Bringing home the gold — Stingrays capture team and individual titles
Submitted photo Stingray Gabe Hoover was able to secure a trip to the Zones Swim Meet after his performance at the summer state swim meet.
For the second year in a row, the Newcastle Stingray swim team brought home the Division 3 state title along with five individual titles. The Newcastle Stingrays had five swimmers participate in the long course Wyoming Summer State Championship in Gillette the weekend of July 18-20, and the team’s small group of competitors placed well in all of their events.
Logan Olson was the top point scorer for the Stingrays, with four individual state titles and two second-place finishes. Olson claimed the top place in the 50-meter freestyle, 200-meter backstroke, 50-meter backstroke and the 50-meter butterfly.
“It feels amazing, my coach supported me a lot through this, my team supported me a lot through this, and my family supported me a lot through this. Throughout my ten years of doing this it feels like I’ve grown as a swimmer. Each year getting better and better as time went on, constantly improving myself constantly thinking of new strategies/new techniques,” Olson said.
In addition to the state titles, Olson also claimed second place in the 100-meter freestyle and the 200 freestyle, in the men’s 19 and over age group.
Ten-year-old CJ Harley, one of the youngest kids on the team, also claimed an individual state title in the 200-meter freestyle. Harley placed third in the 100-meter freestyle, fourth in the 50-meter freestyle, third in the 50-meter backstroke and third in the 400-meter freestyle.
“It feels awesome, all the other kids put up a good race but in the end, I still beat them. I’m looking forward to racing them again in the future.” Harley said of his accomplishment.
The three other Stingrays representing at state were Gabe Hoover, 16; Eli Hoover, 12; and Emery Olson. 10, all of whom swam an impressive seven events each. These three age groups were hard-fought and had the strongest competitors, but the three local swimmers made top six in every one of the 21 races they participated in, adding to the team score and helping to bring the state title back to Newcastle.
In addition to placing at the state meet, Gabe Hoover qualified for USA Swimming Western Zones in the 50 free. He is only the third athlete from Newcastle to qualify for zones in the last ten years.
Hoover told the News Letter Journal that it was rewarding to qualify for such a prestigious meet.
“It felt good!” he said. “I expected to make zones. Right after I swam I said I was going to be a second faster in finals, and I was.”
The swimmers weren’t the only people excited about their performance at state.
“I’m just really proud of all the swimmers, and how they have grown as both people and as athletes over the course of this season. It’s always a delight to see,” said Jack Lawrence, head coach for the Stingrays.
The success that the Stingrays had at state this summer is the result of months of hard training and hundreds of hours in the pool. The Newcastle Stingrays will start their winter season the first week of November.