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.”