Pamela Zelnick in the News
Class of 2006 - Troy (OH) High School

Sunday, February 19, 2006
Zelnick wins 1st district swimming title for Troy
By Debbie Juniewicz
For the Dayton Daily News

OXFORD | It was a first for Pam Zelnick and for the Trojans.

The Troy senior swam to a championship title at the girls Division I Southwest District swim meet at the Miami University Corwin Nixon Natatorium Saturday. Zelnick's personal best time of 1:51.58 was more than five seconds faster than her sectional time as she collected the first Troy district swimming title.

"I was shocked when I saw my time, but not in a bad way," Zelnick said. "The times this year are all so fast."

The district champion qualified for state as a sophomore with a time of 1:56. This year, 16 swimmers touched in 1:55.67 or less at the Southwest District meet alone. While many of last year's top state placers graduated, Zelnick is not taking anything for granted.

"The times just keep getting faster," she said. "Anything can happen."

While Zelnick climbed to the top of the district awards podium for the first time Saturday, it was a familiar climb for Centerville senior Jenny Forster. The defending state champion reclaimed her district title in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:59.62, beating her 2005 state time of 2:00.43.

Three events later, Forster returned to the top of the podium with a first-place swim in the 100-yard freestyle (:51.41). The modest Elks swimmer, however, had no idea how many district titles she has collected in her high school career. With the pair Saturday, the answer was six individual district titles and six relay championships.

Despite her success, Forster is never overconfident, especially when it comes to state.

"No matter what your time is, nothing is set in stone," she said.

There is one certainty, however, for Laurie Caudy — the Vikings junior is going to state. The Miamisburg swimmer became the first girls automatic state qualifier with a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (:58.66).

"I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time between the 50 free and the fly, but I warmed down, listened to 30 seconds of my music and I was ready to go," Caudy said.

Caudy has company in the Miamisburg record book as junior Jessica Dobbins joined her a few events later with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. Dobbins tied with Fairmont sophomore Brittney Rohr and earned the final automatic bid with a coin toss. Miamisburg coach Steve May picked heads.

"That's what I would have picked," Dobbins said with a smile.

Rohr, a likely at-large qualifier in backstroke, was used to sharing the podium. The Firebirds swimmer finished the 50-yard freestyle in a three-way tie for second with Ashley Sohngen of St. Ursula and Ursuline Academy's Sara Radke with a time of :24.43.

Forster wasn't the only Elks district champion Saturday. Freshman Rebecca Brooks swam to a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of :57.62.

DIVISION II

Megan Richardson doesn't mind sharing.

The Springfield Shawnee senior shared the top step on the podium and the Division II district championship title in the girls 50-yard freestyle event. It was Richardson's third consecutive district title in the sprint event.

"I looked up at the board and saw there were two No. 1s," Richardson said. "I thought 'are you serious, who ties in the 50 free.'"

The answer is Richardson and Mariemont sophomore Christina Flessa with identical times of :24.24. It was a personal best for Richardson who placed third in the event at state last year.

"I knew at the turn it was close, but not this close," she said with a smile.

The personal bests keep coming for Sidney Lehman sophomore Manda Kiefer. The Cavaliers swimmer clocked a personal best time of 2:18.59 at the sectional meet last week after dropping four seconds. Kiefer cut four more seconds Saturday at the district meet. Her time of 2:14.43 earned her a third-place finish and automatic bid to her first state swim meet.

"I was just hoping to cut two seconds," she said. "It was such a great improvement for me."

Oakwood senior Leah Henninger is four-for-four as the the Lumberjacks swimmer earned her fourth trip to state with a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (:53.36) Saturday. Henninger won the event at state last year.

State veteran Chatham Penrod will also make a repeat trip to state as the Arcanum senior placed second to Cincinnati Hill Christian Academy senior Kasey Carpenter in the 100-yard backstroke. Carpenter broke the district record with a time of :57.32.

While Henninger and Penrod are state veterans, an Alter rookie earned a trip to Canton as freshman Ally Stover placed third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.22). While it's her first trip to the state swim meet, the Knights freshman qualified to the state cross country meet last fall.

TEAM TOTALS

It was a big finish for the Centerville girls team as the Elks finished the night as the district champions, narrowly edging out Ursuline Academy 317-309.

The Elks relay team of Darcy Heuser, Rebecca Brooks, Sarah Andrews and Jenny Forster came up big with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay to clinch the win.

There were no surprises in the boys district team rankings as St. Xavier dominated with 430 points with Mason a distant second with 175 points. Centerville (106), Beavercreek (97) and Alter (87) captured the seventh, ninth and 10th place finishes, respectively.

Mariemont edged out Wyoming by only 2.5 points to take the Division II girls district title with 230.5 points to 228. Springfield Shawnee (105.5), Bellbrook (97), Alter (93) and Carroll (89) snagged the seventh through 10th places.

Saturday, December 03, 2005
Pam Zelnick, a senior at Troy High School, reached the finals of the 100 breaststroke
By the Troy Daily News staff  
Pam Zelnick, a senior at Troy High School, reached the finals of the 100 breaststroke at the U.S. Open swimming championships.

In the preliminaries, Zelnick turned in the 24th fastest time, earning her the final spot in the finals. In the finals, Zelnick moved up two more places, finishing 22nd overall.

Zelnick -- who will swim at Rice University next year -- was competing against some of the top collegiate swimmers in the nation and several former Olympians.

 

Thursday, December 01, 2005
Great expectations Troy looking forward to big things with plenty of experience
 
HENRY S. CONTE
Associate Sports Editor
 		  
If you look at the returners, it would seem as though Jason Scott has two golden tickets to the state swimming meet in February.

"We are trying not to look at it that way," Scott said about his promising team. "We have a lot of things to work on and we need things to work in our favor. Last year I was certain our guys relay team would make it out of district. We are just trying not to take things for granted."

One swimmer who never takes anything for granted is Pam Zelnick.

Zelnick made it to the state meet last season finishing fifth in the 200 free and third in the 100 breast.

"Pam is incredibly self motivated. There isn't much I have to do to get her into a swimming state of mind. That's just who she is," Scott said.

Zelnick is currently competing against the top swimmers in the country -- and, in some cases, the world -- in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in the U.S Open at Auburn University in Alabama.

Also back from last season's state qualifying 200 relay team is Michelle Porter and Blaise Bornhorst. Porter swims the back stroke and Bornhorst the butterfly and the 200 and 500 free.

Freshman Dakota Fulton will take the place of Jesse Fuller who graduated and is swimming at Wright State University.

"We are hoping Fulton can step in as a freshman and we won't miss a beat," Scott said.

Liz Buchanan and Libby Frauenberger will be a few of the newer faces the Trojans are looking for to step up and score points.

"We are a very young team," Scott said. "Our freshmen are going to have to grow up quickly. We just had six seniors graduate, but I have a lot of confidence in them."

Things are the same on the boys side of the pool with plenty of returning talent.

The entire relay team that missed the state meet by a mere one-tenth of a second is returning with some serious determination.

Sean Fellers who missed qualifying for the state meet as an individual is back competing in the 100 back and the 200 free. Older brother Eli Fellers also returns competing in the breast stroke, Eric Huels and Sam Fulker will also help in the effort to get to the state meet.

Doug Monnier, Bern Cooper and Kevin Phelps will also score points for the team all season long.

"These guys are the core of the team. We will have a couple of other guys step up and do well for us," Scott said.

"The boys are motivated from being so close last year. There is some extra incentive and hopefully it will come through in time for February."

Both teams, however, are looking forward to building for the end of January first in time for the Greater Western Ohio Conference meet.

"Butler will once again be our biggest rival. We face a lot of teams twice our size. In the East it will be down to Centerville, Beavercreek and Fairmont.

"We are going to have to get something from everyone," said Scott of competing with the bigger teams. "We can't have any dead weight. Hopefully we will be able to score some points. We have to put the kids where they are trained. We don't have the luxury of loading an event with four swimmers. In most events we have our top one or two swimmers and hope they are in the top half, but we like being the small guys -- the underdogs.

"This is a team sport but it is intensely individual. These are kids with limited pool time, so they push the limits of their bodies every day. By the time we get to February they have tens of thousands of yards in an event that will last a minute or two."