Cats capture district swim title

ARTESIA — Clovis High’s boys swimming team took first place while the girls were second on Saturday in District 3-4A competition.

The Wildcats tallied 248 points in the boys race, with Las Cruces second at 154 in the nine-team bracket. Meantime, the Lady Wildcats were second out of eight teams with 104 points, trailing only the host Lady Bulldogs (126).

“I was so proud of our girls team,” CHS co-coach Gordy Westerberg said. “We knew going into the meet that we could be as high as second (or as low as) fourth. They stepped up big-time.”

Westerberg said that since the start of the season, the Lady Cats lost one swimmer who has moved out of state and an exchange student who returned to her home country.

“That’s a lot of points to try to replace,” he said.

While the Lady Cats’ only win came from freshman Julia Spears in the 500 freestyle, they pulled together enough points up and down the line to post a 19-point margin over third-place Las Cruces.

Eighth-grader JuJu Fernandez earned new state qualifying times in the 100 and 200 freestyles, while junior Chara May pulled off what Westerberg called “a huge surprise” by placing third in the 100 backstroke. She was just behind freshman Brynn Longley, who earned a state-qualifying mark in the event.

The boys won four events, with junior Clayton Hogan leading a 1-2-3 finish — all state-qualifying times — in the 100 backstroke (58.73 seconds). Sophomore Porter Kidd picked up a win in the 200 freestyle with a state-qualifying mark of 1:51.99, and the Cats also won the 200 medley (1:46.06) and 400 freestyle (3:27.85) relays with state-qualifying times.

Westerberg said sophomore Matthew Del Toro was also “a huge surprise” with a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle. Sophomores David Reeb and Kriday Andiboina posted state-qualifying marks in the 200 individual medley, while the Clovis ‘B’ 400 freestyle relay team earned a state-qualifying time despite not finishing in the top eight.

Westerberg said Spears and Kidd both qualified in the 500 freestyle for the Southern Senior Zones Championships, scheduled for July in Morgantown, W.Va.

Next week, the Cats and Lady Cats take part in the state meet at Albuquerque Academy. Boys competition is slated for Wednesday, while the girls meet is set for Feb. 19.