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Doing well, working hard and having fun.

Moffat County High School boys swim team coach Patti Worsley used those words when describing how the Bulldog swimmers are faring heading into today's Patriot Invite in Denver.

The swimmers are making the 400-mile round trip that will take about eight hours, in an attempt to cut a few seconds off of its times in the pool.

The Bulldog 200-meter freestyle team enters Denver as the No. 6-ranked 4A team in the state. The 400-meter freestyle team enters No. 10. Cole Worsley enters as the No. 1-ranked swimmer in the 50-meter freestyle; he is No. 2 in the 100-meter freestyle.

"We've got some high-ranked swimmers in there, so I think we'll do pretty well," Worsley said. "There are going to be some faster times there. They're up there with the best 5A and 4A swimmers in the state. It's great. It will be a very competitive time."

The Patriot Invite hosts all levels of competition, unlike next week's Coaches Invite, in which teams must qualify to enter.

Since the season still is young, Patti Worsley said competing in a meet of the Patriot Invite's caliber will enable her to mix up the swimmers in an effort to find which swimmers do well in different events.

"Some of the kids will have an opportunity to swim in a really big meet for the first time," she said. "There will be a lot of different skill levels. In some events, there is almost 90 kids. There will be a lot of schools there."

The 200-free and 400-free teams achieved state qualifying times last week in Grand Junction, so Patti Worsley said the focus this week is to try and get some individual performers to make the cut.

"I'd love to see if there's any way we can get some of the kids - maybe Tyler (Kalsow) or maybe Cody (Poirot) or somebody - qualified in the 50-free," she said. "I don't know if they are quite there yet; they may be. And the other kids, you never know."

Coach Worsley said some of the kids will be trying events for the first time. Others are looking to shave time in specific areas.

"We are just trying to get closer to making cuts for the state meet," she said. "It may be a little way off, but some of them may be ready. We'll just have to see what happens."

Patti Worsley held time trials this week to gauge where the team is at, and she said she was impressed.

"They did really well," she said. "I found out where everybody is at with certain strokes, and now we can gear up for our meets down the road."

Moffat County added a 12th swimmer to its roster this week.

Chance Peterson, younger brother of Chet, joined the MCHS swim team Monday.

"It's great," Coach Worsley said. "I think they all seem to fit in really well with each other. It's nice. They are just a great group of boys to coach. It's a lot of fun."