Swimmers end season in Laramie

The Lady Dogies wrapped up their 2022 season at the 3A State Swim meet in Laramie last weekend. Three individuals and three relay teams competed in a challenging pool of swimmers on Thursday during the preliminary events, and one individual and one relay team advanced to finals on Friday. 
“The state meet was as tough as I thought it was going to be, with both fast times and the number of teams competing,” reported head coach Doug Scribner. “Talking with the girls after, they were happy with the way the meet went and were able to make the goals they had set.”
Lydia Anderson was the only swimmer to advance to compete in finals. She had qualified in both the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Freestyle in the first meet of the season, and at the culminating meet, finished eighth in the prelims of the 50 Free with a personal best time of 26.07 seconds. Her place earned her a spot in the finals where she dropped to 12th place after swimming just a half a second slower than she had on Thursday.
In the 100 Free, she came in 14th with a time of 59.04. Unfortunately, only the top 12 finishers advanced to the finals.
“Lydia had a very good swim in the 50 Free,” Scribner said. “This was encouraging for her because she was not feeling the best, and that showed in the 100 Free where she just missed out on making it into finals.”
The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Raeleigh Shipp, Kyah Miller, Hailey Beastrom and Anderson went in with a time which placed them 12th and in the running for advancing to finals. However, Scribner acknowledged last week that they would have to swim their best times to turn the possibility into a reality.
Shipp got the team off to a great start by swimming her 50-yard leg in 28.46 seconds, which was a PR for her. Miller was next and finished in 28.35 seconds, Beastrom was third in 30.58 seconds and Anderson anchored with a time of 26.65 seconds. The squad did what they needed to do and placed 12th, earning their place in the finals.
“I was happy to make it in the 200 Free relay because that is one we have not been able to make the last couple of years,” Scribner said. “The last time we were that fast was in 2008, and that placed us eighth at state.”
In the finals, the team once again finished 12th in 1:54.53, which was half a second slower than their prelim time. After swimming the open 50 Free in 26.56 earlier in the day, Anderson swam a PR of 25.82 in her anchor leg of the relay. 
“Lydia again was not feeling the best in the open 50, but she bounced back in the relay with a PR on her anchor leg,” Scribner began. “She was excited about that, because swimming a 25 has been her goal all season.”
Shipp was another swimmer who was able to qualify for the meet. She swam a season best time of 2:19.02 in the 200 Free in prelims on Thursday, which moved her up from 23rd to 17th, however, her finish was five places short of making the finals.
Beastrom had a choice to make on Thursday between heading into the 100 Backstroke rested, or to be a part of the 200 Free Relay team. Having just gotten under the qualifying time for her individual event at the Last Chance Qualifier meet, Beastrom chose to risk it and swim on the relay team.  
“Hailey only had a couple minutes’ rest after the relay before swimming the backstroke,” Scribner explained. “We knew this was going to be the case, but ultimately she decided that swimming the relay with the seniors was worth it, and she was only three seconds off her best time — even with little rest.”
Beastrom’s time of 1:14.20 placed her 17th in the race, however, even if she had swam her PR, she still would have been two seconds out of making it to finals as 12th place finished in 1:09.
The 200 Medley Relay team of Beastrom, Ruth Rose, Rebekah Olson and Miller had a good swim, according to Scribner, but finished 13th and just out of finals contention. 
The 400 Free Relay team of Shipp, Jaydenn Nelson, Beastrom and Anderson wrapped up the prelims on Thursday by finishing 14th in a time of 4:30.03, which meant they would not be advancing to the finals on Friday.
“It was a quick turnaround again for Hailey, and for that matter for Raeleigh and Lydia as well,” Scribner said. “After the race, I admitted that they swam tough, but it was obvious that they had run out of gas.” 
Overall, Scribner was happy with how the 2022 season went, with most weeks ending in improved times.
“We tried a couple of different strategies in practice to help us get faster and I am happy with how they worked,” he said. “The girls bought into the new strategies and started working harder in practice to get some of those time drops we saw through the season.”
The squad will lose Anderson, Shipp and Miller to graduation, and Scribner admitted that they will be missed.
“The seniors were a big part of how well we did this season and did a great job leading and encouraging in practices and meets,” he said. “There was a great atmosphere all season which pushed the girls to practice hard and race hard.”