SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. -- The Hurricane High School boys swim team showed it had the right stuff Monday defeating Winfield 143-94 to take the Putnam County swim championship Monday at the Tri-County YMCA in Scott Depot.
Actually make that the "Wright" stuff.
Junior Colorado transplant Jack Wright won all four races the rules allowed him to enter - two individual and two relays - to lead the Redskins to the win and overall title as the girls meet ended up in a dead heat at 140-140.
Hurricane and Winfield are the only two high school swim teams in Putnam County.
A lack of swim competition is not something Wright was used to back in his hometown of Pueblo, Colo.
"It's a big sport in Colorado," he said. "Every high school had a pool but we didn't have the YMCA swimming."
Wright's family moved to the area in August when his father took a job as general sales manager for WSAZ-TV in Huntington.
It took a little while for all of transcripts and paperwork to make it to Hurricane so his entry into area swimming was delayed for a couple of weeks.
When Hurricane Coach Kathi Shurow saw Wright hit the water, she knew immediately she had something special.
"The butterfly was the first thing I saw him swim and he made it look so easy," she said. "Most swimmers look like they fight the water but there is no resistance when he swims, he just stays right on top of it."
His early success in area meets has not gone to his head.
"I was good for my town (in Colorado) but once I went up to Denver I was just average," Wright said. "There are some good swimmers here."
He pointed to South Charleston and Charleston Catholic as having strong swimmers.
On Monday, Wright won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:05.30, over 23 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. -- The Hurricane High School boys swim team showed it had the right stuff Monday defeating Winfield 143-94 to take the Putnam County swim championship Monday at the Tri-County YMCA in Scott Depot.
Actually make that the "Wright" stuff.
Junior Colorado transplant Jack Wright won all four races the rules allowed him to enter - two individual and two relays - to lead the Redskins to the win and overall title as the girls meet ended up in a dead heat at 140-140.
Hurricane and Winfield are the only two high school swim teams in Putnam County.
A lack of swim competition is not something Wright was used to back in his hometown of Pueblo, Colo.
"It's a big sport in Colorado," he said. "Every high school had a pool but we didn't have the YMCA swimming."
Wright's family moved to the area in August when his father took a job as general sales manager for WSAZ-TV in Huntington.
It took a little while for all of transcripts and paperwork to make it to Hurricane so his entry into area swimming was delayed for a couple of weeks.
When Hurricane Coach Kathi Shurow saw Wright hit the water, she knew immediately she had something special.
"The butterfly was the first thing I saw him swim and he made it look so easy," she said. "Most swimmers look like they fight the water but there is no resistance when he swims, he just stays right on top of it."
His early success in area meets has not gone to his head.
"I was good for my town (in Colorado) but once I went up to Denver I was just average," Wright said. "There are some good swimmers here."
He pointed to South Charleston and Charleston Catholic as having strong swimmers.
On Monday, Wright won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:05.30, over 23 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
He also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.18, more than 29 seconds ahead of his nearest competition.
Wright also led the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays teams to first place finishes.
Besides the number of pools and swimmers he also sees a couple of other differences between West Virginia and Colorado swimming.
"The coaching style is a little different," said Wright, who also swims for the YMCA's Wild Waves team. "It's a little more distance here than sprints."
He also says the area is a lot greener than his home in the "high mountain desert."
Then there is the difference he really likes the most.
"(In Colorado) the boys and girls had different seasons," Wright said. "Here the boys and girls swim together."
Though, he still is working on making friends, he said, "everyone has been really nice, very welcoming" so far and he is enjoying his new home.
Right now he and the rest of the Redskins are focused on the Mountain State Athletic Conference meet this weekend followed by regionals in two weeks
The State Meet is Feb. 16-17 in Morgantown.
"Hopefully I can finish in the top three in my events at states," Wright said. "Then hopefully I can win one next year."
Shurow is not sure he will have to wait.
"I think he has got a good chance to win at least one," she said.
Then he will have more time to make some friends.
