Swimmers prep for postseason

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
The Lady Dogies are winding down their regular season in the pool, and with only one having punched her ticket to the state meet, head coach Doug Scribner used some strategy as he entered his swimmers into their events in Buffalo on Saturday. 
“Going into this meet,
we had talked about improving in different events and after doing some work
in practice, everyone decided what they wanted to swim,” began Scribner. “Our focus was really for the upcoming meet this weekend in Gillette and trying to qualify there, so I wanted the girls to use this meet to switch things up a bit.”
Lydia Anderson’s shoulder is finally feeling better, so Scribner had her lead off the 200 Medley Relay swimming the backstroke. Given that the distance in the relay is only a 50 instead of a 100 as it is in the open, Scribner wanted to see what Anderson could do in that shorter distance.
“This was only the first time she has swam the backstroke all year, and she hardly practices it due to the strain it puts on the shoulder,” he explained. “She finally felt comfortable and confident so she gave it a try and she swam pretty well.”
After her success on Saturday, Scribner noted that she may give the Open 100 Backstroke a shot in Gillette this weekend. 
“She was close in the backstroke last year and she has really good technique,” he stated. “So if she feels up to it this weekend, we’ll give it a go, and if not, we’ll try it at conference.”
Lilly Ralls has been working on the 100 freestyle regarding sprinting and kicking strong throughout, and her hard work paid off as she dropped 3.24 seconds from her best time in that event. 
Raeleigh Shipp has been focusing on qualifying in the 50 and 100 freestyle events throughout the season, however, Scribner held her out of both races in Buffalo.
“She’s been swimming qualifying times for the 200 free in practice pretty consistently, so I wanted her to try that last weekend,” Scribner declared. “She swam it the first weekend out but hadn’t raced it again. She ended up dropping almost 6 seconds and was just 9 seconds away from qualifying, which is totally do-able for her.”
Shipp not only took an impressive amount of time off in the 200 Freestyle, she also owned her heat while doing so. 
“She was seeded about 8-10 seconds faster than the next swimmer, so I told her she would just have to race herself,” Scribner said. “I knew she would be faster than her seed time and she ended up finishing way out in front of everyone else.” 
Shipp also took on the 100 Butterfly Race which she hadn’t attempted since the meet in Lander the first weekend of the season. She improved in that event as well, taking 3.62 seconds off her previous time. 
Ruth Rose was able to complete the 200 IM for the first time this season, thus establishing a time for herself after DQing in previous attempts. 
Scribner is also taking good, long looks at the relays in order to put the best combinations together in order to make it into the top 12 so his girls can swim on Saturday at the state meet. This weekend is the first of three more opportunities remaining to put up qualifying times for the state meet. The Lady Dogies will compete in Gillette on Friday and Saturday this weekend. Friday’s event is a pre-invite, then on Saturday is the invitational meet which Scribner anticipates will be the largest competition his team has experienced this season.
“Since State is going to be in Gillette this year, I expect a lot of teams to be there to compete this weekend,” he nodded. “I bet we’ll see 13 teams, if not more.”