Minster prepares for Homecoming September 18
MINSTER -- The Minster High School Student Council is pleased to announce the 2020 Homecoming activities for September 18.
Students selected to the Homecoming Court include Freshmen Star Weigandt and Tyler Stueve, Sophomores Taylor Roth and Conner Gehret, Juniors Jayden Clune and Johnny Nixon, and Seniors Jenna Heuker, Janae Hoying, Kate Larger, Kyra Oldiges, Grace Schmiesing, Ivy Wolf, Conner Albers, Bryan Falk, Justin Nixon, Phil Trzaska, Eric Schmidt and Isaiah Slonkosky.
Traditional Homecoming Spirit Week activities have been limited to due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Spirit week activities this year include: Daily Spirit Themes; Crowning of the King and Queen prior to the home Football game vs. Delphos St. John on September 18.
Sports are back around the country but COVID-19 continues to effect, among many other things, athletics.
This week, The Community Post caught up with Minster senior swimmer Nick Clune, a state finalist in the backstroke as a junior, who wants to swim in college and has had summer competitions effected by the pandemic.
Minster senior swimmer Nick Clune began swimming competitively about five years ago.
After seeing friends get into for much longer than he has, he decided to give it a try and he was soon hooked.
“I like how it always gives me something to improve on,” said Clune. “because with swimming there’s no finish line. You can always improve and it helps me to work hard, stay in shape and gives me something to focus on.”
Swimming in the state of Ohio is very competitive because unlike other sports with multiple divisions, swimming has just two. Meaning that even based on school size, Minster competes against bigger teams that might be in higher divisions in other sports.
Clune had a strong high school season last year as a junior, swimming multiple events for the Wildcats. At districts, he swam the 50 free (53rd, 22.94), 100 free, 100 back (19th, 54.38) 200 medley team relay (18th, 1:40.95) and 200 freestyle team relay (34th, 1:33.23).
Clune qualified for states in the 100 back, his best and favorite event, and was part of the 200 medley team relay. He placed fourth in the consolation final and 12th overall with a time of 53.96 in the 100 back.
That time was seven hundredths of a second away from the YMCA national qualifying cut time of 53.89.
“My first year (of high school swim) I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to get into,” said Clune. “In the beginning I was better at freestyle. I didn’t think the backstroke would be a big deal for me until I broke my first school record in the 100 back.”
Clune broke that school record as a sophomore and also made it to nationals in the 50 and 100 free relay on his club team, the Auglaize Mercer County YMCA (AMFY).
Last year, when improving his backstroke time by five second from 58 seconds down to 53. Clune knew that if he improved like that in his senior year that he could compete collegiately, which is now an aspiration of his after seeing improvement and competing with great talent in the YMCA Southwestern (SW) Ohio Swim League with AMFY.
“You’re getting the best of every area going to these big meets,” said AMFY head coach Matt Reiss “The level of competition is a lot higher when you go to some of these meets, especially the bigger ones like national meets that Nick was qualified for. Some of the best swimmers in the nation. As a club team, we’re exposed to a lot of different levels of competition.”
“The league were a part of, the Southwestern Ohio League, is one of strongest YMCA leagues in the country,” said Reiss. “A lot of veteran coaches and administrators.”
AMFY is mainly comprised of swimmers in Auglaize and Mercer counties and Clune mentioned talented swimmers, and teammates, like St. Marys Justin Fleagle (Ohio State swimming), Celina’s Keaton McMurray (Cleveland State swimming) and Versailles’ Cole Condon (Findlay swimming) as guys that he’s competed with and looks up to.
Fleagle won nationals in 2019 in the 100 back at the YMCA Short Course National Championships, something that Clune said inspired him with that being his favorite event, and the 200-relay team of Clune, Fleagle, McMurray and Condon placed seventh at spring nationals that same year in addition to qualifying for the 400 free relay.
Before COVID struck, Clune would have been a part of this year’s spring nationals as part of the 200-medley relay team that was projected to finish in the top 16.
He was also on the verge of making individual cut times for both spring and summer nationals but didn’t get the chance to swim in the league championships that would have taken place the second weekend in March.
“He very likely would have qualified in the 100 backstroke at that meet,” said Reiss. “for both spring and summer nationals.”
Instead, Clune had a summer long course season with no meets because of COVID. Rather than swimming for an hour and a half every day with meets on the weekends, he did CrossFit and weights at home to stay prepared.
Around June, lanes were made available to reserve at the local YMCA with Clune telling The Community Post it felt like a long break he shouldn’t be taking but one that he had to because of the restrictions from the health department.
The coaches in the SW Ohio YMCA swim league also developed a league wide data base over the summer where kids would enter their best times with in person meets not permitted.
“It’s not the same as in person but it was stil a way to compare themselves to others and give them motivation,” said Reiss. “just trying to give them something to focus on now that were getting into the fall season. we have a few meets on the horizon, some virtual meets. Being as safe as we can but a lot of teams are finding ways to compete against each other whether it’s virtually or small meets.”
Clune has already beaten his PR in the 100 back timing himself during a practice.
Now, he will look ahead to a strong short course season over the winter with AMFY as well as a strong senior high school campaign to continue to attract the interest of college coaches.
“I just want to thank my coaches, teammates and especially my parents,” said Clune. “They bought me the necessary equipment and made the appropriate food and made sure I was in shape.”
“It’s one of those things you live for as a coach,” said Reiss. “With the role models above Nick, he started to learn the value of hard work. We’ve done a lot to develop his stroke and his mechanics. When I first started, his form was raw, he put a lot of work into making those strokes finer and more efficient. Throughout the years he’s been able to focus on that and see the whole picture. The hours you put in the pool during the week make all the difference when you’re trying to shave hundredths of a second on weekends. Seeing him grow and mature like that has been a lot of fun over the last two years. That type of mentality is what college coaches will look for to see that growth and development rather than stagnation through the years.”