Swimmers dive into the season

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogies Swim team is getting their feet wet and preparing for their quickly approaching season. Head coach Doug Scribner has
seven young men on his team this year, and between them has every stroke covered, which wasn’t exactly the case last season.
“We were a little weak in the butterfly last year, but I think we have a good option for that this season,” Scribner began. “And, we have the breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle covered so I think our 200 Medley team could be tough this year.”
Returning for the Dogies are senior Austen Kenney, juniors James Cox and Conrad Prell and sophomore Travis Scribner. Two new additions to the squad are junior Grayson Ramsey and sophomore Zade Orsborn. 
Of the returning swimmers, four qualified for the state meet last season. Kenney qualified in the 50 and 100 Free. Cox qualified in the 100 Backstroke, Prell in the 500 Free and Humes in the 50 Free. 
Only Cox went on to
place at state meet, however Scribner feels confident that each will earn a chance to place at the culminating event again this year.
“All four of them have as a goal, qualifying for state and placing there as well,” Scibner nodded. “Qualifying shouldn’t be a problem, and they each have the potential to place
as well.”
Travis Scribner fell a little short last season, but was really close to qualifying in the breaststroke, so Coach Scribner also feels confident that he will be able to realize his goal of attaining a state berth.
Though this is the first season Orsborn is racing in high school swimming, he swam club last year so he has quite a bit of experience competing. 
“Zade is in pretty good shape and he’s looking pretty good so far in practice,” Scribner nodded. “He’ll probably qualify or will be really close to it.”
Ramsey is new to competitive swimming this year, but his technique is really coming along according to Scribner. 
“He’s in good shape overall and the breaststroke is his best in both technique and strength right now,” he explained. “We’re working on freestyle to get him there because that is the stroke we use most in practice and in meets. He is building his endurance and coordination and he’s seeing improvements every day.”
Once again, the backstroke is Cox’s strength, while Kenney’s is the freestyle. Both swimmers attended camps over the summer so got some experience and have been swimming in the off season which gives them a leg up coming into the season.
Orsborn is strong in the butterfly which is where the team was lacking last season. Young Scribner’s strength is the breaststroke while Prell and Humes do best in the freestyle. 
In addition to having high expectations for the 200 Medley Relay, another focus for the team this season is the 400 Free Relay.
“We’ve had a pretty strong four free the last two years where we’ve placed at Conference and also placed pretty well at State,” Scribner stated. “I think we can place higher at both this year with one more year of experience under our belts.”
Nearly all of the Dogies participated in a fall sport which brings them into the season a step ahead when it comes to being in shape.
“They are pretty conditioned so we’ve been able to transition into swimming to build that endurance,”Scribner smiled. “All seven guys have a really strong work ethic as a team and will really push each other all season which is awesome.” 
Next week is open for the team due to Scribner being gone for a science presentation in Seattle. Therefore, their first competition will be the 20th and 21st at Kelly Walsh in Casper where the squad will compete in a pre-invite and invitational. 
“I was a little concerned about missing the first weekend initially, because we were a little light on meets, but we were able to pick up a couple of Tuesday and Thursday meets with Douglas so that will give us more time in the pool,” Scribner stated.