craigdailypress.com

Throughout the course of a swimming season, particularly the Moffat County High School boys team, the main goal at each meet is to reach the state qualifying time in its chosen discipline.

Sometimes, qualifying times are never met.

Sometimes, they are met in the regular season finale.

And other times, qualifying marks are met early, relieving pressure for the remaining portion of the season.

The latter was the case for the MCHS boys 200-yard freestyle relay team and the 400-yard freestyle relay team Saturday in the Grand Junction Relays.

"They all swam really well," coach Patti Worsley said. "They all swam really fast times. Some of the new kids did really well. They just really stepped up. It was a really good meet for them."

The 200-free team - Tyler Kalsow, Kyle Steitz, Cody Poirot and Cole Worsley - swam the eight laps required in one minute, 35.83 seconds, more than two seconds faster than the state qualifying time of 1:41.00.

The 400-free team - Steitz, Andrew Aultman, Kalsow and Worsley - clocked a time of 3:38.52, nearly 12 seconds faster than the required 3:50.50 needed to qualify for the state meet.

"The boys were great," Worsley said. "They did really well, early."

Worsley said she was looking at the small things this weekend.

"I just wanted to see if they could get through without getting a D.Q. (disqualification)," she said. "Make sure they are doing their turns properly, to try to see if their technique looks good and to see if they have some sort of racing spirit as well."

The boys showed they did.

Moffat County placed second at the event, earning 234 points. District 51, a combination of Grand Junction high schools, placed first with a score of 358, Montrose finished third with 214 points.

Now that the Bulldog swimmers have checked two events off of the state-qualifying list early, Worsley said the team could now be a little more relaxed.

"Our goal was to get them qualified," she said. "It gets that out of the way and kind of gives us a chance to relax about those two."

Worsley said on the teams' list of to-dos is to get the medley relay team qualified as well as some individual performers.

"Some of the kids are really trying hard right now," she said.

"We are trying to get as many opportunities as we can to qualify. These boys really want it."