With a third straight Western Conference 4A South Division championship in the books, the Shorewood boys swim team is turning its attention to the postseason.
The Thunderbirds completed their Wesco South schedule last week with a 112-72 victory over Mariner to improve to 8-0 in league meets and 9-1 overall.
“The guys are pretty excited about it,” first-year coach Scott Kelley said of Shorewood’s three-peat. “Our captains set a good tone and we had nice team unity. We have about 40 guys and I don’t think any of them ever felt left out.”
Kamiak and Jackson were the only teams that offered the T-birds much of a challenge, but Shorewood’s depth proved to be more than either could handle.
“We knew those would be our two biggest meets,” Kelley said. “Some things fell our way and we had some good swims from people that were a little unexpected.”
The T-birds also received a boost from their diving corps. Five Shorewood divers — freshmen Spencer Mestel and Kelley Neubauer, sophomore Eric Ardissono, junior Blake Gruger and senior Wade Gurnett — qualified for sectionals.
“They all really push each other,” Kelley said. “Right now Spencer’s probably the standout. He’s been looking real sharp and he’s got some high-difficulty dives.”
Shorewood has already secured a pair of Class 4A state meet entries. Junior Garret Gentling qualified in the 100-yard backstroke and the T-birds will send a 200 freestyle relay team.
Kelley expects to pick up a few more entries at the Wesco South sectional meet Feb. 12-13 at Kamiak High School. The top finishers in each event at the Wesco North and South sectional meets receive state berths as well as the better of the two second-place finishers.
Gentling advanced to state in the 200 individual medley last year and Kelley feels sophomore Matt Kim stands a good chance of qualifying in the 100 butterfly.
“He dropped about a second every time he swam it,” Kelley said. “He needs one more big drop to make it to state and I think he can do it.”
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