Kerri-Ann Petty has become SwimSwam’s go-to source for all things New Mexico swimming. She submitted the report below.
On a beautiful spring like Saturday afternoon in Albuquerque, New Mexico the most awaited event in the state’s swimming community took place at the Albuquerque Academy. As the temperatures outside the natatorium soared, records in the pool shattered. At the end of the day, two squads’ depth and power stole the show, while the battle behind for other coveted placings proved fierce.
GIRLS COMPETITION
The Eldorado Eagles defended their title from last year with an overwhelming victory. Their youthful and talented combinations won all three relays while dominating the podium in swimming and diving. Runner-up was the La Cueva Bears while Los Alamos Hilltoppers were led by sophomore Sarah Lott to secure third in a back-to-forth fight with Las Cruces who finished a respective fourth.
200 MEDLEY RELAY: As two of the fastest backstrokers in the state, Tyler Wickesberg (Eldorado) and Amanda Key (Sandia), led off for their respective teams, it would be dead even until Eldorado’s freshman Olivia Heflin took complete control of the breastroke leg with a 29.04 split to give a dominating lead to teammates Elle Rivenbark and Kelsey Robison. The quad would go on to crush the state record by nearly half a second and grab an All-American Automatic with a time of 1:46.22.
200 FREESTYLE: In an event where current state record holder Nika Fellows opted out to swim the Individual Medley, it was Cassaundra Pino of Albuquerque High who came in the heavy favorite. With a dominating front end, she led the entire way finishing with a 1:52.64. Coming on strong on the back 75 was Lott from Los Alamos, and third was Zofia Niemczak from Volcano Vista. Winning the consolation final was Sandia’s Aine Scholand with an overwhelming performance.
200 Individual Medley: In the first of four must watch individual races on the girls’ side, La Cueva senior Fellows took on defending champion Lauren Atkins from St. Pius. Both girls weak stroke would prove the difference as Atkins stayed within striking range of Fellows on the fly to take over on the backstroke leg. With equal breastroke skills, Atkins was able to build a big enough lead to fend off the charging Fellows coming home. Atkins would win 2:05.07 to 2:05.37. Taking third, Hope Christian’s freshman Madison Gordley. Winning the consolation final was Libby Weeks of La Cueva.
50 FREE: Swimming with a swing arm freestyle, Alamogordo’s Madison Burns (SR) controlled the race start to finish with a solid 23.48 for her first state victory. Sandia’s Key was second and the Eagle Rivenbark was third. Winning the consolation final was Breanna Wiercinski of Albuquerque High.
1-Meter DIVING: Sophomore Natasha Dark of St. Pius broke a 22-year-old state record in a seemingly flawless and graceful performance with a score of 494.00. Eldorado would then take second and third with Lauren and Meaghan Martinez.
100 BUTTERFLY: With Niemczak tying Pino’s state record on Friday in the prelims session, this quickly became one of the biggest races of the day throughout the competition. Much like her commanding start in the 200 Free, Pino took control on the first 25 and from there Niemczak tried to play catch-up. Pino would win, breaking her state record performance of two years ago, with a 56.14. Niemczak was second (56.67) and Wickesberg third (59.01). The consolation final was won by Sydney Salas of Las Cruces.
100 FREESTYLE: In what can be considered the upset of the day, the Hilltoppers’ Lott would surge again the last 25, this time for victory by edging 50 champion Burns within the flags at the finish. Lott’s win with a 52.07 improved her pervious personal best by nearly two seconds. Third would again be Rivenbark. Winner of the consolation final was the Bear’s Holly Roth (SR) in a big improvement for her as well.
500 FREESTYLE: Fellows swam her last 500 of her high school career before leaving for Kansas all alone well ahead of the field, nearly lapping competitors. As one of only two seniors in the field, behind her ran the race for second and a glimpse into the future. It would be Hope Christian’s Gordley who would out kick the field for second, with club teammate and Eagle Robison touching third. Crushing the field in the consolation final would again be Scholand, whose time could have placed her third overall.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY: A rivalry between Sandia and Eldorado has been brewing over the season. With close finishes at the Metro Championships in January and throughout the season, Eldorado’s combination of Mikelle O’Donnell, Olivia Heflin, Sydney Hanks, and Rivenbark would prove victorious to a surprise second from La Cueva. Sandia would settle for third.
100 BACKSTROKE: Another big race of the day would come down to the finish as Sandia’s Key and Pius’ Atkins would go head to head through the finish. Atkins, a new entry in this event from the past, has the better 200 Backstroke but her endurance would not be enough as Key’s speed and long arms would touch the wall first in a 56.37 to Atkins 56.49. Third would again go to Wickesberg and winning the consolation final would be Alyssa Madero from Las Cruces.
100 BREASTROKE: After a disappointing disqualification in the finals of the 200 Individual Medley, freshman Olivia Heflin would regain her composure with a dominating performance of 1:04.97, giving her an All-American Consideration birth. Hannah Veseth from Sandia would claim second two years in a row, Kate Ripley of La Cueva finished third, and Melanie Pino would win the consolation final in her last year as a senior.
400 FREESTYLE RELAY: With the championship already won, Eldorado finished their season with their third relay victory of the day in a time of 3:38.01. The battle heated up for second behind them as Fellows, splitting 51.40, chased 100 champion Lott. Los Alamos would finish second (3:39.23) to secure their third place team trophy while La Cueva was third (3:39.50).
Final team scores: Eldorado (332.50), La Cueva (262), Los Alamos (218.50), Las Cruces (189.5), Sandia (184), Albuquerque Academy (159.50)
BOYS COMPETITION
The Cibola High School Cougars claimed their first state title in an overwhelming victory with a trio of brothers and a defending state champion setting the tone. The battle for second through fourth would be marred by initial disqualifications, reinstatements, and crucial championship final swims. The race for second was close throughout the day with Albuquerque Academy and Rio Rancho exchanging placing. At the end of the day, it would be Albuquerque Academy rising to second after a disappointing fourth place finish last year, Rio Rancho claiming third two years in a row, and La Cueva finishing fourth.
200 MEDLEY RELAY: The Cougars could not be matched in a state record setting performance with Tameryn Huffman, Edgar Melchor, Ramsey Holler, and John Holler scorching the field with a nearly All-American Automatic time of 1:34.87. Las Cruces was second with Albuquerque Academy finishing third.
200 FREESTYLE: On his second performance of the day, John Holler would gain yet another state record to add to his portfolio after also breaking the record in the 100 Free leading off his school’s 400 Free Relay in prelims on Friday. His winning time of 1:40.43 bettered the previous mark of 1:40.84. 2013 Diversity Camp Select swimmer Luis Felipe Conejo was second in 1:42.88, with Keaton Ward of Clovis taking third in 1:46.09. After a disappointing placement on Friday into the consolation final, Kyle Temple of Las Cruces would destroy the field to win his heat in 1:46.39.
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: La Cueva senior Stephen Klein commanded the race from start to finish defending his title from the previous year in a winning time of 1:54.57. Nearly four seconds behind Klein, second would be claimed by Connor Lambert of Las Cruces in a close finish with Sandia Prep’s Kevin Benavidez taking third. Michael Moore won the consolation final.
50 FREESTYLE: In January at the Metro Championships, sophomore Hank Gullick surprised the field in blistering fashion and Saturday he proved it was no fluke. Gullick won improving his personal mark to 20.91. Cibola’s Melchor would be second at 21.35 and Cory Dean of Hobbs finished third in 21.59. Ian Canavan of Las Cruces would crush his heat to win the consolation final by nearly three tenths as well.
1-METER DIVING: Issac Morris was no match for anyone on the springboard, winning the diving by 63.30 points with two Hobbs divers, Joshua Espinoza and Nathan Collins, taking second and third respectively.
100 BUTTERFLY: After an hour of diving, the most anticipated race of the day came with a state record sure to be challenged. Two-time Albuquerque Academy defending champion Anthony Kim and Cougar John Holler took to the blocks. The two swam a very close race back in November at the High Desert Classic where Holler’s underwaters proved to challenge Kim’s swimming performance. With better underwaters on Saturday, Kim was able to always keep a fraction between him and Holler. Shattering the 50-second barrier for the first time in a record setting performance of 48.66, it is fast enough to currently claim second in the country for 15-year-old boys. Holler was second (49.40) just off his performance from Friday, and Cruces’ Temple was third. Michael Westerberg led the consolation final in 53.83, bettering his personal best in the event by a second and a half.
100 FREESTYLE: It has been four years since a male claimed both the 50 and the 100 Free titles in the same state championships, and Gullick seemed to do it with ease. His time of 46.65 bettered his prelims mark of 48.58, which was his first time under 49-seconds. Second place went to Rio Rancho’s Brice Melugin by .01 over third to Ramsey Holler of Cibola. La Cueva’s Luke Freimanis had the best finish in the consolation heat.
500 FREESTYLE: The second of three highly anticipated boys’ races came in the 500. Coming into the competition, the entry times for the top three seeds were separated by less than a second, while the three boys have somehow never raced the event short course against each other, and their personal specialties are a long range. Swimming in lanes 3, 5, and 7 – Klein, defending champion Conejo, and Los Alamos’ Moore were expected to be tight throughout the race. However, Conejo, whose club team trains USRPT, proved to be unmatched when taking control at the 200 and continued to build a lead throughout the race to post a 4:41.61, six seconds faster than his personal best. Klein was second, Moore was third. Winning the consolation final was Cleveland’s Jacob Wemhoner, a club teammate of Conejo.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY: With a firehouse of sprinters, Eldorado narrowly missed the state record mark on Friday by a tenth to narrowly miss it again Saturday by .05. The quad of Hank Gullick, Brad Kenning, Jackson Powers, and Angus Gullick went 1:26.72 to Cibola’s 1:28.04. Albuquerque Academy was third.
100 BACKSTROKE: Kim won his first state championship backstroke event easy handedly with a 50.08 claiming his second state record of the day and move him to sixth in the country. Rio Rancho’s Ben Lafler was second, Ward from Clovis grabbed another third, and the consolation final was won by Connor Schultz from Los Alamos.
100 BREASTROKE: The third much anticipated race of the day came in this event. Here you had the defending state champion Melchor taking on teammate Ramsey Holler, the state record holder and defending state champion from two years ago who had to sit out last year after a school transfer, and Lambert from Cruces who outswam both boys in December at Chesapeake when all were shaved and rested. It was Melchor start to finish, with Lambert second, and Holler third. The consolation final was won by 8th Grader Riley Kinlaw from Santa Fe Prep.
400 FREESTYLE RELAY: In the last race of the meet came a controversial call that would not only rearrange the relay finishes, but also the team scoring. Albuquerque Academy’s relay of Kim, Jason Hou, Scott Theiler, and Christian Cho dominated the field to be called for an early take off. It would drop them from second to fourth in team rankings. After they had given out the event medals to the remaining participants, the call would be reversed and the team would claim their medals, as well as, their second place team finish. In the relay, Eldorado was second with Cibola taking third.
Final team scores: Cibola (292), Albuquerque Academy (231), Rio Rancho (205), La Cueva (196), Eldorado (181), Las Cruces (180)
*NOTEWORTHY INFORMATION* Albuquerque is a t 5400 feet elevation and therefore swims are relatable to sea level by an adjustment of 1.2 seconds on a 200 with the 500 receiving a 5 second adjustment. All times noted here are as swam, not adjusted.
