Nelson, Webb lead team in pursuit of 24th consecutive state championship

By Michael Moroney ’13
THE ROUNDUP

High expectations follow Mike Nelson ’12 and Chris Webb ’12 after emerging as two of the top swimmers in the state as part of the 2010 Brophy team.

Last year, Nelson won the 100-yard breaststroke for the Division I state championship while Webb was part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team at the state meet.

They both contributed to the team being ranked as 10th in the nation in 2010. But this year, head coach Mr. Pat O’Neill looks to surpass that success.

“There is no question that coach (Mr.) O’Neill is confident about the 2011 Brophy swim team,” said Nick Giancola ’12, a varsity assistant captain.

In 2010, the team failed to set any new state records for the first time in Mr. O’Neill’s tenure as head coach.

“Some of the goals we’ve set for this year are we’re going to try and set two or three new state records,” Mr. O’Neill said.

Nelson has a legitimate shot at breaking the state record for the 100-yard breaststroke considering he swam the race in 58.02 seconds in 2010 while the record sits at just 56.35 seconds.

Webb and Nelson each participated in the Junior National Swim Meet in Palo Alto, Calif. in August this summer. Webb swam fast enough to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Trials in the 400-yard Individual Medley, while Nelson missed qualifying by a half second in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Fellow senior Timmy Frakes ’12 also contributed at the state meet. Frakes swam the 100-yard backstroke in the state meet and he returns this year as the Brophy head captain.

The Broncos look to replace the class of 2011 swimmers not only with seniors, but talented juniors and sophomores as well. Graduated seniors Brian Stevens ’11, Shane Essert ’11, Wes Elford ’11 and Carter Smith ’11 have all moved on to Division I programs.

“We’ve had several of our sophomore and junior swimmers this past year work really hard and have improved greatly,” Mr. O’Neill said.

Sophomores and juniors with state meet experience include T.J. Decker ’13, Tucker Wells ’13, Isaac Montano ’13, Gabriel Espinosa ’13, Luke Williams ’13, J.J. Osborn ’14 and Brad Dorsey ’14.

The swim season is already under way for the Broncos as they had their first meet Sept. 1 at Hamilton. They won by a score of 133-50.

Jonas Fowler ’13 won both the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard IM, while the Broncos swept all three relays. Gus Quinif ’12 won the diving competition for the first meet.

Brophy hosts two meets this season, the first being the Sept. 24 Brophy Invitational and the second being the Oct. 29 AMDG Invite.

The state swim meet will be Nov. 4 and 5 at Skyline Aquatic Center.