Clovis girls swimmers third at state

ALBUQUERQUE — The trek to Albuquerque can seem long no matter what your reason for going. Local athletes head up there — and back — regularly.

When they get what they came for, the trip may seem ... well, it’s still long, but worth it. So consider this past weekend’s trip to Albuquerque long but worth it for Clovis’ swim team.

Prior to the state swim championships that began Friday and concluded Saturday at Albuquerque Academy High School, Wildcats head coach Gordy Westerburg was hoping for a historic third-place finish from the girls, a top-10 showing for the boys.

Done and done.

“I was thrilled. We made both of our goals going in,” Westerburg said. “We made third on the girls side and 10th on the boys side.”

Call it a home-pool advantage for the Albuquerque Academy girls, who captured first place. La Cueva was second, Clovis third, the first time in program history that either a Wildcat boys or girls team finished that high.

“They’ve been fourth before on the girls side and they’ve been fourth before on the guys side,” Westerburg said. “And getting to third is huge. It’s huge. It is very historic and it’s going to set the tone for all these younger kids that are coming up.”

It was also a big weekend for Clovis’ individual swimmers.

“The nice thing was, every single person that made the state meet got a second swim and was able to swim on Saturday,” Westerburg said. “When you swim on Saturday, you’re scoring points. So having everybody swimming, that was incredible.”

Bella Zamora established new school records with her second-place finish in the 50 freestyle (:24.2) and fourth-place time (:52.9) in the 100 free.

Anya Hammond was second in the 200 freestyle (1:55.4), fourth in the 500 free (5:10.5).

Westerburg called Hannah Luscombe “one of our huge surprises” after she placed eighth in the 200 individual medley (2:15.4). She came close to an eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, too, initially tying for that spot with Albuquerque Academy’s Kaci Jarry in Friday’s prelims. They had a swim-off, with Luscombe winding up about a tenth of a second shy.

“Hannah was coming,” Westerburg said. “She needed one more stroke. If she had one more stroke she’d have won that swim-off.”

Luscombe still managed to record a personal best of 1:00.5.

Barrett Bryant was seventh in the 100 butterfly (:54.2) and eighth in the 100 backstroke (:55.7). Alex Aburto (5:06.0) and Katie Reeb (5:33.1) took eighth in their respective 500 freestyle events.

Clovis’ girls 400 free relay team of Anya Hammond, Luscombe, Maya Hammond and Zamora set a school record with its time of 3:36.6, good enough for third place. La Cueva was first, Academy second. “They touched us out by like six-hundredths,” Westerburg said. “Our time that got third this year would’ve won maybe five out of the last eight years, maybe more than that.”

The Clovis girls 200 medley relay team of Luscombe, Zamora, Nina Mead and Anya Hammond placed fourth with a time of 1:50.9.

Clovis’ girls 200 free relay team of Mead, Shyann Kissinger, Mykala Chavez and Maya Hammond placed fifth with its time of 1:45.1.

The Wildcats’ boys 200 medley relay team of Bryant, Cade Nordgren, Aburto and Thomas Palla placed eighth with a 1:44.3 time, which Westerburg called “a huge deal.”

Kissinger, an eighth-grader, posted ninth-place finishes in the 200 (2:00.2) and 500 (5:19.5) freestyles. “That was really good for her,” Westerburg said, “because she was really nervous the first day and relaxed the second day and really brought things around.”

Next up for Clovis is the club state meet March 7-10 at Albuquerque’s West Mesa Aquatic Center. Then come March 20-23, Zamora, Anya Hammond and Bryant will compete at the sectional championships in Phoenix. And there could be more Wildcats to qualify.

“A couple are very, very, very close,” Westerburg said.