By Dan Shriner
Review Editor
Even though the Lake Orion boys swim team as a group is young and somewhat inexperienced, there will be some excitement and possibly even a state record from one of the swimmers.
First year Coach John Jess, is hoping the group will learn that the mental part of the sport can help them to improve and become better each week. The group will compete in the OAA Red Division after moving up from the White Division.
So, what does the coach expect?
‘We have one swimmer who is very good and a handful who will be good and a benefit to the team,? he said. ‘The rest of the team is very young and they haven’t had much experience to we want to improve and help them build. There are a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We are trying to build.?
That one swimmer that is ‘very good? according to Jess, is senior Devon Nowicki.
‘Devon should be an All-American in quite a few events,? Jess said. ‘His best event is the 100 breaststroke and we hope he can go for a state record in that event. He can swim everything.?
One of the top swimmers is Shane Ciora, who competes in more distance events, such as the 200 and 500 meter freestyle. He is expected to be one of the team leaders as a captain.
Another senior, Joseph Lazzara, is a captain and will contribute in breaststroke events.
Senior captain, Mitch Stencel, will be the Dragon’s top diver.
Jess said he anticipates some good contributions from sophomores Tanner Robertson, Avery Womack and Michael Lowry. Junior Timothy Seeds is expected to be one of the solid performers.
Freshmen Zach Seeds and Evan Lindquist are should help this season and develop into top swimmers in the future, Jess said.
Jess said he and assistant coaches Ray Oniski, Stephanie Peck and diving coach Beckie Ghazal, have been stressing the mental aspect of the sport and the importance of competing and mental toughness.
‘You often rise to the level of competition and we face some very good teams this season. We may not win most of our events but we need to compete hard and we will get better,? Jess said.
The message has already gotten through as some swimmers have improved their times by two to three seconds over last year’s marks, Jess said.
The team lost its first match of the season to Birmingham Groves but Jess said the group performed well and he expects improvement.