Athlete of the Week: Stratford relay team looking to reach state

Hunter Bailey has had a goal of reaching the state swimming finals since last year, when he qualified for state in two individual events. He said he wanted to qualify for three events, including a couple of relay teams.
And so far, he is right on schedule.
Bailey, with Rob Chuchla, Marlon Bishop and Michael Bishop, won two relay events at Saturday’s 18-5A championships, winning the 200-yard medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet won the 200 medley with a time of 1:38.04 and the 200 freestyle in 1:27.68.
All four swimmers had such a strong meet that they were named this week’s Athlete’s Connection/College Ball or Bust Athlete of the Week.
“I’m still hoping to make it to state and hopefully send three relay teams there,” Bailey said. “That would be awesome.”
The group also did well in individual events, with Bailey winning the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle, Michael Bishop winning the 50 freestyle and finishing second in the 100 butterfly, and Marlon finishing second in the 100 breaststroke.
“Both of those guys, Hunter and Michael, are training,” Stratford coach Michael Hoskovic said. “We trained through this meet because we got our goals, and our goal is to go on through regionals and go to state.
“They were a little beat up a little bit today, but we’re going to give them a little bit of rest ”so that they’re in their best form in the next couple of weeks.”