Ladies get one last chance on Friday

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
The Lady Dogies had one more opportunity to try to earn a state berth as they competed at the Last Chance Qualifier in Gillette on Friday.
It was also another opportunity to swim in the state meet venue as Gillette is hosting the 3A and 4A culminating meet Thursday through Saturday. 
Though no more Newcastle swimmers were able to swim a qualifying time, some good times were put up in the effort to do so.
Raeleigh Shipp, who had previously qualified for two events, competed in the 50 and the 500 Freestyle. She improved nearly half-a-second in the 50 to pull within a second of qualifying, and then had a huge drop in the 500, carving off nearly 30 seconds from her previous best time. 
“Raeleigh hadn’t swam the 500 since the first weekend, so she decided to bookend her season with that event,” head coach Doug Scribner explained. “When I watched her swim, I could see that she was just swimming smart. She took it out smooth with her first split being almost 36 seconds, which is slower than she usually would. She swam right at the girl’s feet and then in the last 150 yards, she began to turn it up. By 75 she was even, and in the last 50 she really took off.”
The plan Scribner and Shipp developed for the race was for her to work on the things they’d been focusing on in the 200 Free. Shipp executed well to win the heat and vastly improve her time.
Ruth Rose, as a first year swimmer, had a goal of getting under two minutes in the 100 Breaststroke. Last week at the conference meet, Rose went 2:00 which gave her the confidence she needed to really pour it on Friday to shave nearly eight seconds off that time, finishing in 1:52. In addition, Rose also swam a personal record in the 50 Free, taking .35 seconds off her previous best time.
“I asked the girls at the beginning of the week what they wanted to improve in and several of them wanted to do the 50 Free,” Scribner began. “Lilly [Ralls] had a really super swim in that and has been working pretty hard. She dropped over a second, which is great in that short of a race.”
The four that opted to swim the 50 all had personal best times. In addition to Shipp and Rose, Ralls and Hailey Beastrom each claimed PRs. 
“Raeleigh is now officially a 29 in the 50 so we should be in good shape now with the 200 Free Relay to get a better seed time,” Scribner predicted. “Now our four fastest girls are within 6 seconds of 12th. We were at least 30 seconds away, but now we have a shot at making the finals this week at state.”
It was the goal of Beastrom to get under the mark to qualify in the 100 Backstroke at this last chance meet. Though she cut nearly 2 seconds off her best time, she was still just short of the 3A time. 
“Hailey had two good swims in the 50 Free and the 100 Backstroke. She dropped in both, but just not enough to qualify in the backstroke,” Scribner admitted. “She is only a freshman, so though she was disappointed that she didn’t make it, she has come a long way this season, so should be in good shape next year to get there. And she made it into the top 12 at the conference meet, which is a great accomplishment.” 
The Last Chance meet also offers the unique opportunity for the girls to mix things up and have a little bit of fun with the 400 Free Relay. A few years ago, in an attempt to energize his team, Scribner gave them the option to swim a 100 Individual Medley for the final relay of the day. Given that it is a Free relay, swimmers have the choice to swim whatever stroke they wish for their leg of the race.
“Last year, Hannah [Gross] talked the girls into doing the Doggie Paddle for the relay. I didn’t know that was going to happen as they made the decision on the blocks, but they sure had a good time doing it,” Scribner laughed. “So this year, the girls asked me if they could do an IM for the relay, and I gave them the go-ahead.”
“It’s always kind of interesting to see the reaction to the girls doing that,” he continued. “One year, Douglas decided to do it too, and the two teams raced each other, and last Friday, there were parents in the stands wondering if it was legal to do it or not so that was kind of funny.”
The 3A State Meet is in Gillette Thursday and Friday. The meet starts with diving at 1:30 p.m., with swimming to follow around 4 p.m., on Thursday. On Friday, swimmers will get started at 9:30 a.m. 
“Lydia will compete in the 50 and 100 Free, and Raeleigh will in the 100 and 200 Free. Both are close to making the top 12 in their events so it should be exciting,” Scribner said. “The 400 Relay is still sitting good for being in the top 12, and the 200 Free Relay is now close as well, so hopefully both will be swimming on Friday.”