Practice and Dedication Pays Off The 1984-85 swim season started off without any problems. The team began the season all working hard getting ready for their first meet. As time went on the team dwindled down to the dedicated few. This year's team consisted of juniors, Gano Butcher of Yamhill, Ore., Glen ~ &£$ A Alexander of Concord, Calif., both of whom qualified for nationals, Butcher in the 800-yard freestyle relay and Alexander in the 1650-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay, Chris Boutcher of Fountain Valley, Calif., who served as captain of the team this year, and Phil Pafford of Go! Gona Butcher and Gary Ashley take off at the sound of the gun during a practice. - photo by Matt Wissinger . Swim Team. Front row: Turner-manager, Boutcher, Pafford , Peck, Peyton, Eddings, Bousteadcoach. Back row; Alexander, Butcher , Ashley, Fitzgerald , Denney-assistant coach. - photo by Matt Wissinger. 142 Swimming Oakdale, Calif. Sophomores were Allen Fitzgerald of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who also qualified for the nationals in the 800-yard freestyle, Scott Peyton of Newberg, Ore., Steve Peck of Port Henry, N. Y. , and Tim Eddings of Ortonville , Mich. The team's strong freestyle sprinter was Gary Ashley, a freshman from Bonita, La. Ashley also qualified for the nationals on the 800-yard freestyle relay team. This year, former swimmer Richard Denney served as assistant coach and Christina Turner served as manager. They started out their season against some tough competition , Ouachita and Hendrix. Even though they lost to both of them. Team members held their heads high and gave each opponent a close meet . They then came back to upset John Brown University, University of Central Arkansas and Arkansas Tech University. In November the team traveled to Texas to compete with and defeat Austin College and Central Arkansas and to take a close second to North Texas State. The swimmers showed their determination and spirit as they worked toward the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Championships. Harding was one of five schools to compete in the AIC meet held at OBU in Arkadelphia. Even though the Water BufPool Party. AI/en Fitzgerald tries to pull team manager, ChriS Turner, into the pool. - photo by Matt Wissinger.
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