By Teddy Rydquist

Leader Sports Writer

Beginning their season a touch later than usual, the Oxford Wildcats girls’ swim and dive team is now entering the full-swing portion of their schedule.

“The state meet is always the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving,” head coach Jacquelyn Rank explained.

“With Thanksgiving being as late as it can possibly be this year, the start of our regular season moved back, too.”

The 2019-20 academic year is the 14th year of Oxford High School fielding a girls’ swim and dive program; Rank has been the head coach for 13 of them. Having molded virtually every aspect of the program to where it is today, early in the season is when Rank has her hands full the most.

“There’s a lot of teaching early in the season. We have a large team with girls of so many different skill levels.

“We have girls that have been swimming competitively for years, and other girls that this is their first time.”

Rostering 55 girls, this certainly is a large team for Rank. While having a team this large can sometimes lead to cliques, this has not been the case with this team.

“You would expect the girls to break up into groups and that really hasn’t been the case. Our team chemistry is really strong.”

The Wildcats defeated Lake Orion in their first meet of the season on August 29, 105-80, the first victory over the Dragons in program history. Facing the West Bloomfield Lakers in their second meet of the year on Thursday, September 5, Rank pointed out some individual goals for some of her best girls.

“I expect all four returning state girls – senior Ashlee Weltyk, juniors Grace Charnstrom and Jenna Fistler and sophomore Cali Schnur – to qualify prior to the county meet.”

Weltyk and Schnur already accomplished the feat vs. Lake Orion. Qualifying in the 100-meter backstroke, Weltyk missed the meet vs. West Bloomfield to visit the University of South Dakota. Schnur, meanwhile, qualified in the 100-meter butterfly.

“We also have a junior diver, Amelia Knotts, who could qualify for states,” Rank shared.

Possessing talent across the board, the Wildcats have steadily improved over the last two years. The team won the OAA Blue in 2017-18, resulting in a move to the OAA White the following year. Last year’s team finished in the middle of the pack in the White and the team is aiming to keep this positive trajectory going in 2019.

“I think we can finish near the top of the OAA White,” Rank said. “Last year we improved on the year before, I would like to keep that going.”

The Wildcats will next be in action at home when they host the Oxford Diving Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 21 at noon.