Stevens Point Area Senior High's Corey Prince will be the lone representative from the boys swimming team at Saturday's Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state meet in Madison.
The senior, who was a member of SPASH's 200-yard medley relay team last year, will compete in the 100-yard backstroke. He is in the first of three heats and enters with a seed time of 58.71 seconds. After not placing in the top two at sectionals last Saturday, Prince advanced to the meet, which is held at the UW-Natatorium, as an extra qualifier based on his time at sectionals.
"I'm just trying to drop a second and try to get the team some points," Prince said.
Prince said competing in an individual event as a senior is "exciting." He said in order to improve on his best time of 58.69 seconds, he will have to work on his turns and his starts.
"I'm sure that he'll at least be shooting for a place and get some team points. Right now he's seeded 24th, so he's hoping to move up," SPASH coach Rich Burhite said.
Prince was the only SPASH swimmer to make it out of Saturday's sectional, which was held in Eau Claire. SPASH finished in ninth place as a team with 123 points. The Panthers had hoped sophomore Jon Ronzani would advance as an extra qualifier in the 100-yard fly.
"I was really hoping for him to go too," Prince said. "It would've been nice to have more than one down there."