BY SANDY HURLOCKER
Hilltoppers Swim and Dive Team
After a missed opportunity to compete because of bad weather last week at Academy, the Hilltopper Swim-Dive team showed up strong on January 30-31 at the Griffin Invitational in Santa Fe. This was the Toppers largest meet of the season with over 350 athletes. The girls won first place (500 pts), ahead of Academy (410 pts) and Farmington (214 pts). The boys placed seventh (150 pts) in the field of 18 teams.
For the first time this season, the meet followed a format that held preliminary rounds on Friday, followed by finals on Saturday. Points were only awarded on Saturday and so having athletes get into the finals was important.
“This format is the same for District and State,” said head coach Pat Brug. “It’s tough to swim hard that close together, but the team met the challenge this weekend.”
The girls won with a combination of season best swims and strong relay performances. Michelle Lo won both the 100 Butterfly and 100 Breaststroke. Her 1:11.66 100 Breaststroke was one of her best efforts of the season, well below the State qualifying time.
Samantha Clayton had personal bests in both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle. In the 50 Free, she won with a 25.79, her first swim to break 26 seconds. She also dropped more than a second in her 100 Free to place second.
Catherine Price won the 200 Freestyle, dropping more than 3 seconds and qualifying for State. She also dropped 6 seconds for her season best in the 500 Free to take second.
For the boys, Ammon Lee placed fourth, swimming near his season best 100 Freestyle in an extremely competitive field. Later that day, he placed third in the 100 Backstroke, breaking 1:00 and qualifying for State.
Other swimmers had a great meet as well. Coach Brug pointed to Grace Evans’ breakout swims. She dropped nearly 7 seconds in prelims off her 200 Individual Medley (IM) to qualify for State. Then in finals she dropped another 1.3 seconds. Additionally, she dropped 3 8 seconds in her 100 Breaststroke in prelims to get a season best and qualify for State.
Brug also noted Sonya Pakin had her best meet of the season, achieving three individual State cuts: 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke and 100 Freestyle (as the 400 Freestyle relay leadoff). She also anchored the 200 Medley Relay with an impressive 26.19 in 50 Free.
The win also depended on the many swimmers who made the finals:
Four swimmers placed in the girls 200 Freestyle : Catherine Price (2), Madalyn Baily (6), Deb Brug (8), and Malin Eidenbenz (10
Three swimmers placed in the 100 Freestyle : Samantha Clayton (2) Anna Kerstiens (5), and Emma Riede (12). Anna and Emma both swam to withing fractions of a second to a State cut.
Three swimmers placed in the 200 Individual Medley: Alma Hurlocker (5), Grace Evans (6), and Emilie Daligault (13).
Three swimmers placed in the 50 Freestyle : Samantha Clayton (1), Anna Kerstiens (12), and Emma Riede (13).
Four swimmers placed in the 100 Butterfly: Michelle Lo (1), Sonya Pakin (5), Alma Hurlocker (10), and Zooey Browne (13).
Three swimmers placed in the 100 Breaststroke: Michelle Lo (1), Grace Evans (3), Cindy Fu (15).
Madalyn Baily placed fourth in the 500 Freestyle.
Teagan Brown took sixth place in diving competition with a personal best.
Strong relay performances also lifted the team.
Girls 200 Medley (Deb Brug, Alma Hurlocker, Michelle Lo, Sonya Pakin) improved by 4.6 seconds to take second and swimming well-under the State cut time.
Girls 200 Freestyle relay (Samantha Clayton, Deb Brug, Anna Kerstiens, Michelle Lo) placed second, improving the teams’ season best by more than 2 seconds and under the State cut time.
In the 400 Free relay, both girls A & B squads swam State cut times. The A squad (Sonya, Madalyn Baily, Catherine, Samantha), took first place, improving 6.6 seconds The B squad (Anna Kerstiens, Alma Hurlocker, Emile Daligault, Emma Riede) placed third, swimming 2 seconds under the State cut time.
The boys fielded a smaller team of swimmers but still were well represented in finals:
Liam Corey: 100 Backstroke (8)
Thomas Daligault: 100 Butterfly (5) and 100 Breaststroke (6)
Ammon Lee: 50 Freestyle (4), 100 Backstroke (3)
Austin Theye: 100 Freestyle (11)
Stevan Yeamans dove to a fourth place.
Coach Brug also noted the boys 200 Freestyle relay (Austin Theye, Gus Marchand, Thomas Daligault, Ammon Lee) was the last of the Topper’s relays to qualify for State. In this race Gus Marchand filled in, rising to the occasion by swimming his personal best 50 Freestyle (26.76), improving by nearly 0.75 second. The relay took third with a time three seconds better than the State qualifying time.
“Qualifying this relay was my main goal for the meet, and all four boys came through!” said
Coach Brug.
This week the team travels to District 2 Championships in Farmington, February 6-7.