Swim team begins season with a victory

By Chase Rowe,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

The Davis High swim team faced off against the Elk Grove Thundering Herd for their first meet of the season at Arroyo Pool on March 4. The nearly 3-hour long meet ended in a victory for the Blue Devils, who will move on to race against their rivals on the Jesuit High School and St. Francis High School teams next week.

The meet kicked off with JV events and progressed into varsity events. Finally, the night ended with the crucial relays, which offer several times the points of normal events to the teams that place in the top three.

The women’s races preceded the men’s races in both JV and varsity categories. Junior Karenna Hunt, who swims for the varsity women, felt that her team’s victory was sweet but that it doesn’t guarantee an easy season.

“Our relays were pretty good, but it’s only the first meet of the year,” she said. “We’re still all getting used to competing.” Hunt went on to say that “as long as we bring our A-game every single time [like today], we’ll do the best we can.”

Junior Henry Burke and his relay team won first place in their event, contributing to the DHS win. Additionally, Burke qualified for his “section cut,” meaning that he is now able to swim at section championships near the end of the season.

“This year, we’re going to come out hard and we’re going to try to win sections,” Burke said.

Burke and his relay team said that the men’s team could work on focusing more during the meet itself.

Head coach Tracy Stapleton considered the meet a success. “It was great,” he said. “It was nice because we were able to have a lot of kids swim […] it gives you a sense of how they’re performing and racing a little bit.”

Stapleton said that he is looking forward to next week’s dual meet with Jesuit and St. Francis. “I like that just because it’s competition, and that motivates you–the competitive juices are flowing, so to speak, and that motivates you to bring up your game.”

Stapleton echoed his swimmer’s statements regarding the future meet, saying that “we’ll bring out the A-game.”