SHERIDAN — The Sheridan High School swimming program recognized its boys senior swimmers Tuesday afternoon.
The Broncs were victorious in the triple dual. Sheridan defeated Thunder Basin 128-29 and beat Campbell County 131-42. The dual against the Gillette teams serves as the last home meet of the season.
Eight senior swimmers were escorted by family members in recognition: Andrew Alle, Evan Feck, Tobey Green, Coleman Hanchett, Skylar Mayo, Jarret Thompson, Troy Waugh and Bonner Wood.
“There is such a diversity of personalities,” Moore said of the seniors. “Every single one of them adds something important to our team. This group, along with last year's seniors, have turned our program around as far as the boys go.”
Moore said the boys team only had six contributors when he moved to Sheridan 12 years ago. The Broncs currently have 22 swimmers on the boys team.
“These eight boys wanted to put in the time and work hard. They're great humans, they get along with other kids, other people want to be around them, and they've drawn other people to our team,” Moore said.
The Broncs dominated the contest winning 10 of 12 events.
• First place, 200-meter medley relay (Lincoln Carroll, Hanchett, Ben Forsythe, Luca Sinclair), 2 minutes, 1 second
• First place, 200-meter medley freestyle, Thompson, 2 minutes, 8 seconds
• First place, 1-meter diving, Rio Tanner, 345.95
• First place, 100-meter butterfly, Waugh, 1 minute, 5 seconds
• First place, 200-meter individual medley, Ian Smith, 2 minutes, 47 seconds
• First place, 50-meter freestyle, Forsythe, 26.10 seconds
• First place, 200-meter freestyle relay (Wood, Sinclair, David Brown, Forsythe), 1 minute, 50 seconds
• First place, 100-meter backstroke, Brown, 1 minute, 12 seconds
• First place, 100-meter breaststroke, Hanchett, 1 minute, 14 seconds
• First place, 400-meter freestyle relay (Brown, Dillon Lemon, Thompson, Hanchett), 4 minutes, 15 seconds
“I’m feeling both happy and sad,” Feck said. “It’s sad because we’re leaving something special behind. It’s been a super great team I’ve been a part of for four years. It’s been a lot of fun with great swimmers and awesome coaches.”
High school sports take a high level of dedication, and swimming is no different.
The swimmers have two-a-day practices from late November until February, practicing early in the morning and after school. Feck said many Fridays are spent going to events elsewhere in the state. The swimmers have to make up the work for the time they’ve lost in the classroom.
“I don’t think I’ve sacrificed too much because I’ve gained some awesome things in return by being part of this team,” Feck said.
Hanchett said he was feeling “off” at the beginning of the dual, but came alive closer to the end. He had his best time of the season in the breaststroke.
The senior breaststroke swimmer said he will reflect on his time in swimming as he grows older.
“It will be something back on with happiness and joy," Hanchett said. "It’s something I may talk about from time to time, because of the good memories I’ve made."
Justin Hunter is a reporter at The Sheridan Press.
