craigdailypress.com

Craig — The Moffat County High School boys swimming team qualified two of its relay teams for the state tournament during a meet March 8 in Grand Junction.

A notable feat in the teams' first meet of the season.

On Saturday, in the Patriot Invite at the University of Denver, MCHS added two more qualifiers to the expanding list of Moffat County swimmers headed to Fort Collins in May.

Senior Cole Worsley placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 48.5 seconds, easily eclipsing the 53.50 qualifying time.

Senior Tyler Kalsow recorded a time of 23.5 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, bettering the 23.8 seconds required for state.

"They really did well," MCHS coach Patti Worsley said of the team. "They really worked hard. All the kids did really well. They all performed at a higher level."

Coach Worsley pointed to the improvement of freshman Charlie Griffiths, the time reduction by Kyle Steitz in the 100-yard backstroke and the dedication by Andrew Aultman in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke.

"Andrew swam personal bests in his two events," Patti Worsley said. "He did really well. Most of the kids did best times in everything."

Steitz reduced his time in the 100-yard backstroke by three seconds, swimming a time of 103.8, a small 1.3-second margin away from the required 102.5.

Moffat County placed 14th overall as a team.

The Patriot Invite was a mixture of 20 4A and 5A programs, and Coach Worsley said before the meet that she was excited for the team to have the opportunity to swim in a meet of the Patriot's caliber.

When the meet had finished, she said it was a great learning experience for the younger kids on the team, and good for them to be able to see different competition from across the state.

"I think they were in a little bit of awe because it was so big," she said. "It's a very fast pool there. It was jam-packed. With 20 teams, you can imagine how busy it was."

The Bulldogs swim team will have almost a month away from competition.

Moffat's meet April 5 in Grand Junction was canceled. The team's next scheduled event is April 20, when the Bulldogs host Montrose in the team's lone home meet of the season.

John Vandelinder can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 211, or jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com.