THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Winners born when nobody watches

There’s a lot that goes into winning a state high school championship that most people just don’t see.

Believe it or not, you can’t just show up to practice on the first day, no matter what sport, and expect to win when that time comes at the end of the season.

Sure, you can be successful, but as most coaches will tell you, the championship was built when nobody else was watching.

OF ALL the area high school sports, maybe the least watched could have been the area swim teams.

It’s not their fault, as the coronavirus pandemic prevented a state meet in 2020, then kept spectators out of the West YMCA and Boise Aquatics Center again in 2021.

Swimmers weren’t even allowed to remain by the pool to cheer teammates as they finished in 2021.

This year, things changed, fans were allowed back in and the celebration was just as sweet as the Lake City girls captured a second straight state 5A title last Saturday in Boise.

And it might not be over quite yet for the T-Wolves.

“We graduate four kids that have been incredible leaders,” said fourth-year Lake City coach Shelly Sobek. “But we still have quite a few that will come back next year and some freshmen that are coming up that will bring a lot to the program. Our upperclassmen will help bring them into where they need to be.”

Lake City’s boys, with only five competing at state, finished second with 111 points.

Junior Steven Griffith won the 500-yard freestyle for Lake City, something former teammate Logan Robillard had won the previous two years.

“Logan had been our main freestyler, but having Steven spend the last couple of years training with Logan has been great,” Sobek said. “Steven was able to branch out on his own and had been dropping time all year long. To see him finish with a title was super exciting.”

And while Lake City had already clinched the girls title well before the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of last week’s meet, it still felt just as special for junior Gabby Garasky, a two-time individual champion.

“It still feels just as surreal as last year,” said Garasky, who won the 100 freestyle as a sophomore as the Timberwolves edged Boise 230.5 to 221.5 for the 2021 title. “We graduated eight seniors last year and had a lot of newer high school faces. It was like winning with a totally new team. It just felt amazing to hit the wall on that last relay.”

As far as hitting the wall as far as the team’s growth, don’t expect that anytime in the near future.

IT WAS nice to see the Seattle Mariners break the playoff drought this year, although the visit in the postseason was short lived.

Like it or not, there was just something about that club in Houston this year that made it tough to beat them.

Seattle tried, for 18 innings, to just get a run in that win-or-go-home game at T-Mobile Park, but was unable to do so and was swept from the divisional round of the playoffs.

And that’s fine.

Seattle isn’t going to close the gap with Houston overnight, though it’s arguable that the Mariners should have been able to win two of those three games.

Should the Mariners go out and pay big money to land one of those coveted free agents in the coming weeks, it depends.

No, they shouldn’t overpay for those really big ticket players, though it might be pretty fun to see the reaction should they sign Carlos Correa and move J.P. Crawford to second base.

All joking aside, signing guys like Correa, Trea Turner or Xander Bogaerts might make for some excitement, but at the end of the day, anything you pay those guys will be less for guys like Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh when it comes time to pay them.

If nothing else, bringing back guys like Mitch Haniger and/or Nelson Cruz to be the designated hitter could be just enough for this group.

No, you won’t have to break the bank too badly to land either Cruz or Haniger and face it, it might be nice to let them finish what they started in Seattle.

You know, when not so many people were watching.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.