After ending the 2012-2013 season in fifth, the Hillsdale College swim team is ready for another chance to prove themselves and improve upon that result.
So far, the girls have already had their traditional Blue vs. White meet, and they have completed the Navy Seal Challenge- twice.
Senior Megan Smith said she would like to “improve all my events, and reach my goal of reaching the finals at our midseason meet.” The midseason meet is a three-day invitational in Chicago, Ill. where the competition will be especially stiff.
As the freshmen enter their first season, Smith wants them to “enjoy every moment of the season, and work hard in practice because it will pay off in the end.”
Sophomore Zoe Hopkins is excited and ready for another season. This season will be especially interesting for her because it will be her first full season competing in purely long distance training.
Last year, on a whim, head coach Kurt Kirner threw her into the mile swim for training purposes, and she ended up breaking a school record. That day marked the end of her middle distance and backstroke career and the beginning of a long distance one.
Hopkins is already looking towards the end of the season, and has her eyes on the GLIAC championship meet. Hopkins said this meet is her favorite because the girls get to “swim all day and hang out with teammates, as well as miss a few days of school and take a break from homework.”
Coach Kirner is optimistic for what this season has in store for the Chargers. Kirner said that he thinks the incoming class of freshmen– Emily Balog, Mae Bass, Kenzi Dickhudt, Kylie Powrie, Emily Shallman, and Whitley Sowell– is stronger than the group of outgoing seniors, so the team should be in a better spot than they were last year.
Kirner hopes to “improve upon last year’s fifth in the GLIAC, which is still a formidable conference despite a few teams leaving and a few joining.”
Kirner said he would love to have a few girls qualify for NCAAs, which hasn’t happened since Linda Okonkowski (‘12) went.
Kirner sees potential in the sophomore class and will be interested to see what they can pull off, especially Hopkins with her new training regimen and Jennifer Wheeler, who “came back to school in awesome shape, and has something to prove this year.”
Kirner also notes that Hopkins and Wheeler together “set the wheels in motion for the whole team”.
The girls know what they have to do, but it will definitely help if “they stay in the right mindset for the whole season,” Kirner said.
The Chargers will be in action next against Northern Michigan, this Friday, Oct. 11 at home.
