Lady Dogies host back-to-back meets 

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
It’s about the halfway point of the season for the Lady Dogie swimmers, and last weekend they got to host their first meet of the year as they welcomed Douglas, Buffalo, and Cheyenne South for back-to-back triple dual meets.
On Friday, it was Cheyenne South and Douglas that were on hand to compete.
Hannah Gross made her debut in the 200 Free the first time this season on Friday. This race is top on the senior’s list as a potential State event, and it’s one that is shaping up to be hotly contested in the 3A class. 
Gross and head coach Doug Scribner have been working toward her first attempt to try to come off the blocks with a great preliminary time, racing the 500 Free twice in order to strategically train for the 200.
Their work paid off as she not only won the race and qualified in 4A time, but she finished just three seconds off her State time from last year.
“She went out in a 2:01 which is her fastest season start. She wanted to go out a little faster, but mentally she was ready,” Scribner began. “I also think that puts her as the fastest in 3A if not 4A right now.” 
Gross also added the 100 Breaststroke to her State slate as she qualified for that event finishing in just under 1:22. Scribner admitted that this stroke is not her strongest, but she is now qualified in everything. 
Scribner acknowledged that he has been working his swimmers pretty hard over the last three weeks in practice, and though they are claiming that they are tired, they are still putting up some pretty good times when competing.
“They are getting out of the pool saying, ‘man I’m tired, I just couldn’t go any faster,’” Scribner chuckled. “Then I look and see that they dropped two seconds so I tell them you should be tired.”
Brooklyn Schmitz had her fastest time in the 50 free leg of the 200 IM finishing in 43 seconds, and then swam in the open 50 Free just a couple events later and went a 40. Dropping three seconds in such a short race, in such a short amount of time is nothing short of impressive. 
“The girls are learning how hard they can push themselves,”  Scribner nodded. “They are learning that even though it hurts they still have a little more in the tank and they can push themselves a little farther and faster.”
Lydia Anderson also competed well in the open 50 Free, finishing third in 28.59, which is just over the 3A qualifying time of 28 seconds.
Becca Henkle has had a good start to her senior season on the diving board, but her weekend was a little up and down. On Friday, she balked on one of her dives, resulting in scoring only a 126 at the end of the day. However, on Saturday, she was back on form, putting up her second best score of the year with a 152.90, nearly eight points over 3A qualification.
On Saturday, Douglas was back for a second day of competition but this time Buffalo joined in on the action. 
Gross was once again on the blocks for the 200 Free, and she repeated with a first-place finish, however was just a little over a second slower than she had gone on Friday.
“Hannah was super tired on Saturday, and she was a little disappointed in her time,” Scribner admitted. “But then she did really well in the 100, so that made her happy.”
In the 100 Free, Gross picked up her second win of the day and shot into the wall in 55.79, just a second slower than her state finish last season.
Raeleigh Shipp dropped more time in the 100 Breaststroke and is now at a 1:31, her fastest time yet.
“She slowed down on her last two strokes as if she was trying to figure out where the wall was, so she could have been even faster,” Scribner noted. “When she got out of the pool, she said she felt great, so now we just need to get her first 50 a little bit faster.”
This Friday the Lady Dogies will head to Sheridan where they are expecting to see Buffalo, Natrona County and Sheridan. On Saturday, the squad will head to Worland for a meet there, though Scribner does not yet know who else will be on hand.