For Mustang athlete, goal is all wet

By Glen Miller/The Mustang News

Having run for Mustang High School’s state champion cross country program, freshman Katherine Maynard is used to handling the mental and physical demands attached to sports that depend heavily on individual performances.

And  she’s  taking  those lessons learned on dry land and getting them all wet as she glides through water as Mustang’s lone participant in a fledgling swimmingprogram.

“I’m not bothered by being the only swimmer,” Maynard said.

“I have friends that swim for other schools and when I go        to meets for the high school, other coaches have been introducing me to their freshman swimmers.”

Maynard gained backing from Mustang School Board last month to participate for the  school  system,  which allowed her and another swimmer to begin a quest to qualify for the state meet. However, since getting the go ahead from the board the other swimmer had to quit the sport, leaving Maynard alone in the pool.

“I would love to see more people come out so we could have a relay team — that would be fun. But for right now it’s just me. Sometimes I feel like I need a break, but God helps me through that,” Maynard said.

Maynard said she enjoys being a trailblazer and hopes to educate classmates and others on the sport – which is often overlooked in the winter due to Oklahoma’s rich tradition in basketball and wrestling.

“It’s different being the first one,” Maynard said. “A lot of people don’t know how tough the qualifying times are and that there is a lot of pressure.”

Some people have shown interest.

“Some people have asked me about it and I will tell them, but not a bunch has come up to me,” Maynard said. “I want to do well so people will take notice.”

Does Maynard feel equal to those other sports and athletes?

“I feel like I’m equal to them. There might be some in other sports that might not think so because swimming is not as big of a sport as their, but I feel that I’m equal,” Maynard said.

Maynard began swimming competitively at the age of 10 by accident. She was swimming one day for fun with her aunt at the Greens in Oklahoma City and ended up beating several girls that were on the club’s swim team. Her aunt then put her on the club’s team and she’s been swimming every since, giving up basketball this season to focus solely on the water.

“I love basketball and it was hard to give it up,” Maynard said. “But I really liked swimming and I wanted to try it (high school level). There’s something about swimming that makes me want to go faster.”

And faster she has been going, slipping closer and closer to making the state meet. Swimming, which has been a sanctioned high school sport in Oklahoma since 1957, has a different path to the state championships. A qualifying time is set for each event and swimmers must meet that time during the season to earn a state ticket.

Maynard is currently trying to qualify in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events. Qualifying time for the 50-meters is 27.5 seconds and the 100-meters is 1:10. Maynard has been near both marks, swimming a 29.0 at a recent Edmond meet that gained her 11th place out of 56 swimmers. She had a 29.89 in Midwest City, good enough for a silver medal out of 24 swimmers.

Over the weekend she competed in the 22-team Joe Stocker Tournament at Oklahoma City Community College, placing 12th out of 56 swimmers with a 29.2-seocnd effort. She also swam a season-best 1:15.17 in the backstroke, which was sixth overall. Her previous best was a 1:16.23 in Edmond, after posting times of 1:17.99 (Midwest City) and 1:20 (Westmoore.)

Maynard picked up 13 team points Saturday, which won’t win a team title, but that’s not her goal.

“My main goal is to qualify for state and I know I can do it. I’m just a few seconds off the time and that’s not very much. I would love to win at state and I would have to go through a lot of people, but I can do it,” Maynard said.

Speed is the key and Maynard is working on everything she can to lower her times. Since Mustang has no indoor pool, She swims two hours a day, five days a week at the Lighthouse pool in Oklahoma City for the Kerr-Magee Senior Development team.

Her high school coach, which just happens to be her dad Rocky, has put her on a weight-training schedule around her daily workouts.

“She’s been going to these meets and seeing how strong all the swimmers with the faster times are, so she’s going to start working with weights and a medicine ball,” Rocky Maynard said.

As Maynard learns the ropes to go faster in the water, so has her father on the sport from a coach’s standpoint. Maynard is a Physical education teacher at Mustang North Middle School and a veteran coach in other sports.

“I’ve never coached swimming before, so I’m learning as I go along,” Maynard said. “My daughter is teaching me a lot and I’m really interested in getting more swimmers out and building a program in Mustang.”

He admits its fun guiding his daughter is a sport that is still new to both of them.

“I’ll cheer if I need to. But swimming is so loud that there is no way she can hear me in the pool – even if I’m yelling. You can’t coach them when they are in the water,” Maynard said.

His daughter enjoys the bond the sport has forged.

“He doesn’t know a lot about swimming, but he knows other sports and what I need to do to get in shape. So he’s there for me,” Maynard said.

Zanotti jets off to NYC, Heisman

By Glen Miller/The Mustang News

What seemed a distant dream only a few short weeks ago has become reality for Mustang High School’s Danielle Zanotti as the senior makes her final preparations to leave for New York City.

“In the last couple of days it’s finally sunk in,” Zanotti said. “At first it didn’t seem like it was happening, but now that we have been scrambling around and buying some clothes and getting packed it’s become a reality.”

Last month it was announced that Zanotti has been selected as one of the six female national finalists for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Trophy Award – becoming the third Oklahoman in the history of the award to earn the nomination.

She leaves Thursday morning for the Big Apple and the WHSH Award Ceremony along with her Mom and younger sister. They will be joined by Mustang cross country coach Mike McGarry and basketball coaches Nichole Copland and Kristin Kelly.

“We’re still going to have to follow a schedule, but it’s going to be like a big family vacation,” Zanotti said.

“I’ve got the digital camera ready and I’m going to capture everything. My sister and I have already made plans to stake out the MTV Studios and TRL, so I’m going to be a teenager for just a little bit.”

The ceremony is set for Friday night, in which the high school Heisman will be presented. There are six national finalists for the men and all 12 finalists will be honored during Saturday night’s college Heisman Trophy ceremony. The two high school Heisman winners will be recognized live during that broadcast.

Prior to the college Heisman show, all the high school and college finalists will have a dinner together.

Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2, Zanotti will have her profile aired along with the 11 other finalists for the high school award. The show will be replayed on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Then on Dec. 26th the ABC Family Channel will air the high school Heisman Award’s Ceremony.

The other five female finalists for the WHSH award are Brenna Bruckner (Bethel Park, Pa.), Joy Kessler (Republic, Ohio), Kaitlin Daley (Canaan, Vt.), Brittany Lee (Franklin, Tenn.) and Emily King of Honolulu, Hawaii.

“My chances are 1-6 statistically. But I have looked at the bios of the other finalists and there are some pretty bright girls,” Zanotti said. “But I’m happy and I’m honored to have gotten as far as I have.”

If she wins the award, she will become the first Oklahoman to do so.