WOW! What a great day yesterday turned out to be! It simply could not have gone any better. The swimmers performed beyond expectations at Championships and it flowed through to the Swim Team Banquet last night. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

I will send out results from Championships and a few other reminders either later tonight or tomorrow, but I’ve jotted down a few notes that I wanted to share while they were still fresh in my mind.

Congratulations to the Ryan & Frericks families for being the 2021 recipients of the Andy Renz award. Your passion and commitment to the Owl Creek Swim Team is something I hope to emulate going forward. You all never need to be asked to help, volunteer, cheer. You do it with great enthusiasm and effort. The award is WELL-DESERVED

I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all of your help this season. I am going to mention a few people/families by name, and I know I will leave some out – so please do not take offense if I fail to mention you.

THANK YOU

to Brooke Rohrs for serving as our LSA rep again this year. You all have no idea how much work Brooke puts into this position and the countless hours she spends working with myself, the coaches and difficult opposing team President’s/Coaches/LSA reps. Brooke is truly the backbone of Owl Creek swimming and we are lucky to have her

to Matt Rohrs for his technological intelligence, work ethic and humor. Matt spearheaded the computer integration with Swimmingly this season (along with Chad Babin, Steve Kilcran, Ken Frericks, Greg Maudlin). I appreciate you always being there to fix things when I mess them up. Please remember to bring in the trash can

to Stacy Kreis for her incredible efforts with all of our social events. Beginning with the Ice Cream social and concluding with last night’s banquet, your creativity and organization are second to none

to Katie Cummins for being AWESOME. That’s the best word to describe her work with Volunteers. It is an IMPOSSIBLE job and you do it with ease and a smile

to Casey Maudlin for handling the awards, trophies and plaques. I was late in getting the information to Casey and she handled this difficult task (in a time crunch) flawlessly

to Justin Blanford who sets up meets better than anyone in the 502 area code. You are the best and always have the work done before even being asked

to Holly Ryan, Lori Frericks, Mary K Snowden, Trish Bellucci and the entire team that handle our concessions. There are too many of you to name and I am certain I am forgetting members, but your skill at these tasks makes a considerable amount of money for our team

to Ryan Roppel for making Owl Creek the best dressed swim team in LSA. We are so Frat

to Beth Liebschutz-Roettger for assisting with Social Events, Communications and everything else that was asked of you. You are a jack of all trades

to Chad Babin, Matt Page and Adam Norrenbrock for all the work they did planning and organizing a mulch sale. They had us ready to go, but we were unable to have the mulch sale due to a shortage of mulch. Your hard work did not go unnoticed

to Jason and Leslie Nemes for the brilliant slide show you put together. We all loved it and it provided a lasting memory to our swim season

to Kenny Coke for arranging, delivering, and setting up the portable Air Conditioning units used Saturday and Sunday at the Pasta Dinner and Banquet

to Scott Owen for arranging and delivering equipment used during the 10 & Under Quals. I would also like to thank Scott and his wife Becky for their support of the Owl Creek Swim Team for nearly two decades. This was Ashley’s final year swimming (she will return as a coach). You’ve done a terrific job raising three great swimmers, coaches, and even better kids

to the lane line team of Adam Norrenbrock, Ryan Roppel, Josh Richardson, Mike Kreis, Matt Zinser and Greg Hermann. You all really helped save my a$$

to James Mullikin, who serves as the Swim Team Treasurer. We had a lot of new purchases this year and I genuinely appreciate you being so responsive and detail-oriented

to Drew Deener for his contacts securing tablecloths from Rent & Rave for our Swim Team Banquet. Also, thank you for for hyping Owl Creek on your radio show and for the shout out this morning #EAT IT LAKE FOREST

to Megan Zinser for jumping in and taking the Team Photo this season and for handling Matthew. You are a Saint

to Gene Snowden II for keeping me in line. Gene made certain that I was on task this year with planning, organizing, and teaching me to ropes of being Swim President. As I said last night, I hope to be half as much help to Josh Cummins as you were to me

to Josh Cummins for stepping in as Swim Team President. You will do a tremendous job and do not hesitate to ask me for help

to Sean Ryan for being the best announcer on the planet. You keep our meets running smoothly and providing an entertainment aspect second-to-none

to EVERYONE for volunteering – from Age Group Parents, Stroke & Turn Judges, Timers, Starters, Computer Duties, Ribbon Table, Concessions, Set Up, Tear down. I wish I could name you all, but your work is incredible

to the older swimmers. Your help with the younger swimmers does not go unnoticed. They really look up to you all and the way you stay by the pool deck and cheer them on shows what great character you have

to the parents of the new swim team parents. You were all willing to help and make our season a tremendous success

to Bailey Cox, Taylor Owen, Ashley Owen and Jacob Bellucci for being THE BEST coaches. I mean what I said last night. You all made my job so much easier by the way you handle things. You are all calm, detail-oriented, great with kids and mature beyond your years. If there is ever anything I can do for you, I’d be more than happy to help

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to extend a huge thank you to my wife Lori Dawkins. Being my spouse is difficult under normal circumstances but putting up with me this swim season has been extremely difficult. From the lane line issues, to technology problems, to dealing with our children (particularly the small one) during meets – I genuinely appreciate your patience and encouragement. I love you very much and the t-shirts last night were incredible

To borrow a line from the great Kentucky basketball announcer Cawood Ledford…. “for those of you who have gone down the glory road with me, my eternal thanks.”

Kyle Dawkins

President of the OWL CREEK PREDATORS

2021 LSA Division II Champions