Manitou Springs swim coach Whitney Nuci wasn’t sure what to expect at the Break the Ice Invitational at Berthoud High School on Dec. 11.
All she knows is that she came away very pleased with the performance that the Mustangs put together. Seven of 11 girls swam state-qualifying times, which is a big accomplishment so early in the season. With the times determined, it allowed the girls to zone in on their performances from a competitive standpoint rather than a qualifying standpoint.
“It’s nice to get that done early because then you aren’t stressing,” Aidan Coté said. “It’s not like last year so you can actually focus on what you need to focus on.”
Coté, Summer Tenpas, Sophia Hyman, Tyler Parratt, Theron Heim, Selah Combs and Grace McCumber all qualified for the state meet in various events. The Mustangs finished seventh as a team, but considering the modest size of this year’s roster, Nuci couldn’t have been happier with the overall performance.
“I didn’t know what to expect because this is an (inaugural meet) and we’ve never competed against the northern schools,” she said. “It was really interesting to see how everyone competed together and how they competed individually.”
The Mustangs have one more big meet before heading into the winter break.
This weekend, they head to the Cheyenne Mountain Invite, which traditionally brings out some of the best regular season competition the state gets to see. This will provide a good measurement of where the team stands before the hiatus.
The challenge then becomes maintaining their conditioning so they can continue improving once school starts up again in January.
“The holidays are hard and that’s what is tough about being a winter athlete,” Coté said. “I think we just need to be in the pool as much as possible and take advantage of these three weeks to train and get ready for more fast racing.”