THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Signs of a gold rush in the pool

You can’t blame Lake City High coach Shelly Sobek or Coeur d’Alene coach Laura Curtis for being a little excited for this weekend’s state swimming championships. 

Both have teams that are very capable of bringing home trophies. 

And, we’re talking the big one, with a banner to boot. 

COEUR d’ALENE'S BOYS were third at state last year, one spot behind Lake City, which graduated most of its team. 

“Our boys relays are ranked really, really high,” Curtis said. “With the way they score those events at state (first place in  a relay gets 30 team points, compared to 18 points for individual wins), if we do well, it might be enough to win it or take second.” 

Coeur d’Alene has Isaac Thorpe, the defending champion in the 50-yard freestyle. 

“He’s a crazy fast swimmer,” Curtis said. “He’s really been a big help in the past few years in the relays.” 

Curtis is also expecting big things from sophomores Dawson Cushman and Andrew Davis, both at state for the first time. 

“Dawson should have some breakthrough races,” Curtis said. “He’s just a sophomore, and we’ve got a young team. It’s probably one of the youngest and fastest I’ve seen here in a long time.” 

Senior Alena Gonzalez of Coeur d’Alene, Curtis said, could likely contend in whatever event she puts her in. This weekend, she’s only in one individually and in three other relays. 

“She’s qualified for state in the backstroke all four years,” Curtis said. “She could qualify in a lot more, but she’s in those relays (athletes can only participate in four events). But she’s got speed coming in all of her events.” 

For Lake City, seeking its fourth straight state girls title, it will have to come from the individual events, as well as relay wins that played a key in previous titles. 

“Our relays need to be on point, and we need every swimmer to step up,” said Sobek, in her eighth year as Lake City coach. “Bishop Kelly is sitting in the top spot for many of the races going into the meet, but we have more individual (swimmers) then they do. So, our total number of points will need to come from all our swimmers to balance out their first-place points.” 

For Lake City, 10 of its 14 competitors are in girls events. Coeur d’Alene has 16 competitors, balanced with eight boys and eight girls. 

“We had a great showing on the girls side (at districts), and mostly got in what I expected, with a few that were good surprises,” Sobek said. “I was hoping to get a few more in for boys, but Coeur d’Alene has a stronger men’s team this year and many of the at-large bids went to them this year.” 

WITH SWIMMING, the schedule is made up of dual meets between area schools. Invitationals, like those you see in cross country, where you have teams from around the state coming to compete, just don’t happen due to space limitations at the Kroc Center limiting the number of athletes that can be in the pool area at a given time. 

That often leaves teams like Coeur d’Alene, Lake City, Post Falls, Lakeland and Sandpoint facing each other early and often throughout the year. 

“Both Sandpoint and Lake City are really tough competition,” Curtis said. “We’ve got more numbers and depth than they do, but they’ve got good kids that score a lot of points for them. Competing against them has proven to be a great goal for some of the events.” 

“Our swimmers always welcome the challenges from our area swimmers,” Sobek said. “We have a wonderful and respectful sense of competition with Sandpoint and Moscow that allows us to make each other better.” 

Coeur d’Alene’s previous best girls finish was second in the state 5A meet in 2015. 

“These kids have worked hard and together all year long,” Curtis said. “And I really think that’s helped us in those races. Everyone is cheering for each other and supporting each other.” 

The 6A finals are scheduled to begin today at 3 p.m. PST.

LAST FEBRUARY when Coeur d’Alene and Lake City were battling for the state 5A girls basketball title, there might not have been many Viking or Timberwolves fans cheering for the other to pull out a win as the game was going on. 

Something tells me that if the scores are close, whether the athlete is wearing blue or teal tonight, those in attendance will be yelling for some gold.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.