 |
|
| Club seeks to score high at Radford |
Brad
Norman
Club/ Intramural Sports Beat |
Despite
only having club status, the club swim team at Appalachian State
University competed against various varsity swim clubs during the
fall semester and will do the same in their next meet.
The upcoming meet in Radford, Va., will take place on Feb. 21, 22
and 23 and will consist of other regional teams.
Appalachian will join Georgia Institute of Technology as the only
club team and will compete against varsity swimming teams from Washington
and Lee University, Greensboro College and the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, among others.
The fall semester consisted of only two meets: one at East Carolina
University and one at Elon University. The team took third place
out of five teams at East Carolina and fourth place out of 10 teams
at Greensboro.
In both meets, Ashley Hawks, Kimberly Byrd, Karen Byrd, Kate Kelleher
and Ben Stout recorded individual finishes in the top three.
Hawks, who serves as the team’s president, said this year was
not all about winning but rather teamwork.
“We have a team-oriented focus this year,” Hawks said.
“We really want to back each other up and get behind the blocks
and cheer each other on. Winning is certainly nice, but it doesn’t
build a great team.”
As president, Hawks is in charge of a variety of administrative
details, such as planning the meets, planning practices and finding
places to stay when the team travels.
The closeness of the team is evident through activities that take
place beyond the pool lanes.
“We try to have a team function every other Tuesday,”
Vice President Kimberly Byrd said.
“We don’t do anything huge, but what we do builds friendships.
Club swimming is a really good way to meet people and to get involved
in something you enjoy doing.”
Byrd also said they lost a lot of top swimmers to graduation, and
this year was more of a rebuilding year.
Her twin sister and club treasurer Karen Byrd agrees.
“Winning is certainly something we would like to do, but this
is more about having fun,” she said. “It’s a worthwhile
college experience and something we all love to do.”
Other top swimmers are Mark Osborne, Michael Trivette, Mary Brosenne
and Kristin Knoblach.
“The people on the team are great,” Hawks said. “I
couldn’t do my part without the help of my vice president and
treasurer. They are like my backbone.” |
|
|
For an up tp date sports calendar below and
box scores click below!
|
|
 |
 |
