Thirty-seven high schools from all corners of New Mexico gathered at Albuquerque Academy to compete in the NMAA State Swim/Dive Championships. By the last splash, Los Alamos boys swam and dove to third place. The girls placed fifth.
Albuquerque Academy continued its aquatic dominance with both the boys and girls taking first place titles. Academy boys tallied 361.5 points ahead of La Cueva (220) and Los Alamos (213).
Academy girls (340 points) were far ahead of La Cueva (237), Clovis (234.5), and Eldorado (203).
The Hilltopper girls finished with 169 points at fifth.
“I am so proud of every single swimmer on this team,” said Head Coach Pat Brug. “Whether the kids swam at Districts or State, everyone trained hard to get us swimming faster. If you earn a top place at state, you didn’t get to an elite level by yourself. The whole team was your training partner and made you faster and better.”
“We knew going in that a key to our success would be the relays,” said Coach Brug. “We needed to be at our best. We focused on relay starts for several weeks in practice and did relay time trials. All that practice paid off. The boys dropped 14 seconds off their best 400 free relay of the season and beat last year’s state time by 2 seconds with an entirely new set of swimmers.”
Coach Brug continued: “We also took a team approach to relays this year where alternates (Ian Corey, Deb Brug and Anna Kerstiens) swam in prelims in order to give other swimmers more rest for individual events.” Coach Brug explained that “all three alternates had their best swims of the season and positioned their respective relays well within the top 8 for finals. In fact Ian (diving captain) swam so fast in prelims, he was also part of the finals boys 200 medley.”
All six relay squads qualified for the medal round (top 8):
The boys finished:
Third in the 200 Freestyle relay: Takeshi Shiina, Jace Kerstiens, Ammon Lee, Zane Pederson
Third in the 400 Freestyle relay: William Borovina, Jace Kerstiens, Thomas Daligault and Zane Pederson
Seventh in the 200 Medley relay: Ian Corey, Thomas Daligault, Takeshi Shiina, Ammon Lee
The girls finished:
Second in the 200 Freestyle relay: Allie Holland, Samantha Clayton, Lenna Ronning, Sophia Pieck
Fifth in the 400 Freestyle relay: Michelle Lo, Lena Ronning, Catherine Price, Sophia Pieck
Eighth in the 200 Medley relay: Allie Holland, Grace Evans, Michelle Lo, Samantha Clayton
In individual events, Zane Pederson led the boys with third place finishes in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Will Borovina swam to seventh in the 500 Freestyle and eighth in the 200 Free.
Thomas Daligault and Takeshi Shiina placed fifth and sixth respectively in the 100 Butterfly, and Daligault added a fifth place in the 100 Breaststroke to boost the team point tally.
On the one-meter diving board, Asher Koh brought home the boys fourth place medal.
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Albuquerque Academy continued its aquatic dominance with both the boys and girls taking first place titles. Academy boys tallied 361.5 points ahead of La Cueva (220) and Los Alamos (213).
Academy girls (340 points) were far ahead of La Cueva (237), Clovis (234.5), and Eldorado (203).
The Hilltopper girls finished with 169 points at fifth.
“I am so proud of every single swimmer on this team,” said Head Coach Pat Brug. “Whether the kids swam at Districts or State, everyone trained hard to get us swimming faster. If you earn a top place at state, you didn’t get to an elite level by yourself. The whole team was your training partner and made you faster and better.”
“We knew going in that a key to our success would be the relays,” said Coach Brug. “We needed to be at our best. We focused on relay starts for several weeks in practice and did relay time trials. All that practice paid off. The boys dropped 14 seconds off their best 400 free relay of the season and beat last year’s state time by 2 seconds with an entirely new set of swimmers.”
Coach Brug continued: “We also took a team approach to relays this year where alternates (Ian Corey, Deb Brug and Anna Kerstiens) swam in prelims in order to give other swimmers more rest for individual events.” Coach Brug explained that “all three alternates had their best swims of the season and positioned their respective relays well within the top 8 for finals. In fact Ian (diving captain) swam so fast in prelims, he was also part of the finals boys 200 medley.”
All six relay squads qualified for the medal round (top 8):
The boys finished:
Third in the 200 Freestyle relay: Takeshi Shiina, Jace Kerstiens, Ammon Lee, Zane Pederson
Third in the 400 Freestyle relay: William Borovina, Jace Kerstiens, Thomas Daligault and Zane Pederson
Seventh in the 200 Medley relay: Ian Corey, Thomas Daligault, Takeshi Shiina, Ammon Lee
The girls finished:
Second in the 200 Freestyle relay: Allie Holland, Samantha Clayton, Lenna Ronning, Sophia Pieck
Fifth in the 400 Freestyle relay: Michelle Lo, Lena Ronning, Catherine Price, Sophia Pieck
Eighth in the 200 Medley relay: Allie Holland, Grace Evans, Michelle Lo, Samantha Clayton
In individual events, Zane Pederson led the boys with third place finishes in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Will Borovina swam to seventh in the 500 Freestyle and eighth in the 200 Free.
Thomas Daligault and Takeshi Shiina placed fifth and sixth respectively in the 100 Butterfly, and Daligault added a fifth place in the 100 Breaststroke to boost the team point tally.
On the one-meter diving board, Asher Koh brought home the boys fourth place medal.
