college recruiting and such

I know I know, I have been my blog, and please forgive me. My excuses are many. I have been to Oklahoma City and Indianapolis this month and have been battling a cold and sore throat that has made me lazy. But I am on the mend and ready to talk about several things, both personal and not personal.
After Madison helped Brenau to a 3rd place finish in the NAIA National swim meet, I had 2 days to come home and get ready for the next venture, which was Haydens last NCAA D2 National Championship Meet. To say that I was anxious would be a huge understatement. I was feeling the sadness of it being his last college swim meet, the happiness that he had made it this far, and the overall gut wrenching feeling of terror as Queens actually had a chance to win a National Championship.
I will try and make a long story somewhat short. Queens started the meet on Wednesday March 11th, and things went a bit sour for the men's team right away. The 200 medley relay, in which my son swims on was disqualified because our coaches had a wrong swimmer on the relay card. Queens head coach Jeff Dugdale, who has done so much for the swim program, not to mention Hayden, was so classy about the way he handled the situation. He talked to each swimmer on the relay and apologized, had a tearful (from what we hear) apology to the entire team , and even called the parents of the kids on the relay to again apologize. I thought he handled the situation in a heartwarming , professional way.
What was great however, is that the men's team didn't quit. They took it as a personal challenge to come back and win the meet. And by Saturday they had actually come back to take a 14 point lead, and held on with some great swimming to win their first national championship in the schools 158 year history. Hayden had five All- American swims,  including being a part of the 800 free relay team that broke a national record for D2. The women also won a national championship, with Mount de Sales alum Nikki Johnston having 3 All-American swim. Another former Mount de Sales swimmer, Jessika Weiss had 2 All-American swims for Wingate and helped her team to a 3rd place finish.
Good coaching matters in any sport,