One of the key points that Mingus swimming coach Gretchen Wesbrock stressed to her team throughout the season was to be grateful that there even is a season. Other schools in Arizona and throughout the country are sidelined this fall. The Marauders have not only been grateful, but they’ve performed well.
Mingus wrapped up its regular season on Thursday, Oct. 22, with a virtual meet against Fountain Hills. The Marauders won, moving their regular season record to 3-1.
“It’s been a phenomenal season,” Wesbrock said. “We started off with a large group and we’re ending with a large group, which to me is a really positive indicator that you’ve got something good going on, that your athletes are supportive of each other and that people want to keep coming back.”
“These kids have been awesome,” she added. “I just feel like they’ve had a ton of self discipline. They’ve been positive with a lot of gratitude about what they’ve got going for them.”
It’s been a team effort for Mingus this fall. Wesbrock knew that she had a strong nucleus of returning swimmers from 2019’s team. On the girls’ side, that group included senior captains Charlie Green and Tiana Lodico, as well as juniors Brooke Peterson, Jade Bach, Aleana Cricks, Bailey Hartman and Madison Hartman. On the boys’ side, senior captain Sterling Sorensen as well as juniors Landon Trezise and Jack Zahoudanis helped comprise the returning core.
But a number of other swimmers have emerged for the Marauders. These include juniors Carter Gordon and Jarom Banks, sophomores Race Armstrong, Hunter Cowgill, Ethan Cowgill and Jackson Moore, as well as freshman Ryan Ritter. On the girls team, Wesbrock identified sophomores Allie Kozlowski, Addy Parker and freshman Beth Bates as some of the positive surprises.
“This team is really good,” Kozlowski said. “Everyone is super supportive. I just think swim is a really good sport for everyone. Even if people don’t realize it.”
One of the challenges of this season has been how the meets have been conducted. The Marauders have not had an in-person meet; they’ve all been virtual. During virtual meets, the Mingus swimmers would swim at the Cottonwood Aquatics Center while their opponents swam at their home pools, and the times were compared afterward.
“I thought it was going to be really weird and completely different, and it kind of has been,” Kozlowski said. “But it’s just been fun watching friends race and knowing you’re still racing against other people — just not at the [same] pool.”
While the regular season is over for the Marauders, many of their swimmers have at least one meet remaining. On Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31, Mingus will host the Northern Arizona JR Pool-er Invitational, a qualifier for the state tournament. The boys will swim on Friday at 1 p.m. while the girls will take to the water on Saturday at 8 a.m.
A total of five schools will participate in the event. Wesbrock estimated that between the boys and girls teams there will be a total of 100 participants. On Sunday, the times from that qualifier and others throughout the state will be compared, with the top 24 swimmers in each event qualifying for the state tournament the following weekend at Phoenix Country Day.
The qualifier will also be the first time that the Marauders and many of their opponents will swim at a live meet with opposing swimmers sharing the water.
“It’s going to be more stressful, I think — it’s definitely going to be different,” Moore said. “When you’re the only ones here, there’s not much to it. It’s just watching your friends race. When there’s another team, it’s a different energy.”
