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@swimkid4221 wrote:
It’s official. As of today Paul Ellis is going to be attending KZoo this year. He was going to attend West Point Military Academy but severely sprained his knee during Basic and was forced to resign. So instead of reapplying to the school, Paul decided to go to Kalamazoo. During the past four years he only swam high school. No club. He finished out his senior year with a 50.7 100 Back, 51.0 100 Fly, 46.1 100 free, 23.5 50 Back, and the day after states swam a 20.8 in his 50 free. As you can imagine, it’s a very good pick up for Kalamazoo this late in the game. This means they will have a 50. backstroker and a 55 high breaststroker to lead off their medley this year.
This is slightly big for Kalamazoo, and the MIAA in general…
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@TheDon wrote:
I assume this is Paul Ellis of Bloomfield Hills Lahser whose 2006 times from the MHSAA Division 2 meet match up well with those mentioned in all the threads. Real cool if it is true!
Yes, this is true. Was that 50 an open swim or relay? I have to guess relay, but very good either way.
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That’s great for the league! Puts and interesting twist things and boy do the alum have some recalculating to do with relays and event winners and things.
I saw Paul swim in high school last year at their dual meet against North Farmington. He appeared to be a class act and a good leader, from what one can tell from the stands. In a conversation with his high school coach later he indicated that Paul would be going to (I thought he said the Naval Academy) and academy. He also said he was a great kid to coach. Good for Kalamazoo and the MIAA. Hopefully this knee injury is something that will not hinder his performance in college. Swimkid, any insights?
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I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Paul…facenorth is right – GREAT guy, VERY hard working.
He went to West Point and not sure if the ankle thing is right but regardless, he’s back.
He did swim club in the fall for BBA but never went to the championship meets or do long course in the summer because of baseball. He only swam summer club in the summer (Oakland Hills). It’s very interesting though because all through his growing up he was very open about baseball being his first sport and if he had to choose, he’d quit swimming in a heart beat. He was as good of a baseball player as a swimmer.
I think Kalamazoo is glad he didn’t have to make that decision 😀
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His knee sprain was severe when it happened. He stretched all the ligiments and tendons in his knee but luckily tore nothing. He isn’t allowed to run but from what he’s told me, he’s gotten back on the bike and his knee is getting better everyday. He’s doing some running in the pool to strengthen it and should be back to normal in a short period of time. He also told me that his goal for this year is a 48.99 in the back. It’s possible considering he doesn’t lift or do drylands, and only swims high school. Not to mention he split his 100 back at states this year like an idiot. 25.1, 25.6. We shall see. The potential is there and we’ll see where he takes it.
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48.99 would be fun to see! I have also heard he wants to rebuild the team and help it get back to an NCAA power, more so than it has been in the past. This is for sure a great start to that. Also, great job by Kathy to get these guys in. These past 2 classes have been very solid and can be built on nicely.
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SilentP wrote:
I would think this gives Kalamazoo a shot (if you look at who’s out there and scoring and everything) at the MIAA title. I’m not sure they’d be favored, by any means, but they’d have to be considered as strong contenders at least.
You may be getting a little bit ahead of yourself there SilentP. A class with two national caliber swimmers is huge for anyone in the MIAA but I don’t think it is enough to catapault them ahead of Hope or Olivet at this point. Depth is what won the meet last year, you may have even said that yourself. Kalamazoo’s depth is much better than it has been in the past couple years but there is not enough there to win the MIAA Championship. Yet. Go back a few years when Hope had Boss and DeHaan (arguably the two best swimmers in the league at the time) that certainly did not mean they won the MIAA title. They did, however, finish higher than any other MIAA team at Nationals that year.
AFLAC
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Also, great job by Kathy to get these guys in.
Can we really contribute this Ellis guy coming to K because of her? I thought he declined her original attempts and then was injured…not allowing him to continue where he was at…then fell back on K? But hey, I’d take ’em any way I could get them too.
Is this going to be like Peter Baumgardner saying he was going to post a 46.0 in the 100 fly? I’ve got news…50.0 barrier is a very difficult one to break. Not saying he can’t do it…but to be off the National Record by a couple of tenths as a rookie might be overstating it. Of course, he might not have even said that.
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@vazzy vazquez wrote:
Also, great job by Kathy to get these guys in.
Can we really contribute this Ellis guy coming to K because of her? I thought he declined her original attempts and then was injured…not allowing him to continue where he was at…then fell back on K? But hey, I’d take ’em any way I could get them too.
Is this going to be like Peter Baumgardner saying he was going to post a 46.0 in the 100 fly? I’ve got news…50.0 barrier is a very difficult one to break. Not saying he can’t do it…but to be off the National Record by a couple of tenths as a rookie might be overstating it. Of course, he might not have even said that.
Kathy got Ellis to apply and become interested in the school in the first place. If a student wants to go to an Academy, it’s pretty much impossible to out-recruit them with their whole free ivy league level education and all.
I don’t recall Peter saying that, but maybe he did. The 50.0 barrier is as difficult as the 50.76 barrier is. It’s an arbitrary number that because of the speed of the time, is given significance. Lots of high schoolers have broken 50 seconds. It would, however, be a very big drop, even to go under 50… although he has dropped a second every year since his freshman year, so it’s possible.
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