ShawneeDispatch.com

Although the Shawnee Mission Northwest girls swim team has had the benefit of competing in an indoor sport during the recent cold and rainy weeks of the spring season, that didn't mean that the pool-dwelling Cougars were immune to the hazards of competition.

Cougars coach Scott Virden would most likely trade one or two of the other spring sports' canceled practices for a squad at full strength.

Chelsea Murray, a key cog for the Northwest swimming machine -- especially in the relay competitions -- was absent from last Tuesday's Lawrence Free State Quad because of a shoulder injury suffered at the April 7 Olathe Northwest Swimming and Diving Invitational.

"She really doesn't know how she hurt it," said Virden regarding Murray's injury. "She's got a twisted P5 in the middle of her shoulder. It hurts her to extend upward and it hurts her to breathe in."

Murray's absence forced Virden to make adjustments to his relay squads for the quad and, although the Cougars had many impressive finishes, the Cougars couldn't quite get over the hump and finished fourth at the quad.

Despite Murray's absence, the Cougars stayed competitive at the Free State Quad and several Cougar swimmers were able to score significant points for their team.

The medley relay team of Brooke Brull, Elizabeth Keith, Mandy Osborne and Hannah Singhal earned third place in their race while the 'B' relay team of Adrian Celli, Shelby Conner, Grace Davis, and Ryan Shelton made up for an 'A' team disqualification by taking 6th in the 200 freestyle relay.

Individually, diver Erin Schuberth led the way for the Cougars, continuing her hot string of work on the board by claiming first in the quad. Teammate Mallory Ayers took 5th for Northwest.

Brull continued her strong swimming by taking thirds in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. She was followed in the backstroke by Keith, who recorded her best time of the season on the way to claiming fourth. Singhal also recorded a personal best time in capturing third in the 200 individual medley and then followed that up with a fourth in the 500 freestyle with teammate Osborne right behind her in fifth.

For Virden, the Murray injury was an inconvenience but not a disaster as the Northwest chief has been experimenting with lineups in recent weeks as a means to determining the best mix for the postseason.

"I've been mixing girls up in a lot of events," Virden said. "I'm getting close to narrowing it down. As for last week, the adversity for us was having to mix up the relays more than we're used to. I think the girls did as well as they could have."

Despite the hardships of the past week, Virden remained optimistic when discussing the promise and progress of his team.

"They're starting to make a turn now where we're starting to see some more time drops," stated Virden. "The girls are getting a little more specialized. Hopefully, this week we'll get Chelsea back."

The Cougars participated in a double dual with Shawnee Mission North and Olathe Northwest at North on Tuesday. Results were unavailable at press time. Northwest will travel to Leavenworth for a road dual with the Pioneers at the Leavenworth Community Center at 3:00 P.M. Thursday. They follow that up with Friday/Saturday events at the Shawnee Mission East Invitational.