Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High sophomore Julia Spears (top) pulls ahead of Kate Creusere en route to winning the girls 500 freestyle in Saturday's District 3-4 swimming meet at Hobbs.
HOBBS – Clovis High's boys finished first while the girls were second in District 3-4 swimming competition on Saturday.
The Wildcats have eight swimmers going to the state meet at Albuquerque Academy Feb. 17-18, while the Lady Wildcats have seven. Both Clovis squads have qualified at least one entry in all 11 swimming events – eight individual, three relays – although co-coaches Vincent de Maio and Katelyn Pendleton will have some decisions to make about who swims what events.
The Cats won eight events tallied 153 points to 112 for runnerup Hobbs in the nine-school boys competition, while Artesia came up with 143 points to 118 for the Lady Cats on the girls' side, which included eight schools.
"It was a really good day for Clovis swimming," de Maio said. "The boys were really on fire, and the girls swam well. The girls (200) medley relay was under two minutes (1:57.73) for the first time in three years."
Clovis finished ninth in boys state competition last year, while the girls were 16th. De Maio said he's pretty sure both will finish higher at this year's meet.
For the boys, senior Thomas Palla and junior Porter Kidd each won two events and swam a leg on the Cats' first-place 200 medley (1 minutes, 45.59 seconds) and 400 freestyle (3:29.83) relays. Palla took the 200 freestyle (1:51.77) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.28) while Kidd won the 200 individual medley (2:04.04) and the 500 freestyle (5:03.52).
De Maio also noted that senior Wesley Buck knocked 16 seconds off his previous best time in the 500 freestyle relay, finishing fourth (5:21.90) and qualifying for state while Kidd and junior David Reeb (5:19.92) went 1-2 in the event.
"That was impressive," de Maio said of Buck. "That's the kind of spirit these kids have had throughout the year."
On the girls' side, sophomore Julia Spears posted the Lady Cats' only win in the 500 freestyle (5:25.64), finished second in the 200 freestyle (2:06.44) and swam on the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, which took second and third, respectively.
"Julia had a great weekend doing exactly what she needed to do," de Maio said.
The Cats and Lady Cats now have a little time to get ready for the big meet.
"We're excited to go up there," de Maio said.
