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May 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 19, 2004 No easy swim By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings They're not quite fish out of water, but the Grizzly swimmers have a whole new perspective going into the 4A state swimming championships: The underdog. Four individuals - seniors Arron Nelson and Michelle Smith, junior Caleb Salmond and sophomore Ashley Roda - qualified along with three boys' relay teams to compete at state on Friday and Saturday in Corvallis. While Nelson enters the meet as the top-seeded sprinter in the 50-yard freestyle and No. 5 in the 100-yard freestyle, no other Grizzly swimmer ranked higher than 15th among competitors. It seems like a strange plight, especially after the Ashland swimming program dominated the SOC all season. The boys' team took home the district title and the girls' team finished second behind a strong Roseburg squad. "Our conference is one of the weakest in Oregon," said Ashland assistant swim coach Lara Bishop, noting that the Grizzlies haven't ever raced against many of the teams they will see this weekend. "They're going to have to step-up to get in the top-12." The one Though the Ashland swimmers don't stack up as tough at the state level as they have been in the Rogue Valley, one Grizzly still lives that man-to-beat persona. The 21.79 Nelson clocked in the 50-free at the conference championships last weekend ranks the senior No. 1 heading into the state championships. Last season, Nelson entered the event as the No. 6 seed but walked away with third place after leading the first half of the race. "He's really done well," Bishop said. "He's had a really great high school career." Considering the fact that Arron also plays varsity roles on the AHS water polo and baseball teams, it's amazing that he is also so competitive at the state level in swimming. "He's well-rounded," Bishop continued, "so he's competing against guys who've been swimming all year-round and he's the fastest." The two swimmers who topped Nelson in the 50-free last season have since graduated, leaving the Grizzly to contend with a group of swimmers he may have never raced against before state. Two other swimmers enter the meet with marks under 22 seconds: sophomore Kyle Maese of Reynolds and junior Austan Mason from Sandy. In addition to racing in his favorite event, the 50-free, Nelson has a top mark going into the 100-free. He's ranked fifth in the event, with less than 1.5 seconds between he and junior Logan Madson of Summit High, the top-ranked racer in the event. The other guy While Nelson's successes this season have attracted a lot of attention, Salmond has created a lot of waves of his own. The junior finished last season with a mark of approximately 1:07 in the 100-yard backstroke. This season, Salmond won the 100-back in 59.11 seconds, qualified for the state meet and surprised a lot of people along the way. "He's had a great season," Bishop said. "He's really improved so much. He's really pumped and really excited about taking swimming to a new level. With the way he's improving, anything could happen." Salmond would like to break 59, something Bishop feels is reasonable for a swimmer who's already cut eight seconds off his personal best. The girls Though the Ashland girls exhibited their strength in the SOC on repeat occasions throughout the season, just two Grizzlies will represent the team at state. Smith, a senior who competed at the state level two years ago as a sophomore, returns to the championship arena with the No. 18 seed in the 100-yard freestyle. Ideally, Smith would like to break 56 seconds. Of course, racing on Saturday in the finals would be a blast, too. "She's got a good chance," said Bishop. "If she gets a good time, she can make finals. I'd like to see that from her, finishing her high school career with a good time." Smith's partner in Corvallis is Roda, a sophomore who's never been to the end-of-the-season blowout before. Also ranked 18th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.79, Roda sits almost 14 seconds off the leader, senior Jenni Stratton of David Douglas. "Her personal goal is to beat that," Bishop said of Roda's current mark in the race. "It'll be good experience for her. She's not worried about making it to finals because she's a sophomore." The team thing The boys' team cleaned up in the relays at the conference championships. As a result, 10 different Grizz swimmers will make the trip to race on one or more of the three relays competing at the state level. The biggest problem Ashland will face is the fact that the boys relay teams haven't lost much this season. However, at state the 200-yard medley relay has the No. 15 ranking, the 200-yard freestyle relay is No. 16 and the 400-yard freestyle relay rests at 18th in the seedings. "They've had some close races, but I expected all three of them to make it," Bishop said of the teams. "It's going to be a whole different race [at state]. We're going to be coming from behind. We know where we're seeded and we're just trying to get top-12 so we can swim the next day." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams