By TODD HVEEM CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
Feb. 9, 2009, 5:26PM
The Tomball Cougars and Lady Cougars probably won’t be major players when it comes to deciding the Region IV swim championships.
But Tomball coach Lee Wright knows he has plenty of chances to send some swimmers to the Class 5A state meet in Austin in a couple weeks.
“We have seventeen kids going to regionals (on Friday and Saturday at Conroe ISD Natatorium),” Wright said. “We have sixteen swimmers and one diver (Amanda Leach).
“It is easily going to be the toughest meet we have been to this year. You have The Woodlands, Klein and the Cy-Fair schools. But we have some kids who have a chance to move on to the next level.”
Friday’s preliminaries will start at 9:30 a.m. and the finals will start at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The winner of each event and the next eight fastest times from around the state will advance to the Class 5A state meet on Feb. 27-28 in Austin.
This year, all eight of the fastest times could come from one region. In years past, only four of the eight fastest times could come from one region.
“We have a sophomore girl (Mikayla Felichak) who won the 200 freestyle (1:57.69) and 500 freestyle (5:10.35) at district,” Wright said. “She missed state last year by less than .02 of a second, yet she was an All-American. This year, she is going to have to go even faster. She is going to have to really step up, but she is driven.
“Matthew Duhon has a good shot in the 100 butterfly. He is a really hard worker and really committed to swimming. He is going to swim at Delta State after he graduates (from high school).”
Tomball also qualified all six relay teams to the regional meet.
“All but one of our relays earned the silver medal (behind Klein) at district,” Wright said. “We have never done that before.
“The girls got second (in district behind Klein). We had never done that before. Our boys were third overall. I was pleased with most of them. We are really young. We had a lot of freshmen step up and play key roles on relays. That is always good.”
Wright said he is excited about this weekend’s meet.
“All the coaches are calling it super regionals,” he said. “The Woodlands, Klein and Cy-Fair are extremely fast. The schools in Round Rock and Cedar Park are extremely fast. It is going to be something to see. Hopefully, we will get some kids in the finals and go from there.”
Wright said if the Cougars can qualify for the finals on Saturday, they have a great shot to get to state.
“In this region, if you can make the finals, you can make it to state,” Wright said. “We just need to focus on getting to the finals on Friday and then hope to keep swimming a couple more weeks.”
Wright is in his 11th year as the team’s head coach. He was an assistant coach at Tomball for three years before taking over the position in 1998.
“We used to practice at the YMCA and then we practiced with the Fleet club team,” Wright said. “Our pool opened in November of 2003. I can boldly say it is one of the fastest pools in the Houston area. It is a fantastic facility. We are lucky to have it. It is great for training and competition.”
No comments:
Post a Comment