Like most swimmers, Andrew Langenfeld will be the first to tell you his sport is one where you compete against the clock first and other swimmers second.

If that is true, the Centralia graduate is probably still smiling at his performance in the 100-meter butterfly at the United States Olympic Trials. Even now, 10 days later.

Langenfeld entered the race as the nation’s 87th ranked swimmer, so ranked with a time of 55.3 seconds. The 6-foot-5 Purdue University swimmer exited the pool with two much better numbers, finishing 55th overall with a time of 54.80 seconds.

"I wanted to go out in 25 seconds," said Langenfeld. "Everything went right. This is the most amazing meet I have ever been in. It was like a rock concert. They did everything they could to not only put on a great meet, but also make the swimmers feel very important."

Langenfeld swam in the fourth heat and finished second in that race. After the outing, Langenfeld thought about his goals for his senior year at Purdue. Most pools that are used in college swimming are still measured in yardage.

"I would like to swim in the 46's in the 100-yard butterfly," he said. "I also believe that I can swim in the 19's in the 50-yard freestyle and in the 43's in the 100-yard freestyle." ...

Brian Dinkelman, a Centralia graduate and Irvington resident, pushed his batting average to .232 this past week. Dinkelman was promoted last month to the New Britain Rock Cats, the Class AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. After a slow start, Dinkelman helped justify the promotion with a pair of multiple hit games this past week. Both games were against the Connecticut Defenders, the Class AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

In New Britain's 6-5 loss to Connecticut, Dinkelman was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. He was also 2-for-4 with two runs scored in New Britain's 5-3 loss to Connecticut. New Britain is 40-55 in the Eastern League-Northern Division, sitting 17.5 games behind league leading Trenton, the Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees. Trenton is 57-37. ...

If you have any names to add to this edition of the College Report, please forward them to Dan62293@cs.com. I am collecting names for the fall months as well. The column is slated to return if we have enough sponsors to justify its return. We have already started looking for sponsors.

When forwarding me an athlete's name, please include not only the name of the athlete, but the college or university they are attending, the former high school and the sport they are playing.

There are only two rules to be included in this column. First the athlete has to be a resident of Marion County or a graduate of a Marion County High School. In case anyone is wondering, the towns in question are Centralia, Salem, Sandoval, Odin or Patoka. Second, the athlete must be involved in intercollegiate athletics, meaning your school competes against teams from other schools. Naturally, professional athletes such as young Mr. Dinkelman also qualify. When e-mailing, please put "Marion County College Report" in the subject line of each and every e-mail. ...