Swim to win

Summerlin Seals take first place at All-Star event

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The Summerlin All-Stars proved they are a force to be reckoned with in the pool after winning the All-Star Swim Meet on Aug. 13 at Pavilion Center Pool in Summerlin, defeating the city of North Las Vegas, the city of Las Vegas and Mesquite.

The team, a combination of meet qualifiers from the Summerlin Seals youth recreational roster -- a team which was founded just three years ago -- edged out second-place finisher North Las Vegas by nine points, 534-525, to bring home the team's first win at the annual event. The city of Las Vegas (202 points) finished third and Mesquite (71) fourth at the meet.

Coach Mike Armstrong, who has been the Seals only coach since their creation in 2003, was ecstatic at the accomplishment.

"I was more excited for the kids than anything else," Armstrong said.

Armstrong, who studied physical education at UNLV where he was recruited to play football, told how he came to be the Seals coach.

"My background is with the city of North Las Vegas," Armstrong said. "I worked over there as a lifeguard manager, aquatics supervisor and aquatic coordinator for 15 years. That's kind of how I got my start in aquatics. When they opened up this company, I helped them coordinate a lot of their programs and then when they actually got this pool here, The Trails, I started pushing them to get a swim team going. That's how it fell into my lap."

Armstrong said he's surprised his team -- which finished second in the meet last year and trains at The Trails Community Pool in Summerlin -- has risen to the top in such a short period of time.

"To be honest with you, I didn't think it would take off like this," Armstrong said. "I'm proud of all of my kids."

The Seals started with around 35 swimmers in their inaugural year -- nine of which are still on the team -- and have grown to 117 in just three years.

The all-star team of Seals had 27 first-place finishes, 14 second- and third-place finishes, 24 fourth-place finishes, 10 fifth-place finishes, four sixth-place finishes, three seventh-place finishes and one eighth-place finish. Every place ended up mattering for Summerlin, which narrowly topped the always strong representatives from North Las Vegas.

In girls 8-and-under events, Summerlin's Annie Trafton won the 25-meter butterfly with Morgan Calder finishing fourth; Madison Roberts took the 25-meter backstroke with Payton Arnold coming in second; Annie Trafton also won the 25-meter breaststroke with Hailey Houck finishing fifth; Madison Roberts also won the 25-meter freestyle with Trafton taking second; and Madison Roberts took her third event in the age group by winning the 100m Intermediate Medley.

In boys 8-and-under events, Daniel Mortenson won the 25 butterfly with Aidan Kennelley finishing second; in the 25 backstroke, Neilson Licos came in first with Ryan Krohn fifth; Jack Bannon won the 25 breaststroke, earning Summerlin 20 points with the win; in the 25 freestyle, Krohn was fourth and Bannon fifth; and in the 100-meter individual medley, Daniel Mortenson came in second place with Logan Houck taking fourth.

In girls 9-10 events, Summerlin's Jackie Hammel won the 50-meter butterfly with Zan Rafie two seconds back in second place; Rafie also took fourth in the 50-meter backstroke with Emily Yagihashi finishing second; Rafie won the 50-meter breaststroke with Remy Scholossberg finishing fifth; Hammel won the 50-meter freestyle with Kelsey Marks finishing seventh; and in the 100-meter individual medley, Rafie was again the winner with Hammel taking third place.

In boys 9-10 events, Forrest Allen, who Armstrong characterized as "unstoppable, and is probably my best all-around swimmer now," won the 50 butterfly with Michael Mortenson taking second; Forrest Allen also won the 50 backstroke; in the 50 breaststroke, Jacob Roberts -- who knocked nine seconds off his qualifying time -- was third with Michael Mortenson fifth; Forrest Allen also won the 50 freestyle while Luke Trafton finished fourth; Forrest Allen picked up his fourth individual win, beating the closest competition in the 100 IM by more than 10 seconds with Michael Mortenson finishing fourth.

In girls 11-12 events, Angelica Licos won the 50 butterfly with Kelly Calucchia taking fourth; in the 50 backstroke, Angelica Licos finished second with Sarah Woodward in third; Calucchia took second in the 50 breaststroke with Caitlin Marks sixth; Angelica Licos swam to a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle with Woodward sixth; and in the 100 IM, it was Angelica Licos and Woodward again, finishing second and fourth, respectively.

Coach Armstrong thinks Angelica Licos is a very special swimmer.

"She's probably the most gorgeous swimmer I've ever had in my life," Armstrong commented. "And I got her from my swim lessons. She's just a natural in the water. She is dynamite."

In boys 11-12 events, Garrett Allen won the 50 breaststroke with Luke Trafton taking fifth; Garrett Allen also captured the 50 backstroke with Brandon Yagihashi taking third; Garrett Allen easily won the 50 breaststroke with Brandon Yagihashi finishing third; Brandon Yagihashi took fourth in the 50 freestyle with Jacob Roberts finishing sixth; and in the 100 IM, it was Garrett Allen who captured his fourth individual title of the day by winning the event with Brandon Yagihashi in fourth.

In girls 13-15 events, Kim Coombs, a 12-year-old, finished first in the 50 butterfly with Nicole Kern finishing fourth; Kern was sixth in the 50 backstroke with Erin Cawley taking eighth place; Coombs took fourth in the 50 breaststroke with Cawley finishing in seventh; Coombs won the 50 freestyle with Cawley fourth; and Coombs won her third event of the meet in the 100 IM with Kern finishing fifth.

Armstrong told why he had the 12-year-old Coombs swim up in competition.

"She's a really super good girl who is constantly working hard," Armstrong said. "I moved her up to the 13-to-15-year-old and she won three medals that weekend. And then I moved her up to 16-18 (year-old age group) and she took second in that event (50 backstroke). In order to be better, you have to be pushed."

In boys 13-15 events, Tyler Peck was fourth in the 50 butterfly with Doug Calder finishing fifth; Peck took second in the 50 backstroke with Calder fifth; Peck won the 50 breaststroke with Keenan Armstrong taking third; Calder won the 50 freestyle with Armstrong in seventh; and in the 100 IM, Peck was the winner with Calder finishing fourth.

Armstrong was complimentary of all his team.

"My son Keenan Armstrong, I swam him up in age group and he placed in both those age groups to earn points. That was awesome," Armstrong said. "Especially with the kids that they had at 16 to 18. They were monsters. And I'm proud of Tyler Teck because it took a lot of courage to leave North Las Vegas (the team he was on before leaving to reunite with Armstrong). He left all his buddies and friends to come swim with us. He did a fantastic job for me all season long.

"And when I first got Doug Calder he was a baseball player and he couldn't swim a lick. He was a project. And he's turned out to be one of my best swimmers."

In girls 16-18 events, Lauren Leonard and Vickie Luciani finished third and fourth respectively in the 50 butterfly; Coombs, this time swimming way up in age, was second in the 50 backstroke with Luciani fourth; Leonard took third in the 50 breaststroke with Kern, swimming up in age, finishing fourth; Luciani and Leonard were third and fourth, respectively in both the 50 freestyle and the 100m IM.

In boys 16-18 events, Nick Reynolds won both the 50 butterfly and breaststroke with James Newcome finishing fourth in both; Keenan Armstrong, swimming up in age, was fourth in the 50 backstroke with Newcome fifth; Reynolds was second in the 50 freestyle with Newcome fifth; and Armstrong finished fourth in the 100 IM.

In readying his Summerlin Seals team for the big All-Star meet, Armstrong employed an extremely unusual if not effective method of training during their last practice of having his team swim in long-sleeve shirts and long pants in the pool.

"That's a tradition I started in North Las Vegas," Armstrong confessed. "It loosens them up. Let's have fun. I make them swim in their long sleeves and pants."

Witnessing this strange style was Marsha Calder, mother of Seals Doug and Morgan.

"You would think that it would be tough for the kids but they all came out of the pools with huge grins on their faces," Marsha Calder said.

And when asked how this somewhat new team got so good, so fast, Marsha Calder had a quick answer.

"It's the coach," she said. "He really cares. He works so hard with them and has really earned their respect. They'll do anything for him."

Armstrong, who is assisted by Josh Schlekewy and Targa Dobson, broke it down to the first principle he tries to teach all his swimmers.

"I get kids to believe in themselves," Armstrong said. "Believe in their abilities, and believe that nobody can beat them but themselves."