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Bison swimmers, divers expect to challenge for state medals
The Nebraska State Swim and Dive Championship is set with a full slate of swimmers and divers from McCook making the trip to Lincoln. And it is an impressive group of swimmers with all four individual swimmers holding the McCook High School record in their events.
The divers will kick of the state meet at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Thursday.
Seniors Maryann Kassner and Emma Graff are both making their second appearance at the state meet and hope to have a good showing during the 11- dive meet.
McCook does not have any male divers this year.
The swimmers take over the pool on Friday, Feb. 28, with the girls racing in the morning and the boys in the afternoon.
For the girls, senior Emma Graff and junior Abby Renner will both swim individual events, along with team relays. Emma qualified in the 100 yard breaststroke after breaking the school record at the final meet of the season in Hastings a week ago.
Abby will be representing the Bison in the 100 yard butterfly, having taken down the school record earlier this season.
They will be joined by junior Karstyn Porter and freshman Braelyn Dunworth for the 200 yard medley and 200 yard free relays. Alternates making the trip to Lincoln include Anna Hock and Lacey Rouse.
When the boys hit the water, Senior Kevin Bantam, who attends Medicine Valley High School but swims for the Bison, has two individual events, the 200 yard freestyle and 100 yard breaststroke. He broke the McCook record in both events last year at the state meet and hopes to take the times down further at the 2025 state meet.
Junior Blake Rodewald has been peaking at the right time of the season, breaking the two school records at the Hastings meet for the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. He will have the opportunity to break them again at the state meet, swimming both events for the Bison.
Blake and Kevin will be joined by several teammates to fill out the line-ups for three relay events, the 200 and 400 free relays and the 200 medley relay. The combination will also include junior Tate Moser and sophomores Aaron and Derick Spencer. Alternates include Josiah Wilkinson, Jacob Harms, Becket Moser and Eli Graff.
For both boys and girls, the top 32 times in each event from schools across the state compete on Friday in the preliminary heats. The top 16 finishers return Saturday for two heats of finals to crown the medalists.
Diving and swimming are a uni que sport in Nebraska high schools, in that there are no class divisions between the schools. McCook is one of the smallest - if not the smallest - schools with a swim team and competes against all schools with a swim team, including the typical Class A schools from Omaha and Lincoln.
Everyone is grouped together regardless of the size or geographical location of their school.
McCook Coach Jon Graff said this does make it more difficult for McCook to bring home a medal, going against teams with more swimmers and athletes who compete year-round in swimming.
“This is the most competitive team I remember coaching,” he said. “I’m really excited to see what they accomplish against the ‘big boys’ in Lincoln.”
He added, “I’m hoping we return with medals, a not-unreasonable expectation.”
Watch for results in upcoming editions.