WINTER SPORTS
C10
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2020
By JAKE DREILINGER jake.dreilinger @nptelegraph.com Schedule Jan. 9...............................................at Kearney invite Jan. 15-16......................................... at Lincoln Invite Jan. 22............................................ at McCook Invite Jan. 28..........................................................McCook Feb. 5........................................................at McCook Feb. 6.............................................. at Kearney Invite Feb. 12-13....................................GNAC, at Hastings Feb. 25-27. ............................................... State Meet Bulldog swimming/diving returns lots of talent Telegraph file photo University of Denver diving recruit Jonathan Brouillette , who also broke the North Platte school record for points on Dec. 11, leads the Bulldogs into a promising sea- son in swimming and diving.
novices and the veterans were all sitting together waiting. They staged all the races in the gym, so none of the athletes were on the pool deck other than those swimming, so that was different. But when they went back in the gym, they were all to- gether as a team as one big unit.”
was hoping he could pro- mote. Even though they are going to meets on sep- arate buses and can’t eat a team meal at a restau- rant, he said you have to look at what they can control, like being able to compete together in the same venue. “We’re all in the same gym,” Jahnke said. “The
is one-one hundredth of a second away and the oth- er one is about a second away. We got some work to do, but they can do it. We got to persevere and work past those goals we’ve been looking for.” Another name Jahnke said he hopes can do well at state is Brouillete, who signed his letter of intent to dive at the University of Denver in November. “Even more than be- ing a diver, and he’s really good, is his mentorship to his team- mates,” Jahnke said. “Helping others and al- ways being willing to coach and show things and help out. He has a giving spirit and that’s just how he is.” Jahnke said he hopes to see all his swimmers continue to stay driven and work towards their goals, even with their re- cent success. And that goes back to the team unity Jahnke
In normal years, the North Platte swimming and diving team would stop at a restaurant after a meet and eat together. They’d then load up on a bus or two and head back to North Platte. This year, there is no eating together af- ter meets unless the distance is too far. The teams are separated on two buses. Coach Brian Jahnke said that was one of the toughest things about this season was building team chemis- try because they can’t do those little things. “It’s McCook and it’s only 67 miles away,” Jahnke said. “They re- ally want us not to … not really them, but just we’re not really wanting to go into all these places. Just changing the mind- set on how we can get our team unity and really work together as a team.
2:00.61 at the same meet. Then there have been plenty of first place fin- ishes by the 200-yard medley team of Cooper Leibhart, Kris Kautz, Chase Leibhart and Ethan Mercer, the 200- yard freestyle relay team of Mercer, Kautz and Cooper and Chase Leibhart, and individ- ual wins from Soreson, Fitzpatrick, Friedrich and Cooper Leibhart as well. “Last week was a re- ally good week for our girls team,” Jahnke said. “They got the two relays qualified for state. The boys are still ... one relay
That’s probably been the biggest challenge.” Even if this season presents the challenge of promoting team uni- ty, it hasn’t stopped the Bulldogs from find- ing success in various events. Senior diver Jonathan Brouillete broke a 21-year-old school re- cord Dec. 11 at McCook in the one-meter dive with a score of 281.15. The 200-yard med- ley relay team of Molly Fitzpatrick, Meleah Friedrich, Dana Soreson and Kadence Dowhower earned a state-qualifying time of
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