Aquatics: Hoskovec sees crowded pool at 22-4A

Stratford swimming and diving head coach Michael Hoskovec isn't taking the District 22-4A championships lightly.

The Spartans know they can't overlook Spring Woods and HISD schools Austin, Davis, Jones, Lee, Reagan, Scarsborough, Waltrip and Yates at the district meet Friday and Saturday at the SBISD Natatorium, but Hoskovec sees the district meet as a great way to prepare for the Region 6 meet next weekend.

"We want to move on and focus on winning the regional meet," Hoskovec said. "We want a top 10 state finish for the girls and boys, but it's going to take a lot of jelling and focus. The district meet is a test run for regionals. It's giving us a chance to work on things."

Stratford hasn't competed in a meet since its Jan. 8 meet against Memorial, in which the girls team was defeated, and the boys team narrowly defeated the Mustangs.

The three weeks off doesn't concern Hoskovec. In fact, he said he likes having the break before the district meet to give his teams a chance to work on their flaws and prepare for the district meet.

"I like having the break there because the kids are itching to race after three weeks off," Hoskovec said. "It is a tactical move we've been using the last couple years. We had a lot of rusty swimmers against Memorial after having the winter break off. Even though the guys ended up winning, they were not mistake free, so I wanted them all to be working on their starts and turns and fine-tuning every part of their race."

Hoskovec said he wants the girls to be more aggressive after winning just one event out of 12 against Memorial.

"The girls have a lot of potential and could do a lot of things at the regional meet," Hoskovec said. "After the Memorial meet, we had a team meeting and reset the goals and what we want to accomplish."

At the regional meet, Hoskovec said a lot what Stratford will rely on to advance won't be the top finishers but the second through eighth place finishers and the swimmers who get to the final race to earn points.

Sophomores Kyle Rathgeb and Cai Rohleder are two swimmers on the boys that Hoskovec points to who could surprise people at the district and regional meets, while on the girls' side, Hoskovec hopes to see a lot out of his senior girls, including Kassy Parker.

"Kyle and Cai we have high hopes for, and we hope to see them step up and surprise some people," Hoskovec said. "Cathy has worked on her stroke, so we think she will step up during the meet, but we are hoping for things from a big group of senior girls. These are their last meets in their high school careers, so we hope they can come up and rise to the occasion and lead the team to the state meet."