Coming off of a championship-winning 2011-2012 season, Puget Sound swimming is looking to repeat their high level of performance in the pool this year. So far, so good.
Led by veteran coach Chris Myhre in his 19th season as head coach of the Loggers, the Puget Sound swim teams started off the 2012-2013 season with a bang.
Coming off of wins for both the men’s and women’s swim teams over College of Idaho a few weeks ago, Puget Sound went into the Northwest Conference Relays meet on Sunday, Oct. 28 with two wins under their belt already.
Featuring a variety of nontraditional events, this preseason event offers NWC teams an initial preview of the season to come. For the Loggers, who came in 4th (out of 8 NCW teams) with 49 total points, it was a fairly successful meet that promised future success.
“This meet is always really fun because we get to see the whole conference for the first time this season and every race is a team effort,” senior Tracy Wormwood (Elk River, Minn.) said. “We did well racing today, and even though we might be a little worn out, we know our hard work will pay off later, in the championship season.”
Highlights of the meet came from both the men’s and women’s teams. Sophomore Melissa Norrish (Denver, Colo.), senior Mariah Snowden (Altadena, Calif.) and freshman Auri Clark (Juneau, Alaska) captured the top spot in the women’s 300 yard butterfly relay event with a time of 3:05.07.
In the mixed 200 yard medley relay, a Puget Sound team composed of freshman Keven Henley (Evanstown, Ill.), Wormwood, Clark and sophomore Clayton Jacobson (Corvallis, Ore.) came in third with a time of 1:47.71.
In the men’s 300 yard butterfly relay, senior Aleksandar Jeremikj (Skopje, Macedonia), sophomore Jared Fisk (Elko, Nev.) and senior Maxwell Cohen (Albuquerque, N.M.) came in at 2:42.18 to clinch the second spot. With a time of 2:46.01, junior Teale Kitson (Durango, Colo.), Henley and junior Derek Frenzel (Moscow, Idaho) came in second in the men’s 300 yard backstroke relay.
In the women’s 300 yard breaststroke relay, senior Jessica Jaynes (Denver, Colo.), senior Ann Barrington (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and Wormwood swam a 3:37.32 time to clinch the third spot. Jeremikj, Kitson and Frenzel swam a 5:30.88 to capture the second spot finish in the men’s 600 yard freestyle relay.
In the women’s 300 yard medley relay, Norrish, Clark and Wormwood brought in another second place finish for the Loggers with a time of 3:15.94, and with a time of 8:45.51, Frenzel, Kitson and Cohen clinched a second place finish in the men’s 900 yard freestyle medley as well.
“Coming off the Alumni festivities and the Don Duncan Alumni Meet, the NWC Relay Meet was a challenging event to get the swimmers prepared for. We do not normally compete on Sundays, so everything felt just a little off-routine. We swam well, placing fourth out of eight teams, and had it not been for three relay disqualifications, the Loggers would have fared a little better,” Myhre said.
Loggers’ swimming has high hopes for the 2012-2013 season.
“Our team expectations for this year are to compete. I know that sounds like the standard company line, but it’s what we do. And it’s what we have been doing for 56 seasons,” Myhre said.
Look out for the Loggers this weekend, who will be hosting Pacific at 6 p.m. tonight, Nov. 2nd, and Lewis and Clark at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 3rd.
