The symbolic river to the promised land of milk and honey for Northern Nevada swimmers is the Carson Aquatic Center this week.
On Friday and Saturday, the Northern 4A meet will be held here in Carson, with competition to begin at 2 p.m. each day. The top three finishers in each event will advance to the promised land - the NIAA 4A State Championships to be held Saturday, May 22 at Las Vegas.
Carson's boys and girls swim teams will have 24 swimmers - 12 from each team - competing in the zone meet and the Senators believe they have a chance to advance as many of those swimmers as possible to state. Carson's boys and girls teams also believe they can finish high in the team standings in this week's zone meet.
"The goal is to get as many kids to state as possible," Carson coach Monica Weaver said. "Getting relays and individuals to state is the main goal. I think they're ready."
Weaver said she believes all six relay teams - the 400 and 200-yard freestyle and 200 medley relays for the boys and the girls - have a shot to make it to state.
In the team race, Reno High will again be the favorites in the boys and the girls. Carson's boys and girls are both looking at possibly finishing as high as second.
The Senator boys should have a strong shot at placing second and may even have a shot at challenging Reno for the title. "There's always a possibility," Weaver said.
An encouraging sign for Carson's boys came when they swam virtually on even terms with Reno in a recent meet. Another good sign came for one of its relays - the 200 medley - when it would have beaten Reno if it had not be disqualified.
If the 200 medley relay team had not been disqualied, Carson's boys would have beaten Reno, not including diving. But both the Senator boys and girls teams are at a disadvantage as both teams will have no divers in the meet.
Weaver said among the other schools who should be in the mix in the boys meet will be South Tahoe and Douglas.
Unless something unexpected happens, Reno will win the girls meet. Weaver said second could come down to her team, Galena and McQueen. "It will be a fight for second, third place," she said.
Based on seedings, those who are favored to advance to state for Carson include Rebekah Niehoff in the 200 free. Niehoff is seeded second at two minutes, 1.72 seconds, just four-hundreths of a second off the top seeded timeof 2:01.68.
Another entertaining race should be the 200 individual medley between Jamie Engan and McQueen's Katy Houston. Engan is seeded second at 2:11.12 while Houston has to top time of 2:10.82.
Carson should also finish one-two-three in the 500 free with Engan first, Lauren Metcalf second and Niehoff third. In the boys 500 free, Kiel Costella is seeded second while Jeff Stroup is seeded sixth.
Other top seeded swimmers for Carson include John Wandel, third in the boys 200 free (1:50.58) and 100 free (51.22), Jake Oxoby, third in the 100 butterfly (58.75) and Hilary Schlager, third in the 100 breasstroke.
The top 16 swimmers in each event score points toward to the team standings. Other possible scoring chances for Carson include:
Girls 200 free - Barbara Perkins, seeded eighth, and Melanie Gingell; boys 200 free - Ian Murdock (eighth), Mak Malikowski (15th) and Robby Liebherr; girls 200 I.M. - Emily Johnson (13th), Danielle Judge (15th); boys 200 I.M. - Costella (fifth), Todd Stroup (10th), Adrian Zeh (11th).
Girls 50 free - Katie Wandel (sixth), Jessica Goddard (16th); boys 50 free - Oxoby (10th), Andrew Cardinal (13th), Mike Lesmes (16th), Kellen Dale; boys 100 fly - Zeh (ninth); girls 100 free - Schlager (10th), Wandel (11th), Sarah-Jo Metcalf; boys 100 free - Cardinal (10th), Dale, Malikowski.
Girls 500 free - Erica McAfee; boys 500 free - Liebherr. Girls 100 backstroke - Sarah-Jo Metcalf 16th, Johnson, Perkins, Judge; boys 100 back - Todd Stroup (10th); girls 100 breaststroke - Lauren Metcalf (ninth), McAfee; boys 100 breaststroke - Jeff Stroup (eighth), Lesmes (16th).
Contact Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@nevadaaappeal. com or 881-1214.
