Crunch time for Kanawha Valley swimmers begins Saturday

DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER

It is time to get down to business for area swimmers.

Beginning with Saturday's Mountain State Athletic Conference meetat the University of Charleston the competition actually begins tocount for more than just going for personal bests.

"When you get to these last few meets everything can change,"Hurricane junior Heath Hauldren said.

One thing that is not likely to change, though, is where Hauldrenwill finish when the water settles after the boys 100 breaststroke.Nobody has challenged him so far.

"I wish I would be," Hauldren said. "I know I could go a lotfaster if I had somebody on me."

If he went much faster, the competition might lose sight of him.Hauldren's average time of 1:03 consistently has been at least fourseconds faster than his nearest competitor.

Those kind of performances don't happen by accident.

"I've trained hard," Hauldren said. "I've swam lifetime bests ineverything this year."

He also competes in the 50 freestyle.

Although Hauldren had to miss the only meet where he would havegone against swimmers from the northern part of the state, Hauldrenchecked out the winners' times on the Internet.

"I think the closest time to me was 1:07," he said.

There are only eight boys on this year's Hurricane squad to gowith 17 girls.

Coach John Browning likes what he has seen so far, however.

"Being a first-year coach I'm kind of feeling my way throughthis," he said. "I'm learning along with the kids."

Browning replaced long-time Redskins Coach Stephen Brooks, whoretired after leading the Redskins boys to a fourth-place finish inthe state meet last season. That was the swim program's best finishever.

"Coach Brooks has been down helping me out," Browning said. "Hehasn't abandoned me by any means."

While replacing the former coach has been tough, replacing hisson, Payton, has been impossible. The younger Brooks, a two-time All-State prep swimmer, qualified for the Big East championships in threeevents as a true freshman at West Virginia University this year.

There will be 10 of the 15 MSAC schools fielding swim teams thisyear with Cabell Midland and Huntington entered for the first time.

Parkersburg won the girls championship last year and is a favoriteto repeat.

Nitro could also be a major factor in both the boys and girlsscoring.

About 210 swimmers are expected to compete. Other teams enteredare Beckley, St. Albans, South Charleston and Capital.

On the girls side, individual favorites include Nitro's AshtonClemens and Jennifer Cooperrider, Capital's Caitlin Cook and GeorgeWashington's Meredith Davis, Natalie Northcutt, Annie Kerns and SarahSupcoe.