Hillcrest High School swim coach Elizabeth Drake is setting her sights on the 4A state swim meet, scheduled for Feb. 16 and 17 in Provo. 

As the season hits its midpoint, she's already analyzing the times to see which of her swimmers might qualify for the state competition at Brigham Young University.

“I've got some really great new swimmers on the team this year,” Drake said about her 38-member squad. “In the boys’ relays, we're ranked ninth in the medley, 15th in the 200 free relay, and 14th in the 400 free relay. So our medley seems like a pretty sure shot. The other, we're still qualifying right now, but we need to drop some time to keep that edge on it.”

The boys’ medley relay team includes junior Alex Skorut leading off with the backstroke, junior Benny Bridge swimming the breaststroke, freshman Paulo Salbanha on the butterfly leg, and junior Joe Curtis anchoring the freestyle.

The Hillcrest girls’ medley relay is currently ranked 17th, with both the 200 free and 400 free relays sitting at 15th.

“They're on the cusp of making it in those so we’ve got to move forward a few spots,” she said, adding both a qualifying time and high ranking are needed to be able to swim at state.

For individual events, the top 32 swimmers in each race can qualify, but athletes are limited to competing in just two events. This leaves room for other swimmers to make the cut. 

Drake expects several of her athletes to race individually. She’s counting on Skorut to compete in the 50 free and backstroke, Bridge in breaststroke, and Salbanha in butterfly. She also expects Curtis to swim in the 200 free and either the 100 free or breaststroke.

Drake also has high hopes for senior Jose Avila in the 200 free.

“I don't think he's a guaranteed on that one as he's not already in the top 32, but I think he's close enough there's a good chance he'll go,” she said. “More often than not, they do swim it if they're top 50.”

Sophomore Andrew Shupe’s best shot at state is in the 200 individual medley, while junior Daniel Emett is likely to compete in the 500 free or the 200, Drake said.

“Andrew is a fast IMer. I bet he could qualify in multiple events, but I don't know which ones he'll want to swim and Daniel has grown a lot between last year and this year and he has put on a lot of muscle,” she said.

On the girls team, senior Maddie Peterson and sophomore Cora McIllece are expected to compete.

“Cora is ranked highest in her 100 freestyle (in 23rd place),” Drake said. “There’s a good chance Maddie should make it in the 200 IM and fly.”

Freshman Chelsea Xu is also in the mix for individual events.

“She's pretty close to being top 32 in the 200 free and in the 200 IM, but she’s No. 18 right now in the 100 fly so she will, for sure, compete in that event at state,” Drake said.

Last year, the boys team finished 11th while the girls placed 17th at the state meet.

In addition to training in the pool, the team has been strengthening outside of it. Athletes have the option to hit the weight room twice a week, with workouts designed by Hillcrest's weightlifting teacher, Antonio Meikel.

“I can tell it's making a difference,” Drake said. “For example, Cora does not miss weight training, and she is the most improved swimmer of our team. She was good last year, but it's amazing how much progress she's made and how she's been dropping time.” 

To mentally prepare her swimmers, Drake enlisted the help of a sports psychologist.

“He used a lot of imagery. He talked about, ‘our minds are like a funnel, and whatever we put into it is what the result will get the other end.’ He told the kids, ‘If you want x, y and z to be the result on race day, then you can only put things into your funnel which make you compete that way. That visualization was a great tool, because now, as we go throughout the year, it's easy for me to say to the kids, ‘What are you putting in your funnel? Is that going to make you go fast or feel confident and be a winner before you get off on the block?’” she said.

Hillcrest swimmers are also happy to be back at their "home pool" at Gene Fulmer Recreation Center after recent upgrades displaced them to Dimple Dell Recreation Center, Drake said.

“It’s nice being back. We use the same pool as West Jordan (High), but they usually swim in the morning and we have the afternoon, so we don’t have to ever share lanes,” she said.

Helping with coaching duties are assistants Andrew Hermanson and Laura Roth.

“I like the direction my team is going,” Drake said. “I am excited to see how well they’ll do this year.” λ