Swim team ends on a high note

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Newcastle Dogie Swim team sent five individual swimmers to compete at the 3A State Swim meet in Laramie last Friday and Saturday, the most head coach Doug Scribner has ever had qualify for the culminating meet.
Though only one was able to live to compete on Saturday, the young team gained valuable experience in the toughest and most talented pool of 3A swimmers in the state.
“It was a really fast meet with a lot of good times,” exclaimed Scribner. “Lander broke five state records, and Rawlins beat Lander in the 200 Free Relay. We have all but one of our qualifiers back next year, and now they know exactly what it takes to be successful at the state meet.”
James Cox was the only Dogie to advance to finals in an individual event, however the 200 Medley Relay team and the 400 Free Relay team — both comprised of Cox, Garrett Merchen, Austen Kenney and Robert Humes — raced in personal best times equalling or surpassing previous years.
“Even though James was the only one who made finals, our guys did really well,” Scribner nodded. “Several of the guys were ranked between 14th and 16th going in so they had to drop quite a bit of time to get into the top 12.”
Kenney needed to shave off four seconds in the 100 Free and two in the 50 Free. Humes also would have had to take off over two seconds in the 50 Free which is a daunting task in such a short race.
Cox needed to carve about five seconds off in the Butterfly, however heading into the 100 Backstroke with a 1:04, he was seeded high enough to give him a chance. The sophomore took full advantage of his seeding, finishing seventh in the prelims on Friday with a personal best time of 1:03.04.
“James did really well on Friday, and was seeded first in the consolation finals on Saturday,” Scribner began. “Then I don’t know if he was nervous or what, but he didn’t have a great start and ended up 12th, adding a little over three seconds to his time from prelims.”
Though Saturday’s performance by Cox was a little anticlimactic, his time in the Backstroke in prelims was good enough to rank him in the top 10 of Dogie history landing him at number eight.
All three relay teams also advanced to the finals on Saturday. Scribner focused on the 200 Medley Relay and the 400 Free Relay which bookended the meet. The decision to put their best foot forward in these two races was due to Cox and Merchen each competing in individual events which follow closely behind the 200 Free Relay event.
“We were seeded 11th or 12th in all relays, so we didn’t have a great advantage going in,” Scribner admitted. “I put our best lineup in the 200 Medley and the 400 Free, and they both performed very well over the weekend.”
The 200 Medley team made up of Cox in the Backstroke, Merchen in the Breaststroke, Kenney in the Butterfly and Humes in the Freestyle finished in 2:00.69 on Friday setting a personal best, and then in 1:59.35 (another personal best) on Saturday where they finished 10th overall.
“I think that their time might have been the best we’ve had since 2008,” Scribner smiled. “All of the individuals PR’d either on Friday or Saturday. James went 29 seconds in Back, Garrett was 33 in the Breast, Austen was 30 in the Fly and Robert was 26 in Free.”
The 400 Free, comprised of the same four who swam the 200 Medley, finished ninth in finals and came close to getting under four minutes.
“I was hoping to get under four minutes, and we were pretty fast but both Garrett and James had just swam a race so they were a little bit slower on Friday,” Scribner stated. “On Saturday we dropped about two seconds from our prelim time, and James PR’d with a 59 on his leg of the race. Austen was 57, Garrett was 1:00 and Robert was a 1:01. I was hoping for a 3:59 but we didn’t quite make it, but even in 2008, we didn’t have a 4:00 400 Free Relay.
The remaining members of the Dogie squad - three who had not qualified for the State meet in an individual event — were given the opportunity to compete both days in the 200 Free Relay.
Zach Benshoof, Conrad Prell, Dalton Parsons and Kaden Curren swam a 2:09 on Friday, but on Saturday, all four PR’d and dropped nine seconds to finish in a little over 2:00. In the finals, Parsons finished his career on a high note, swimming a 27 second leg which is the fastest he’s ever swum the 50 Free.
Merchen had the misfortune to DQ in the prelims of the 100 Breaststroke, his signature race, on Friday.
“He was ready, but I think maybe he was a little too ready and keyed up, because he DQ’d with a false start,” Scribner frowned. “He didn’t dive in early, but you are not allowed to move at all on the blocks. Unfortunately, he did move which disqualified him.
In reflecting on the season, Scribner was very pleased with the progress his team has made in the last couple of years, and is looking forward to seeing improvement going forward.
“Two years ago, we lost our top two swimmers so I challenged everyone, but really Austen and Garrett, stressing that they couldn’t rely on those guys to carry the team anymore,” Scribner began. “If they wanted to have any kind of success, it was up to them to step up and get it done.”
“Those two really took that seriously and to heart,” he continued. “Garrett qualified last year in breaststroke and I think that really started it for everyone else. All of the guys realized that they were capable of qualifying and to have five this year was impressive and encouraging to show that hard work pays off.”