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Swimming and diving prepares for championships
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The Boise State Broncos swimming team entered its second season of competition with high hopes of success. With the regular season in the rearview now, it appears the Broncos have taken great strides forward from their inaugural season.
The women recorded five wins and ten losses, which included a loss to in-state rival, University of Idaho. They did experience some success at the UC Irvine Invitational in Irvine, Calif., however, where they finished third with a score of 258.
“It’s a long season,” Head Coach Kristin Hill said. “We started training the first of September and so we build up and work harder and harder and harder and now we get to come back down.”
All that preparation has the Broncos now staring at the Western Athletic Conference championships, which will be held this week in San Antonio, Texas. The team is looking at some stiff competition against the Nevada and Hawai’i squads who have performed very well this year. Coach Hill said she hopes the Broncos second trip to the championships will be more well-rounded that last season’s.
“It’s a lot different,” Hill said. “Last year we really only scored points in our relays and this year we’ll have a lot of individuals who score.”
Like any new program, the BSU swimmers and divers must manage the rigors of competition with the excitement of the new experience as well.
“It should be great,” Hill said. “There’s eight teams in our conference and last year we were a solid eighth . it was a group of walk-ons who wanted to help get the team started and this year is a totally different team. It’s going to be a neat meet for them.”
Tara Hahto, a freshman from Canada, is expected to score in all three of her events – the 200 breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM. Katelyn LoFland and Rachael Meisner are two other Broncos expected to shine at the championships in the distance events.
“Katelyn really has the opportunity to win, potentially, the mile,” Hill said. “But definitely top three would be well within her reach. Rachael in the 500 could do some really outstanding things and she’s a good mile swimmer as well.”
Allison Hall is also expected to score points for the Broncos.
“Allison Hall, in the 200 Butterfly and actually in the IM and the 100 Butterfly, she should score,” Hill said.
Despite the Broncos’ record, Coach Hill said she feels they have the opportunity to excel at the championships. The swimmers and divers qualified during different parts of the season and will try to gain a spot in the NCAA Championships held in March. The championships are separated in to four different zones with the top performers moving to the final phase of the event.
Achieving this kind of success is not out of reach because of the intense nature of the conference championships. Even if the team doesn’t make the trip to the NCAA championships this year, with the growth that the program has already seen the possibility becomes much more feasible next year.
Coach Hill said that the possibilities for the future is what excites her the most.
“Our girls who are returners from last year have totally done a 360,” Hill said. “They are just completely new swimmers and that’s just exciting and we have 20 new girls on the team, so it’s completely different."
KIRK BELL
Sports Writer