By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

The main goal for the boys’ swimming and diving team at Mehlville Senior High School is to improve on last year’s performance and they appear to be on schedule, according to head coach Corey Miller.

“Right now we’re doing as well as could be expected,” Miller told the Call.

“I think that everyone on the team will make a personal best this season and that’s our goal,” he added.

The Panthers finished the first half of the season with a 151-35 drubbing at the hands of Suburban West Conference rival La-fayette.

Mehlville failed to win one event against the potential state champions, a good indicator as to just how good the Lancers are and how short the Panthers are on numbers.

“We’ve got 10 guys on our squad so we’re pretty small,” Miller said. “It’s tough to win meets with just 10 guys.”

But despite the lopsided loss, Miller had some positive words for senior swimmer Ryan Owens and the rest of his Panther squad.

“Ryan’s a good swimmer,” Miller said. “He’s a guy who works really hard during practice.”

Senior Derek Weiss takes on the responsibilities of the 100-yard butterfly this season while sophomore Tim Noce handles diving duties along with the 100-yard breaststroke.

“Derek’s definitely a team leader who’s a smart guy,” Miller said.

“Tim has a lot of dedication and is probably our best breaststroker. He’s worked really hard in the off-season and was able to stay in shape,” he said.

Junior Mike Alvarez is another diver who fills in the occasional open swimming event wherever his coach needs him to swim.

“Mike’s definitely a team player,” Miller said. “He’ll swim in pretty much anything we put him in.”

The Panthers’ next meet is today — Dec. 30 — and Friday at the Rockwood Summit Invitational.

“This is going to be good for the kids because they’re seeded with kids that are closer to their times,” Miller said.

“Plus, you’re not trying to fill more than one relay. It also gives the kids a lot more time in between events.”

The preliminaries of the Rockwood Summit Invitational are at 4 p.m. today while the diving events are scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.

The championship finals of the invitational are at 6 p.m. Friday.