Mike Werner always wants his team to face the best.
Wednesday afternoon, his Park City swim team matched up against one of the best teams in the state as 5A powerhouse Alta traveled up Parleys Canyon to face the Miners in Park City’s first home dual of the 2010 season.
Park City proved its worth, and then some. The defending 3A state boys champion and second-place girls had an impressive outing as the boys won the head-to-head match-up, with the girls coming in a close second.
Werner, Park City’s head swimming coach for the last three years, envisions meets against top-tier talent as something that can only benefit his team later on.
“I like swimming against the best,” he said. “I want these kids to have the best opportunity to swim fast.”
Werner’s bunch has already faced some of the best high school teams in Utah this year, including 5A teams such as Brighton, Skyline, Bingham and 4A teams American Fork, Mountain Crest, Provo and Springville.
“These teams are powerhouses,” Werner said.
The Miners have their work cut out for them in 3A this year. They face a real threat in Region 10 rival Wasatch, which defeated Park City and won the Region 10 invitational on Nov. 10.
Park City bounced back to win the Park City Invitational on Nov. 13, which featured seven schools including 4A Logan, Woods Cross, Stansbury and East.
“Our focus is getting better as we go along,” Werner said.
The focus was there on Wednesday.
Fans who packed the stands awaiting both the Miners and Hawks to get off the blocks weren’t disappointed.
Alta defeated Park City in the head-to-head 301 to 253 in a tight meet. The Miner boys defeated the Hawks 145-131, and the Miner girls fell to Alta, 170-108.
The foursome of Hayden Peterson, Zach Carfi, Dusty Ragland and John Howard won the boys’ 200-yard medley relay. Ragland had a great day in the water as he also won the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races.
Park City’s Marissa Bell won the girls’ 200-yard freestyle as well.
Defending a state title and aspiring for another are two completely different stories, and Werner knows that.
The head coach said that every year features a different group of swimmers who have different strengths and weaknesses, and while it’s easy to say the goal is to win another state championship, the focus right now is just to get better in the water.
“We like to focus on a group of individuals that have a common goal, a common (desired) outcome,” he said. “It’s always new. New team, new kids.”
Looking forward, Park City has some tough meets upcoming, but most are being held on the Miners’ home turf at the Ecker Hill pool.
Werner sees Wednesday’s meet against Alta as a good omen.
“I’m not able to ask for better results,” he said. “We’ve really had some great improvement.”