape County Castaways impress with seventh place finish

Carbondale, IL -- Southeast Missouri's newest USA Swimming team, the Cape County Castaways, has wasted no time in its climb to the upper echelon of regional swimming competition.

At the 2012 Ozark Long Course Championships, held July 27-29 at the Shea Natatorium on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, 13 Castaway swimmers combined to score 481 points. The total was good for a 7th place team finish. Two St. Louis powerhouse programs, the Flyers Aquatic Swim Team ("FAST") and Parkway Swim Club, battled it out for the championship; FAST secured the team title on the last day of the meet. Nineteen teams from Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois competed in this season-ending championship meet.

Although the Castaways won only one individual event (Kyleigh Troxel's victory in the 800m Freestyle), the team managed to rack up serious points by making full use of its depth. Each of the 13 Castaways competing proved to be a valuable piece of the puzzle; through relays, individual events, or both. "I could not have been more proud of our team's overall performance," Head Coach Steffan Troxel noted. "We have a long way to go to get to where we want to be as a team, but we are in a very, very strong position after only eight months. Our swimmers are quickly developing a reputation in the area as scrappers, racers, and fierce competitors. They are motivated to continue building on what they have started."

The Castaways will now be taking a well-deserved week off before resuming practices on Monday, August 6. The first few weeks of practices will focus exclusively on stroke technique work and analysis; then, the team will begin to turn its attention to its first fall competition, the Paducah (KY) Swimfest (Sept. 21-23).

New swimmers (ages 6-18; the team has several different groups of various ability levels) are always welcome on the Cape County Castaways. A one-week free trial is available. For more information, contact Head Coach Steffan Troxel at stroxel@smu.edu or (573) 837-3681.

Individual Results (Top 20 Finishes):

Hobbs, Allison (15 & Over Girls): 6th, 200m Backstroke (2:34.90); 14th, 100m Backstroke (1:13.69)

Hobbs, Austin (13-14 Boys): 3rd, 800m Freestyle (9:32.04); 5th, 200m Freestyle (2:13.34); 5th, 400m Freestyle (4:39.06); 6th, 200m Breaststroke (2:55.62); 8th, 200m Individual Medley (2:31.64); 9th, 200m Butterfly (2:35.04)

Kiefner, Elizabeth (15 & Over Girls): 13th, 50m Freestyle (30.08); 13th, 200m Breaststroke (3:16.64); 14th, 100m Breaststroke (1:31.43)

Parsons, Dustin (15 & Over Boys): 7th, 100m Butterfly (1:02.69); 7th, 200m Butterfly (2:21.26); 11th, 100m Backstroke (1:08.33); 13th, 400m Individual Medley (5:11.11); 14th, 200m Backstroke (2:26.37); 14th, 200m Individual Medley (2:29.81); 15th, 100m Freestyle (1:00.68)

Pujol, Jacie (11-12 Girls): 12th, 400m Freestyle (5:34.06); 17th, 200m Freestyle (2:38.31)

Troxel, Kristian (15 & Over Boys): 2nd, 100m Butterfly (59.98); 2nd, 200m Butterfly (2:11.16); 2nd, 200m Individual Medley (2:16.02); 3rd, 400m Individual Medley (4:45.59); 6th, 100m Backstroke (1:05.79); 7th, 50m Freestyle (26.25); 7th, 100m Breaststroke (1:14.55)

Troxel, Kyleigh (15 & Over Girls): 1st, 800m Freestyle (9:18.73); 4th, 400m Freestyle (4:36.49); 4th, 400m Individual Medley (5:22.24); 6th, 200 Individual Medley (2:36.95); 7th, 200m Freestyle (2:15.35); 15th, 100m Freestyle (1:05.77)

Voss, Jackson (15 & Over Boys): 15th, 800m Freestyle (9:45.14); 16th, 400m Freestyle (4:39.08); 17th, 100 Backstroke (1:11.36); 19th, 200 Backstroke (2:28.46)

Relay Results (Top 10 Finishes):

11-12 Girls 400m Freestyle Relay (Allie Pujol, Allison McDonald, Carly Pujol, Jacie Pujol): 10th (5:24.72)

15 & Over Girls 800m Freestyle Relay (Madeleine McDonald, Allison Hobbs, Elizabeth Kiefner, Kyleigh Troxel): 7th (10:01.07)

15 & Over Girls 400m Medley Relay (Allison Hobbs, Elizabeth Kiefner, Kyleigh Troxel, Madeleine McDonald): 8th (5:15.45)

15 & Over Boys 400m Medley Relay (Jackson Voss, Kristian Troxel, Dustin Parsons, Ethan Pobst): 6th (4:36.30)

15 & Over Boys 400m Freestyle Relay (Kristian Troxel, Ethan Pobst, Dustin Parsons, Jackson Voss): 6th (4:04.41)

15 & Over Boys 800m Freestyle Relay (Ethan Pobst, Jackson Voss, Dustin Parsons, Kristian Troxel): 7th, (9:04.58)