By Matt Browning
It doesn’t matter that Dale Hickman is in his first year as the Kapaun Mount Carmel boys swimming coach.
Expectations don’t change.
“As a first year coach at KMC I knew I was stepping into a program that had won the GWAL Championship for the past two seasons and had finished in the Top three at state each of those two years,” Hickman said. “My goals for a team and as a coach has not changed with this new season.”
With the season nearing its conclusion, Hickman has been impressed with the growth of his team.
“I believe that as a team we need show improvement from meet to meet, either through technique or speed, hopefully both,” Hickman said. “So far this team has shown growth in both of these areas, with our end goal to show max growth at GWAL Championships and state.”
Hickman believes that in order for the season to be considered a successful one, the Crusaders need to be peaking in February.
“As a team if we can finish at the GWAL Championship with personal and season best times, then team scores and state qualifying swims will take care of themselves” Hickman said.
Kapaun had many returning swimmers who swam at state last season: Henry Studnicka, Robby Richardson, Gabe Kapplemann, AJ McLlain, Ben Heppler, Cole Reintjes, Sean Thompson, Allen Turner and Carson Byrd.
