Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CMI staff
ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis High’s swimmers advanced seven boys and six girls entries to today’s state championship (top eight) finals in Friday’s preliminary state competition at Albuquerque Academy, setting 10 school records in the process.
The Wildcats also sent three boys and four girls entries to today’s consolation finals (ninth through 16th in the preliminaries).
Coach Vincent de Maio said his squads are well-positioned for a solid state finish.
“The kids swam perfectly today,” he said. “They did just what they needed to do. You want to put yourself in position to be able to win.”
De Maio, who has been coaching at CHS since 2003, said the state meet continues to feature better and better times. “Every year, it just gets faster and faster,” he said.
Sophomore Paden Simms posted the fastest time in the boys 500 freesteyle with a school-record clocking of four minutes, 51.33 seconds. Other boys marks were set by junior Everett Ward, third in the 100 backstroke (53.93) and sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:48.27); sophomore Case Scrap, 6th in the 200 individual medley (2:00.94), and the 400 freestyle relay team of Ward, senior Ethan Gallegos, Schaap and Simms, 6th in 3:21.28.
Ward’s leg of that relay was also a 100 freestyle school mark for CHS at 49.35.
Also advancing to the championship finals waste the 200 medley relay, eighth in 1:43.98 with Ward, Schaap, Simms and Gallegos.
Advancing in the consolation bracket for the boys were Simms, 11th in the 100 freestyle (50.01), and eighth-grader James Skuse, 16th in the 500 freestyle (5:17.91).
GBirls records were set by in 200 medley relay, fourth in 1:53.06 with senior Madison Silveira, freshman Jasmine White, eighth-grader Katie Kelley and senior Caitlin Dial; the 400 freestyle relay, fifth with Silveira, junior Gabby Carrasco, White and Dial in 3:47.0; Silveira, seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:00.58), and White, 5th in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.48).
Also qualifying for the championship finals were Silveira, fifth in the 200 IM (2:15.10), and Dial, fifth in the 100 freestyle (55.27).
Going to the consolation round are Dial, 10th in the 50 freestyle (25.62); the 200 freestyle relay with White, eighth-grader Olivia Reeb, Carrasco and Kelley, 10th in 1:47.94; Kelley, 12th in the 100 butterfly (1:03.04), and Carrasco, 15th in the 500 freestyle (5:36.31).