Lady Cats finish 16th in state swim meet

ALBUQUERQUE — Freshman Julia Spears earned a sixth-place finish in the 500 freestyle, keying Clovis High’s girls to a 16th-place team standing in state swimming competition on Saturday at Albuquerque Academy.

Spears swam a personal-best time of five minutes, 25.11 seconds in the event to earn the only medal of the day for the Lady Wildcats, who scored in a total of six events.

Host Academy ran away with team honors, scoring 308 1/2 points to 246 for runnerup Eldorado. Los Alamos was third with 238 in a 29-team field.

The Lady Cats tallied 42 points, finishing 10 points ahead of Las Cruces and 11 behind 15th-place Carlsbad.

“I was absolutely thrilled that Julia Spears got a medal in the 500 free,” Clovis co-coach Gordy Westerberg said. “Our younger swimmers got a great experience … which will really help them next year when we return.”

Spears also placed 11th in the 200 individual medley (2:19.54) and swam a leg on the 200 medley relay (12th in 2:02.04) and the 400 freestyle relay (16th in 4:01.30).

“I was happy that we ended the meet on a positive note with our 400 free relay beating their (district) time by three seconds,” Westerberg said.

Others scoring (top 16) for the Lady Cats were freshman Brynn Longley in the 100 backstroke (10th in 1:03.55) and the 200 freestyle relay (15th in 1:55.11).

On Thursday, the CHS boys placed ninth in state competition, also at Academy.