Heil Finds The Time

Junior's Tight Schedule Keeps Him On The Go

Fayetteville’s Ben Heil competes in the 100 butterfly on Jan. 31 during the Bentonville High School Invitational Meet inside The Jones Center in Springdale.
Fayetteville’s Ben Heil competes in the 100 butterfly on Jan. 31 during the Bentonville High School Invitational Meet inside The Jones Center in Springdale.

— Ben Heil already has this time management thing down to a work of art. This week, his skills will be put to the test.

With such school activities as band, choir and debate taking up much of his time, the Fayetteville junior might seem to have enough on his plate as it is. Add in Boy Scouts, and his role as one of the leaders of the Fayetteville swim team and it hardly seems like he would have enough time to crunch it all into a single day.

Profile

Ben Heil

School: Fayetteville

Class: Senior

Events: 100 meter freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m free, 200m individual medley, 500m free, 200 IM relay and 400 m relay.

Notable: Finished eighth in 500 yard freestyle at 2012 state meet and 13th in 200m individual medley. ... Also in all-state band and choir and active in scouts.

“There’s definitely a time crunch,” Heil said. “I have band and choir and swimming all going on, but the coaches know that I’m trying to do all of this. So it’s not as hard as it might seem, and I’ve only had to miss one swim meet because of something else coming up.”

Heil has somehow found enough time to not only help the Bulldogs’ swim team, but to play a vital role in the team’s success as Fayetteville prepares for 7A/6A-West Conference swimming and diving meet, being held today and Wednesday in Fayetteville and Springdale.

“Ben is involved in so many things, but he’s able to prioritize,” Fayetteville swim coach Mike Kaminski said. “He’s a very serious student and he’s a leader for our team. Guys like Ben, and his cousins Matt and Josh Parisi, have set good examples for our younger swimmers.”

Heil is used to a busy workload with all of his extracurricular activities, so his schedule at Wednesday’s swimming portion of the conference meet might not come as a shock to the system. Still, with Heil already qualified for the state meet in the 100 meter freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200 m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 500 freestyle, 200 IM relay and 400 freestyle relay, his performance chart is impressive.

“Personally my favorite event is the 500 free,” Heil said. “Not many people would say that, but I like that distance.”

Heil finished 8th in the 500 freestyle at the 2012 state meet as a sophomore and 13th in the 200 yard individual medley. He also competed in the 200 IM and 400 freestyle relays at state last year, helping Fayetteville to a seventh place finish.

“Ben is one of our swimmers who performs with the AquaHogs club team,” Kaminski said. “He and his cousins Josh and Matt Parisi work out together and the dynamic of those three really helps the team.”

Fayetteville has to replace some talented leaders from last year’s team, including Colton Courtway and state diving champion Parker Meineke. But Heil knows the departure of one class of Bulldogs allows others to step up in their place.

“As you get older and seniors move on, you get to move up in their place,” Heil said. “And swimming is about making better times and move up.”

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