Hillcrest swimmers start season with big win

Hillcrest swimming made a strong statement with its win against Taylorsville at the end of October. Both teams soundly beat the Warriors, Oct. 27, with a score of 132-36 for the girls and 114-46 for the boys. For coach Tom Huddleston, the win came as a bit of a surprise. The team is small this year and more than half of them are first time swimmers.

“We weren’t looking to have a meet like that but we had the opportunity to win,” Huddlestone said. “Even though we’re small, I would say we might be a better team than last year. It’s amazing how well they are doing.”

Size is not always indicative of performance and this team is proof of that. Huddlestone said he anticipated his team winning against Taylorsville, but never expected them to have such a large margin of victory. Senior girls captain Ambree Gawrych said even though the girls team is small, they are all working toward swimming faster at each race.

“I think our new swimmers are better than we thought they’d be so that helps us,” Gawrych said. “We could always work harder but we’re on track now. It’s a long season but I think we’re doing well.

The swimming season started in October and will run through February. Although the Huskies are just getting started, Huddlestone said every meet is important.

Ambree Gawrych is already on track with state qualifying times in the 100 free, 50 free and 100 breaststroke. Seniors Tyler Crouse and Austin Gawrych are close to qualifying already in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Spencer Boettcher is just barely under last year’s qualifying time for the 100 breaststroke. Huddlestone said the move to 4A and a new region hasn’t changed much for the team, although qualifying times in 4A are slightly less than 5A.

Several freshmen are already making a name for themselves in the pool. Kristi Vielstick and Mia Quintero have been doing well so far this year and shaving time off their best swims. David Skorut on the boys side is already swimming close to the state qualifying time. Huddlestone said most of the younger swimmers are close to qualifying for state already.

“We graduated 17 seniors last year so we’re going to have to build back up. We’ve got some outstanding freshman this year though, and I’m excited to see what they can do,” he said.

Huddlestone said he’s using the earlier meets to get his swimmers in their best events and trying people out in different races. Many to the older swimmers have been doing the same event every year and he said by mixing it up a bit, it has already achieved better results.

“We’re trying to shake out who can do what for us. When we get to the region meet in February we’ll know what to put kids in to get us to state,” he said. “They are developing really well. If we can make sure we make the lineup right every week we should have a good year.”