McCook senior 10th in two events at state swim meet

LINCOLN -- The McCook High School swimming and diving teams fight a numbers game when it comes to state meet competition.

There is only one school classification for Nebraska high school swimming and diving. The Bison are the smallest of the state's schools that compete in the sport, and that means that McCook doesn't have the squad numbers on the rosters compared to the much bigger Omaha and Lincoln squads. So when McCook scores points at state, it's probably considered a pretty big deal.

Senior Whitney Korgan did just that, as she scored all of McCook's points in the girls division at the state championship competition held lThursday through Saturday, Feb. 25-27, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center pool in Lincoln.

Korgan finished tenth in the consolation finals in two events, the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle.

Korgan was tenth in the 50 freestyle preliminaries Friday with a time of 25.06 seconds. She matched that time to finish tenth in the finals Saturday. Whitney also was ninth in the 100 freestyle prelims Friday with a time of 55.94 seconds. She hit a time of 55.91 in the consolation finals Saturday to finish tenth.

In the individual and relay swimming events at state, the top 12 times from the prelims advance to the finals. The top six fastest times compete in the championship finals, and those competitors can place no worse than sixth overall. The next six fastest prelim times compete in the consolation finals, and those competitors can place no higher than seventh depending on their performances in the finals.

McCook head coach Lori Jumps was pleased with Korgan's effort.

"I think she did a great job," Jumps said. "I know that she was disappointed that she didn't get under 25 (seconds in the 50 free), and she wanted to get in the (championship) finals. Those were her goals and she didn't quite make her goals. But being at the state meet is a big accomplishment."

Korgan also placed seventh in the 50 freestyle consolation finals at the 2009 state meet.

Two relay teams

McCook had two relay teams qualify for the girls state meet. The all-senior quartet of Jayde Aufrecht, Katie Latta, Madeline Shaddock and Korgan recorded a time of 1 minute, 48.02 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle relay preliminaries Friday. That time was 17th fastest, and the Bison team did not qualify for the finals.

"They swam a little faster than they had all year, only by two-hundredths," Coach Jumps said. "I always go for improvement, so they improved.

"It's really intimidating to swim in that pool, even if they swam in it before. To be there (at state) at that level, to see all the people, it is intimidating."

The McCook 400 freestyle relay quartet of Aufrecht, Sydnie Stamm, Shaddock and Korgan was disqualified in Friday's prelims.

McCook had one entrant in the boys division at state. Sophomore Josh Stevens competed Thursday in the one-meter diving event. Stevens was in 12th place with 133.30 points after the preliminary round that consisted of five dives. He slipped to 13th after three more dives in the semifinal round with a total of 201.65 points, and he just missed qualifying for the finals.

The top 12 divers qualified for the finals, and David Bunker of North Platte nudged Stevens out of the finals. Bunker earned the 12th and final spot in the final round with his score of 206.85 points on eight dives, slipping ahead of Stevens by just over five points.

Addison Buschult of Ralston/Omaha Gross won the state title with a score of 413 points. Kory Swarbrick of Bellevue West finished second with 391.35 points.

A total of 25 divers opened the state diving competition Thursday afternoon. The top 16 competitors after the first round of five dives advanced to the semifinals.

Improvement throughout season

Coach Jumps was happy with the effort of all her team members throughout the season.

"I thought everybody did great, they improved," Jumps said. "I know Whitney didn't get as low (times) as she wanted to and wasn't as low as she was last year, but she worked hard. She had some injuries that she overcame, I'm sure that had something to do with that.

"I'm always 'Improve, improve improve' and I saw improvement in all the kids. It was a really good season."

Jumps loses six seniors from this year's squad, all from the girls team -- Jayde Aufrecht, Whitney Korgan, Katie Latta, Madeline Shaddock, Cheney Solomon and Sydnie Stamm.

Coach Jumps said Stevens and fellow diver Austin Molcyk will likely be McCook's top hopes for state qualifying next season.

The McCook coach would like to see the state's swim teams split into two divisions to give the smaller schools a more level playing field.

"Competing against the bigger schools, it's kind of sad that the smaller schools don't get more kids in there (placing at state)," Jumps said. "I would really like it if they would split it Class A and B. There's a few teams that dominate every year."

Millard West won the girls division and Omaha Creighton Prep claimed the boys state team title. Omaha and Lincoln-area schools dominated the top four team spots in both divisions.