The Aquahawks helped head coach Paul Winkeler extend his perfect record at the In-League Championship (ILC) to 24-0, winning the two-day swim and dive event on Nov. 3 and 4 by more than 125 points. Rockhurst scored 517 points. The next closest was Pembroke Hill with 390.
The ILC features 11 teams from the Kansas City area. For some of the schools, the meet caps their season. For Rockhurst, a dominant program on the state level for most of Winkeler’s 24-year tenure, it’s a chance for swimmers to hit times that qualify them for the state meet. For that reason, Rockhurst typically has their junior varsity team compete, while every other team sends their varsity.
Despite that, the Aquahawks controlled most individual events. The most vivid examples of this were in the 200 and 500 freestyle, each of which ended with four of the top five finishers hailing from Rockhurst.
One swimmer who placed in both of those was sophomore William Bell. He finished second in the 200 (1:52) and third in the 500 (5:11)–competing against the other schools’ top swimmers–even though he swam JV for the majority of the season. Both of Bell’s times were new personal records for him. His 1:52 in the 200 was even good enough to qualify him for state.
“That felt good… I was happy about that,” Bell said.
Despite the impressive performance at ILCs, Bell still feels like he has more to give, which he’s hoping to show at state.
“I can do better. Lowkey, I know I can,” Bell said.
Another swimmer with an impressive drop was sophomore Jack Messick. After being on the fringe for state for most of the year, Messick qualified and set himself apart from the pack by dropping 16 seconds to finish with a 5:08 in the 500. Messick earned himself a silver medal, which he recognized he had to do.
“I knew I had to go into that with the mindset to win, and that’s what I did,” Messick said.
This is a big step up for Messick after last year, when he didn’t earn a varsity letter. After the disappointing end to last season, he put in the effort in the offseason to get to where he is now.
“It shows me that … hard work does pay off and … if you really want it, then you can get it.”
For freshman swimmers, this was their first experience with ILCs. One of the most impressive among them was Davis Foster. He placed second in the 200 individual medley (IM) with a time of 2:10, good enough to qualify for state. Foster says he’s excited for the opportunity and has high expectations for it.
“It feels great. I really hope we’re able to win.”
Even though Foster has swam at championship meets for his club team, he acknowledges that there was something special about this one.
“It felt like there was a lot of weight on my shoulders … trying to make it to state,” Foster said.
This meet was also important for assistant coach Sayf Nabulsi. Nabulsi was a former Rockhurst swimmer, and this was his first year as the main coach of the junior varsity lanes. His swimmers comprised most of the ones competing at ILCs.
“It’s always a great feeling being able to see the culmination and the fruit of the swimmers’ labors,” Nabulsi said.
“For example, William Bell managed to already have a really good swim about three four weeks ago … and then he dropped even more time at ILCs to actually qualify and go to state,” Nabulsi continued. “Seeing that and and actually genuinely having a hand in his improvement and his growth in his swim career actually does feel really fulfilling.”
Even though Pembroke seemed to hang what some might have felt was a little too close for comfort to Rockhurst, Nabulsi says he wasn’t worried about anyone but the Aquahawks.
“It’s not really that I’m ever scared or fearful that we’re ‘not going to win,’ it’s just that I value the results of the boys in the pool–like their individual races–more than I value the team points,” Nabulsi said.
“At the end of the day, it’s really more about the boys, and I guarantee you if the boys swim well enough–like how we’ve trained them to and how they want to… any team can do whatever they want and we’ll still win.”
Overall, Rockhurst got six new state qualifiers at ILCs, bringing the total number of Aquahawks swimming at state to 19. Those swimmers will all look to build off the momentum from ILCs, as well as a strong regular season, going into the Missouri Class 2 State Tournament, which will be on Nov. 14 and 15 in St. Peters.
