Dogie swimmers shine at home

It was a light week on the schedule for the Newcastle Lady Dogies, but Thursday’s lone meet carried plenty of weight. Hosting the Campbell County Camels in their only home contest of the year, the Dogies celebrated Senior Night and showed they are continuing to build momentum.

“After a tough week of practice, the Lady Dogie swimmers swam against the Lady Camels,” head coach Doug Scribner said, and senior Jayden Nelson said the grind of training that led up to the meet goes with the territory for Newcastle’s aquajocks. 

“If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not working,” she said with a smile. It is easier to smile when the hard work pays off, however, and the Dogies experienced plenty of that in front of their home crowd.

“The team posted some great improvements in most all of their races,” Scribner reported.

While the focus was on the Newcastle seniors, sophomore Allie Lunstra provided the biggest highlight, cutting more than six seconds from her season best in the 200 individual medley. Scribner called her IM drop the biggest improvement of the night but noted that she also turned in a gritty performance in the 500 free, taking third in 6:19.40 against a deep Camel lineup. 

The time drops were contagious for the Dogies, who provided plenty of highlights for their hometown fans.

“After being out of the pool for two weeks, Macy (Steber) posted personal best times in the 50 free, 100 free and her leg of the 200 medley relay,” Scribner said. “Shelby (Smith) was another swimmer who was able to post personal bests in both of her events.”

Smith posted season-best times in both the 200 free and 100 back, and Veronica Ayers continued her trend of improvement in the 50 freestyle, lowering her time by nearly two seconds to 37.06.

“Since this was a home meet, our confidence was really up there, which was good for the girls,” senior Sherri Merchen said.

For the seniors, the night carried extra meaning, and senior leadership shone through, but the celebration of their accomplishments also gave the swimmers a needed break in a fast-paced dual meet.

“The senior recognition during the meet gave the team time to celebrate the Newcastle senior members, as well as give all the swimmers a little rest before the second half of the meet,” Merchen added.

The Dogies are off this week but will return to tournament format swimming next week when they travel to Douglas for a meet on Oct. 4.

Dogie Results
Campbell County 107, Newcastle 47

200 medley relay — 2nd, 3:16.16 (Ayers, Dean, Huber, Steber)

200 free — Shelby Smith, 2nd, 2:37.26

200 IM — Allie Lunstra, 3rd, 2:38.56

50 free — Macy Steber, 3rd, 30.11; Veronica Ayers, 4th, 37.06; Kathryn Huber, exhibition 39.66

1-meter diving — Madalyn Francis, 2nd, 127.95

100 fly — Madalyn Francis, 3rd, 1:30.90

100 free — Macy Steber, 2nd, 1:08.31; Natalie Dean, 4th, 1:43.85

500 free — Allie Lunstra, 3rd, 6:19.40

200 free relay — 2nd, 2:13.21 (Francis, Huber, Lunstra, Ayers)

100 back — Shelby Smith, 2nd, 1:18.88

100 breast — Natalie Dean, 4th, 2:26.63

400 free relay — 2nd, 4:39.31 (Smith, Lunstra, Steber, Francis)