The swim season has officially started for Hastings with the boys having their first meet, conference relays at Simley on Thursday, Dec. 8.

“Conference relays is kind of a practice preview meet for our conference,” said new Raider head coach Katie McAlpin. “It is all relays. We placed third overall, only four points out of second. The boys did great! Swimmer of the meet was Oliver Gergen. Oliver anchored the second place 400 medley relay with a best time in his 100 free. He was also a part of the second place 400 free relay with a faster split than earlier in the meet” Hastings performed well at the meet and could have had second place had one of the relays not made a technical mistake resulting in a disqualification. DQ’s happen far more often earlier in the season, even to experienced swimmers. That is what makes the conference meet important. It gives everyone a chance to work off the rust in a competitive environment that doesn’t really count for much in the grand scheme of things.

St. Thomas Academy won the event with a score of 144, Simley placed second with 108 and Hastings third with 104. Individual results were not available.

Some of you may be questioning the ‘new Raider head coach’ title associate with the quote from coach McAlpin above. McAlpin is not new to head coaching; she has been the girls head coach for years. As girls head coach, she has had Gerry Rupp as her assistant. In seasons past, when the boys season came, they flipped roles, McAlpin became the assistant and Rupp was the head coach. With Rupp’s departure from coaching, McAlpin is now the head coach for both girls and boys. Technically, this will be her first season as boys head coach.

“We had a great first two weeks! We have five new team members this year and 12 returning from last year. Everyone has worked really hard the last couple of weeks. They are tired!” McAlpin said about the start of the season. “In the pool wall we have our WARRIOR of the week. Warrior stands for: Work Ethic, Authentic, Reliable, Respect, Integrity, Opportunity, Righteous. Each week the coaches choose a team member that we think demonstrates these character skills.”

The name of each Warrior of the Week will get painted on the wall for the season for all fans to see.

“Week one our Warrior of the Week was Adam Duer,” said McAlpin. “Adam is one of our captains this year. He has used every opportunity to work hard that he has had. Adam is also a reliable leader as a captain. Week two is Thomas Foss. Thomas is a swimmer and diver. He has been working hard at balancing the two. His efforts in dryland are exceptional.”

The boys travel to South St. Paul for a dual meet against the Packers on Dec. 15, then they host Simley for a dual on Dec. 20, both of those meets start at 6:00 p.m.