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Every time that Dusty Ragland dips into the pool as a member of the Park City High School swim team, he's not just racing for his benefit.
His efforts affect the rest of his team, as do his teammates'. And because of that collective reliance, Ragland never feels like he's alone in the pool.
The Park City boys' swim team last season won the Class 3A state title and the girls' team finished second. The challenge for other swimming powers such as Juan Diego, Judge Memorial and Desert Hills High School is that Park City may have the team concept honed even more this season.
"We're more of a team this year than we ever have been in the past," he said. "We're pretty well-rounded."
Even with that, the return of much of the boys' state title team and girls' team constantly improving, state titles aren't necessarily on the agenda. Instead, coach Mike Werner stresses incessant improvement.
"It's a whole process of bringing a bunch of individuals to become one," Werner said. "They're basically racing each other and challenging each other and making each other better."
Along with Ragland, other leaders for the boys' team are Hayden Peterson, Zach Carfi and Joseph Palmer. For the girls' team, leadership and major production come from captain Marissa Bell, Ali Murphy and Hailey Sands. But the production can't stop there. The focus, Bell said, is to make sure everyone knows they are important to the team and are working as hard for lower finishes that earn points as they are for top-three finishes.
Whether swimming is an all-year activity for top-notch swimmers or a winter sport for others, there are points to be earned. One area of concern on the girls' team is the 100-meter breaststroke, but a couple of freshmen are moving to fill the void, Bell said.
"One person getting you points won't get you anywhere," Bell said. "You need a collective amount of points. That's why it's important to get everyone working hard and improving."
Ragland enjoys that the team is comprised of the Park City community and represents it against private schools such as Judge and Juan Diego that are comprised of swimmers throughout the Salt Lake Valley. That community feeling pours over into training and meets for Park City, a team focused on getting better every day.
"The goal is for everybody to drop time, and if that means winning state, then that's great," Ragland said. "Winning state isn't our biggest goal." —
Park City'sswim team
The team focuses on individual improvement rather than state titles.
The team stresses constant improvement from everyone to earn as many points as possible.
Representing the Park City community motivates the team. Player of the Week: Parker Van Dyke, East basketball. Van Dyke torched West for 39 points, leading the Leopards back from an early deficit for an impressive victory. He was better held in check the next night but still scored 10 points in a win over Park City.
Big Number: 41.3. Number of points that the Highland boys' basketball team has allowed on average in its last three games. The Rams gave up 118 points in their first two games but have clamped down since then.