CHS swim teams finish busy weekend

AMARILLO — Clovis High’s boys were first while the girls finished second in Saturday’s Amarillo High Invitational swimming meet, completing a busy weekend for the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats.

On Friday, CHS swept team titles in an invitational at Altus, Okla. Clovis co-coach Vincent de Maio said the thought behind the back-to-backs was to help prepare the squads for the two-day state meet at Albuquerque in mid-February.

“The idea was to travel, and then get up and race again,” de Maio said. “It was like a preliminaries-and-finals meet.

“We had never been to Altus before. The guys and girls swam great on both days.”

The Cats scored in everything on both days except for the 200 individual medley on Friday in Altus, while the girls tallied in all 11 events in both meets.

Clovis posted 434 1/2 points to 403 for the runner-up Bulldogs in boys competition on Friday, while the girls ran away with team honors, scoring 557 points to 354 for second-place Mustang, Okla.

De Maio said the race of the day at Altus was a win in the boys 100 butterfly by junior David Reeb, who notched a time of 1 minute, 3.65 seconds.

Junior Porter Kidd posted wins in the 200 (2:04.81) and 400 (4:28.18) freestyle races, while Reeb added a victory in the 100 backstroke (1:08.03). The Cats were second in all three relays.

For the girls, sophomore Julia Spears won the 200 individual medley (2:40.59) and 100 breaststroke (1:30.41), while eighth-grader Molly Kidd came in first in the 200 (2:30.76) and 400 (5:13.23) freestyles. Eighth-grader Reagan Cornish collected a win in the 100 butterfly (1:17.25), while the Lady Cats took all three relay races.

“We had a great day in Altus,” de Maio said. “The next day in Amarillo, the kids were swimming really well again.”

Senior Clay Hogan was a double-winner for the boys at Amarillo in the 200 IM (2:12.34) and the 100 backstroke (56.59), while Reeb took the 200 freestyle (1:57.87). The Cats won the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, and came up second in the 200 freestyle relay.

On the girls’ side, Spears won the 200 freestyle (2:34.61) and 100 backstroke (1:06.97), freshman Giuliana Fernandez captured the 100 butterfly (1:10.44), and the Lady Cats again swept the three relays.

Clovis’ next outing will be in the Carlsbad Invitational on Dec. 10.