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PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 4, 2015 KEIZERTIMES.COM Celtic swimmers dive back in By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes A new, larger Greater Val- ley Conference shook up the high school swimming scene last year. For evidence, look no further than McNary High School senior Anjelica Glassey. “It’s different with all the new teams. I went from get- ting fourth in backstroke at district in my sophomore year to fi nishing 11th as a junior,” Glassey said, one of the Celts’ backstroke specialists. As the Celtics prepare to dive in for another season, they’ll have to contend again with a larger pool of talent. Fortunately, McNary will also be fi elding a slightly larger roster than last season. “Turnout has been good this year. We have more than 50 this year, up from 45 last year. We have a pretty young squad and pretty evenly split between guys and girls,” said Casey Lewin, McNary head coach. “They’re also super- motivated. They’re excited about practice every day and they work hard.” On the girls team, Mc- Nary’s returns sophomore Marissa Kuch who placed fi fth in the 100 freestyle at the state competition last season. She was McNary’s top fi nish- er in the sport, but two relay teams that included Kuch and returner Sara Eckert also made it to the state races. “I’m really excited to see how our relays come together. We’ve got a few more club swimmers than we’ve had in the past, and I think the re- KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celtic swimmers practice their freestyle stroke at the Kroc Center in Salem Monday, Nov. 30. KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald A trio of McNary swimmers warm up before practice Monday, Nov. 30. lay teams will be a lot more mixed than they have in the past,” said Glassey. She was also hopeful for an infl ux of strong breaststrokers this winter. “Our distance swimmers are also really playing to their strengths in practices. We have a couple of freshman who have been working on it from day one,” Glassey said. Fellow senior Kiana Brio- nes also had high hopes for the team. “We’ve been working re- ally hard and I think we’ll have a strong girls team,” said Briones. “We have a lot of newcomers and they’re all re- ally good.” Briones said she’ll be focus- ing on her breaststroke again this season and hopes to shave about four seconds off her personal best time of 1:16 in the 100-yard event. She said the team’s focus on technique in the early going would have the biggest payoff come February. “In freestyle and the sprints it’s the small things like stroke and turns. In the distance rac- es it’s more knowing where to slow it down and where to speed it up, the pacing as- pects,” Briones said. Lewin had high hopes for several of the incoming fresh- men girls, but was waiting to see how they performed in the teams’ fi rst meet Thursday, Dec. 3. On the boys team, Lewin was excited for the prospects of Evan Alger, Isaiah Holt, Grant Briones and Jake Wyer. “Jake swam a lot for us last season, but I think he could have a big, breakout year,” Lewin said. Holt said he was grateful for a bigger group of swimmer this time around. “It’s fun to have so many new people and get to know them,” Holt said. Alger said the team’s prom- ise was already showing de- spite only a week of practice. “We have a lot more energy than we did last year and we’re doing faster times and longer distances earlier than we were last season,” Alger said. “As se- niors, it’s our job to get the McNary spirit into them and teach them that swimming is a fun sport.” Holt was hopeful for a more productive senior year after being sidelined by bron- chitis last season. “I’m just trying to push myself as hard as I can this year. Just work hard and stay healthy so I can do well,” he said. Alger was eyeing a top six fi nish in the 1,500 freestyle at the district meet. “I dislocated my knee dur- ing the summer, but I still think it’s doable,” Alger said. Lewin said it’s helped that he’s now in his second full year with the program. “Last year, there was a lot of fi guring each other out, but this year there is a comfort level that we didn’t have last season. Everybody is stepping right back into the groove,” he said. Wrestlers host tourney Dec. 4 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celts Wyatt Kessler and Jon Phelps run through escape drills in practice, both wrestlers are expected to be big contributors this season. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes For McNary High School seniors Kyle Bonn and Blake Gerstner there’s more on the line this wrestling season than simple wins and losses. Gerstner said, “We’ve all been working hard together since freshman year and …” “It’s time to see those re- sults,” fi nished Bonn. McNary’s wrestlers return to the mat Friday, Dec. 4, host- ing a tournament with Cleve- land, Dallas and Roseburg high schools. All three schools are perennially some of the best in the state. “We have a bunch of seniors this time around who have good work ethic, good attitudes and should give us a lot of good leadership. I’m excited to see how that comes together,” said Jason Ebbs, McNary head coach. Ebbs said this year’s batch of wrestlers features more fi rst- year competitors than any sea- son in recent memory. “We have some work to do, but, as usual, the team we have in February is going to be a dif- ferent one than we’re putting on the mat this week,” Ebbs said. “We’ve got some good fundamental athleticism and they’ve got a good team atti- tude. Our intensity of practice is higher earlier this season than it was last year and no one is buckling under that.” The Celtics’ top returner is Brayden Ebbs, son of the head coach. The younger Ebbs oust- ed the defending state champ and nearly beat last year’s No. 1 seed at the state tournament KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald McNary’s Joey Kibbey and Sean Burrows practice reversals during practice Monday, Nov. 30. Kibbey was one match away from fi nishing in the top six at the state meet last season. before fi nishing sixth as a fresh- man. He’s nursing a broken fi nger at the moment but is ex- pected to return to form. Returning senior Jon Phelps was expected to be a top con- tender in the state tournament last year, but was pulled from competition in the fi rst day due to a concussion. Senior Joey Kibbey fi nished his junior year one match shy of placing in the state tournament. “Bonn, Sean Burrows and Carlos Vincent should all be big contributors for us this year,” Ebbs said. “We’ve also got a fi stful of freshmen who could make some waves for us.” Ebbs had his eye on Luke Hernandez, Brooke Burrows and Ricky Vincent in particular. “We aren’t the most skilled group yet, but we have a lot of guys who are willing to try re- ally hard. They’re hard workers and they’ll go at it until they’re completely out of energy,” Bonn said. Gerstner wanted to see the Celtics coalesce more this year than thay managed last season. “I’d like to see us come to- gether as more of a family. This year our team is big euongh that we’ll connect better,” he said. As far as personal goals, Bonn said it was all about fun- damentals. “I’m going to be focusing down and getting the funda- mentals absolutely perfect, get- ting to the nitty gritty details of the sport and in all of my moves,” he said. For Gerstner, his priority is going with the fl ow of each match. “I want to work on my skill- set, but also more on instinct and not thinking so much while I wrestle,” Gerstner said. The team drew about 50 students into its ranks this sea- son, but Ebbs expected that to grow with the recent re-fund- ing of middle school wrestling programs. “It’s going to be good to watch the momentum for the sport pick up again,” Ebbs said. “I want to get to the point where we have 70 to 90 kids in the gym like we did a few years back.”
