We wrapped up our season on a high note this weekend! The Stingrays finished 17th out of 28 teams on Sunday afternoon, totaling 314.5 points — over a 12% increase from last year.

GRAL announced its annual awards on Sunday morning, and I am proud to share that our team has won the 2025 Len Everett Sportsmanship Award for Division III. This marks the fourth year in a row our team has earned this award — a testament to the collective effort of our swimmers, parents, and volunteers. Award or not, I’m incredibly proud of the positive, healthy culture our team embraced this season, and I hope it continues to thrive for years to come. Our team was also recognized on Saturday for finishing first place in total Advanced points, and second place in total Novice, Varsity, and Advanced Relay points across Division III throughout the regular season.

It was a record-smashing weekend for the Stingrays, with yards team records falling left and right at Champs! Harper Grace Johnson set the tone on Saturday, tearing through her own records in the Girls 11–12 100 IM, 50 Breaststroke, and 100 Freestyle. On Sunday, the dynamic 13-year-old duo of Carter Rettig and Nate Doran took center stage—Carter blazed to a new mark in the 13–14 50 Freestyle before taking down a legendary 31-year-old team record in the 50 Butterfly, while Nate crushed his own records from earlier this summer in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Freestyle. The meet ended in the best way possible, as the 13–14 mixed freestyle relay of Carter Rettig, Maren Minor, Diego Salinas, and Nate Doran rocketed to a new team record of 1:49.98—taking down the mark set by Stingray teammates earlier this season and putting an exclamation point on an unforgettable weekend of fast swimming!

The following information breaks down our overall team results, highlighted by our scoring/medaling swims (Top 8 finishes):

7 – New Individual Team Records
1 – New Mixed Relay Record
52 – New Personal Bests (52/98 swims, 53% of swims were faster than their seed time, including relays)
1st Place – Rebecca Crady (V 100 FR), Owen Merritt (V 50 BR, 100 FR), Maren Minor (JV 100 FR), Carter Nielsen (JV 100 IM), Mixed 13-14 200 FR Relay (Carter Rettig, Maren Minor, Diego Salinas, Nate Doran)
2nd Place – Harper Grace Johnson (SV 50 BR), Oliver Merritt (V 100 IM), Maren Minor (JV 100 IM, V 50 BR), Carter Rettig (SV 50 FR), Avery Roberts (JV 100 BR), Diego Salinas (JV 100 BR), Cecilia Thorne (JV 50 BK), Mixed 11-12 SV Medley Relay (Owen Merritt, Harper Grace Johnson, Rebecca Crady, Tucker Barnes), Mixed 11-12 SV FR Relay (Owen Merritt, Rebecca Crady, Tucker Barnes, Harper Grace Johnson)
3rd Place – Rebecca Crady (V 100 IM), Nate Doran (SV 100 IM, SV 100 BK, SV 100 FR), Oliver Merritt (V 25 FR, V 50 FR), Mixed 13-14 V Medley Relay (Nate Doran, Carter Rettig, Avert Roberts, Maren Minor)
4th Place – Harper Grace Johnson (SV 100 IM, SV 50 FR, SV 100 FR), Carter Nielsen (V 50 BK), Carter Rettig (SV 50 BK), Paolo Tique (V 100 BK)
5th Place – Tucker Barnes (V 50 FR, V 50 FL), Jenna Creasy (JV 50 BR), Aiden Montgomery (JV 50 FR, V 100 FR), Carter Rettig (SV 50 FL, SV 100 FR), Sean Rettig (V 100 FL), Mixed 8&U JV 100 Medley Relay (Oliver Merritt, Ellie Carr, Edison Crenshaw, Aubrey Wittwer), Mixed 9-10 V 200 Freestyle Relay, Mixed 11-12 JV 200 Medley Relay (Parker Nystrom, Ellie Montgomery, Tallulah Farnham, Lucas Mercurio)
6th Place – Tucker Barnes (JV 50 BK), Owen Merritt (SV 50 BK), Parker Nystrom (V 100 IM, V 50 BR), Avery Roberts (JV 100 FR), Paolo Tique (V 50 BK, V 100 IM)
7th Place – Rebecca Crady (SV 50 FL), Nate Doran (SV 50 BK), Quin Holt (JV 100 FR), Owen Merritt (SV 100 IM)
8th Place – Maddie Fogg (JV 50 BR), Quin Holt (JV 100 IM), Maren Minor (V 100 BK), Aiden Montgomery (V 50 FL), Ellie Montgomery (JV 50 BR)

Any medals that haven’t been picked up will be available in the ribbons box in the swim team closet at CORA early this week. Thank you to all of our Stingray families for making this season so special—your support, spirit, and commitment to the team made this summer truly unforgettable. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and best of luck for a great start to the school year!

- Coach Paul