Last chance pays off

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
It came down to the wire, but the Newcastle Lady Dogie swim team added another individual qualifier for the State Meet this weekend at the Last Chance Qualifier Meet in Gillette last Thursday.
Madi Townsend was close in both the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke a few weeks ago. However, she did not compete from then until last Thursday, so there was some urgency going into this final meet.
Having had a little rest from competition prior to the Last Chance Qualifier, coupled with the high stakes riding on her performance on the day, Townsend rose to the challenge and carved an impressive 3.87 seconds off her 200 Free time to come in almost two seconds under the 3A qualifying time. Not only did her 2:21.51 finish punch her ticket to the season’s culminating event, it was also a personal best for Townsend’s career.
“Madi’s time is a pretty good one because it’s under the 3A time,” head coach Doug Scribner began. “If she can have another good drop at state, hopefully we can get her in the top 12 to advance her to the finals on Saturday.”
Though she shaved 2.89 seconds off her 100 Backstroke time, also a personal best, Townsend touched the wall just a mere .69 seconds shy of the 3A qualifying time in that race.
“It was exciting and definitely a highlight of the meet to see Madi qualify in the 200 Free,” Scribner exclaimed. “And though she didn’t quite make it in the Backstroke, she wasn’t too disappointed since she did in her other event.”
With the qualification, Townsend joined teammate Hannah Gross as the second Lady Dogie who will be competing in an individual event in Laramie.
It wasn’t just Townsend who landed personal bests at this final regular season meet. Gross, who raced in only one individual event on the day, took two seconds off her time in the 100 Breaststroke to pick up a PR and a 4A qualifying time in that event.
“It was Hannah’s goal to qualify for state in all her events with a 4A time, and she had accomplished that in all but the breaststroke,” Scribner smiled. “She was only about a second away before Thursday, so she was pretty excited to have made it happen.”
Though there were no other individual qualifiers, Scribner was pleased with how all of his swimmers performed and the time drops he saw from almost everyone.
Autumn Mills put up two personal bests on the day. The first was a half-second drop in the 50 Freestyle and the second was in the 100 Free, where she cut 1.79 seconds from her fastest time of the season.
Becca Henkle was 3.74 seconds faster than her previous best finish in the 100 Butterfly, and Paige Liggett dropped 3.37 seconds from her 100 Free for a PR in that event.
The squad will head to Laramie for the State Meet this Friday and Saturday with the two individual qualifiers and the three relay teams set to vie for top honors. 
“We swam in Laramie at an invite just a couple of weeks ago and we did pretty well, so I wouldn’t expect anything different this weekend,” Scribner predicted. “We will put our best relays together for the prelims because with 13 teams, one will get cut for finals and we don’t want to be that one.”
As of Monday, it was determined that Gross will race the 100 Backstroke, and had narrowed down her second choice to either the 50 or 100 Freestyle. Scribner noted that he has until Friday morning to submit his final lineup, though he added that they will likely make the decision before that deadline.
The meet will begin on Friday with warmups at 1:30 p.m. Diving starts at 3:30 with swimming to follow, and the team will be back at it at 7:45 a.m. for warmups on Saturday with competition starting at 10 a.m.