Silverado star swimming for a scholarship

Spencer Patterson

Monday, March 16, 1998 | 9:08 a.m.

When Jacque Hoover started to plan the itinerary for her upcoming trip to the annual Spring Junior Nationals swim meet, the Silverado junior faced a tough dilemma.

With her high school team scheduled to face rival Durango on the day she planned to leave, Hoover had to decide whether or not to swim with the Skyhawks before boarding her plane to North Dakota.

Her head told her not to do it. A strong performance at Junior Nationals could be her ticket to a Division I college scholarship, and risking that for a regular-season high school meet would be crazy.

Her heart, on the other hand, told her she couldn't let her Silverado teammates down, regardless of what was at stake.

"I know Junior Nationals are important, but I hate to leave in the middle of one of our biggest meets," Hoover said.

So she told Skyhawks' coach Tara Crouch that she planned to swim against the Wildcats. Crouch's response: No chance.

"You don't work all year for Junior Nationals, and risk messing it up like that," Crouch said. "She wanted to swim with us, but I wouldn't let her."

Crouch's decision to lessen her squad's chance to win may seem strange, but to her it was no choice at all. Because after everything Jacque Hoover has done for Silverado swimming, it was time for the school to give something back to her.

Just four years since the school opened, the Skyhawks have established themselves as one of the dominant teams in Southern Nevada, particularly on the girls side.

A lot of that success can be traced directly back to Hoover, a two-time defending 4A state champion in not one, but two events.

After capturing state titles in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly as a freshman in 1996, Hoover repeated the trick last spring, adding a third state title as a member of the squad's 400 freestyle relay team.

The school record holder in four different events, she has lost just once in a high school race, is undefeated in dual meet competition and has posted all-American consideration times in both seasons.

"She worked hard all the time, and she's obviously very talented to begin with," Crouch said. 'She's very competitive and very intense. She doesn't like to lose."

Hoover's effect on the Silverado swimming program extends far beyond the points she earns for the Skyhawks each time she dives into the pool, however. According to Crouch, the mere presence of such a top-notch swimmer has been a key in attracting a record 75 students to the squad in 1998.

"Having her on the team really motivates those other kids," Crouch said. "It gives kids a window to see what you can accomplish in swimming. It's been really exciting for her to have been part of a growing program."

Crouch also counts on Hoover to help some of the less experienced swimmers learn new strokes, and the 17-year-old says that's a role she relishes.

"It's a lot of fun to help people who've never done this before," said Hoover, who swims year-round as a member of the Clark County Sandpipers Swim Club. "It's a great feeling because you know you're part of something."

This Saturday, the Skyhawks will get a chance to see just how much they have learned from Hoover when they take on Durango without her.

Regardless of the outcome this time around, though, Silverado's swimmers can be sure she will be back for their next meeting with the Wildcats, at the all-important southern zone meet on May 16.

And when all is said and done, in addition to her two individual titles, Hoover may find herself wearing a third first-place medal -- the one that says '1998 team champion" on it.