Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High junior David Reeb comes down the stretch en route to a second-place finish in the boys 200 freestyle during Saturday's Academy Invitational swimming meet.
ALBUQUERQUE – Clovis High's swim teams got a look at some of the better competition in the state in Saturday's Albuquerque Academy Invitational, and in the end they did all right.
Nobody was going to beat the host Chargers, but the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats gave it a relatively good go, both placing second. The boys had 572 points to 596 for Academy, while the girls tallied 585 to 693 ½ for the Chargers.
"We stuck some kids in events where we wanted to get qual (state-qualifying) times," CHS co-coach Vincent de Maio said. "To be honest, I was shocked (by the runnerup finishes). I sort of felt if we got in the top five, we were doing well."
Junior David Reeb and eighth-grader Molly Kidd posted new qualifying marks, with Reeb taking second place in the boys 200 freestyle (1 minute, 56.76 seconds) and Kidd placing fourth in the girls 100 backstroke (1:06.58).
"David Reeb and Molly had great meets," de Maio said. "You go up there with certain things you want to accomplish, and these guys got it done."
In fact, Clovis swam numerous qualifying times in which they finished third, fourth or even fifth in the event, showing the quality of the competition. Still, de Maio said the Cats and Lady Cats weren't at their best.
"Overall, we were a little flat," he assessed. "We'll get ready for Hobbs (this week), then we'll have a week off before the district meet."
Clovis didn't win any events, but posted five top-3 finishes, all with state-qualifying times.
For the girls, sophomore Julia Spears was third in the girls 100 butterfly (1:06.30). For the boys, in addition to Reeb in the 200 freestyle, junior Porter Kidd placed third in the 50 freestyle (23.45 seconds).
The Cats also placed second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.89 with junior Ricky Southern, Reeb, Kidd and senior Thomas Palla, and third in the 200 medley relay with Kidd, Palla, Reeb and junior Kriday Andiboina.
Palla last week joined Kidd as the second CHS boys to earn de Maio's "Iron Cat" award this season, posting qualifying marks this year for the state meet.
Clovis travels to Hobbs on Saturday for the Bob Reid Invite. Hobbs will also be the site for district competition Feb. 3-4, with the state meet back at Academy Feb. 17-18.
