CHS boys win district in swimming; girls second

HOBBS — Clovis High’s boys were dominant in Saturday’s District 3 swimming competition. Meantime, the Lady Wildcats finished second, but didn’t do quite as well as coach Vincent de Maio had hoped.

The Wildcats won nine of the 10 events they entered to cruise to team honors with 186 points, well ahead of Las Cruces (94) and Hobbs (90) in the seven-team competition.

The Lady Cats scored in everything, but finished with 146 points. Las Cruces — a combination of swimmers from that city’s four Class 6A schools — won it with 199, with Hobbs a distant third at 54.

The boys, who did not have anyone in the 100 butterfly, won everything else except the 100 freestyle, including all three relay events.

“They swam very strong,” de Maio said. “They had a great racing day.”

Senior Brian Nordgren and junior James Skuse each won three individual events. The Cats went 1-2-3 in both the 50 and 400 freestyles, won by Nordgren and sophomore Case Smith, respectively.

“The 50 and 400 where the guys went 1-2-3 was really exciting to watch,” de Maio said.

For the Lady Wildcats, the lone wins came in the 200 medley relay and from junior Olivia Reeb in the 100 breaststroke.

De Maio said he had hoped the Lady Cats would be able to push Cruces a bit more.

“The girls swam well; they just didn’t race that well,” he said. “I think it should’ve been a lot closer.”

The Cats and Lady Cats will now get ready for state competition, scheduled for Feb. 17-18 at Albuquerque Academy.

SUMMARY

Boys

Team standings: 1. Clovis 186; 2. Las Cruces 94; 3. Hobbs 90; 4. Artesia 53; 5. Alamogordo 30; 6. Carlsbad 22; 7. New Mexico Military 8.

Clovis results

200 medley relay: 1. James Skuse, Brian Nordgren, Ethan Zamora, Seiji Aponte 1:52.88. 200 freestyle: 1. Zamora 2:04.77. 200 individual medley: 1. Skuse 2:18.93; 2. Cade Nordgren 2:25.55 (SQ). 50 freestyle: 1. B. Nordgren 26.53; 2. Barrett Bryant 26.78; 3. Alex Aburto 27.49. 100 freestyle: 3. Aponte 56.20. 400 freestyle: 1. Case Smith 4:34.13; 2. Zamora 4:35.83; 3. Glen Southard 4:37.84 (SQ). 200 freestyle relay: 1. Bryant, B. Nordgren, Aponte, Skuse 1:43.35. 100 backstroke: 1. Skuse 59.44; 3. C. Nordgren 1:07.22. 100 breaststroke: 1. B. Nordgren 1:09.39; 2. Aponte 1:09.49. 400 freestyle relay: 1. Bryant, Aburto, Smith, Zamora 4:02.78.

Girls

Team standings: 1. Las Cruces 199; 2. Clovis 146; 3. Hobbs 54; 4. Alamogordo 45; 5. Artesia 29; 6. Carlsbad 17; 7. New Mexico Military 14.

Clovis results

200 medley relay: 1. Bella Zamora, Olivia Reeb, Katie Kelley, Anya Hammond 2:09.26. 200 freestyle: 3. Hammond 2:16.83. 200 individual medley: 2. O. Reeb 2:33.19. 50 freestyle: 2. Kelley 29.25; 3. Nina Mead 29.67. 100 butterfly: 2. Mead 1:11.94 (SQ); 3. Kelley 1:13.37. 100 freestyle: 3. Katie Reeb 1:06.48. 400 freestyle: 2. Hannah Luscombe 4:53.88. 200 freestyle relay: 2. Mead, Zamora, Luscombe, Annie Smith 1:58.65. 100 backstroke: 2. Hammond 1:11.37; 3. Zamora 1:12.20. 100 breaststroke: 1. O. Reeb 1:19.97. 400 freestyle relay: 2. Hammond, O. Reeb, Luscombe, Smith 4:21.91.

SQ—new state-qualifying mark.