WINNEMUCCA - Going into the Zephyr League championships the Lowry High School swim team knew they were going to be at a disadvantage with a limited number of swimmers due to prom that night.
The Buckaroos took 14 of their members to Reno last Saturday, with a number of them turning in season-best times. Lowry finished seventh in the team standings in both the boys and girls divisions, while Truckee won the boys title and Bishop Manogue the girls.
"We had 14 swimmers go on the trip and 18 best times," said LHS head coach Mike Owens. "When you are taking off time at the end of the season, that is impressive. A lot of times you peak and you are not going to take off time every week you swim. We have a lot of hard workers on our team."
Matthew Ruehl had the best finish of the day for the Buckaroos, as he was fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1 minute, 17.72 seconds, which was nearly three seconds better than his previous best time. The junior also placed 12th in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:05.93.
"What was impressive about Matt is that the breaststroke is the last event on the schedule," Owens said. "By then most swimmers are wiped out. To take off three seconds like he did was impressive."
Dain Maher took off two seconds in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:15.91 to place sixth, to go with an eighth-place outing in the 50-yard freestyle at 29.06, which was .75 seconds quicker than his previous best. Jiovanni Madrid was eighth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:43.09. He had not competed in that race all year.
Wyatt Lester finished 10th in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 29:41 and was 11th in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:05.91, while freshman teammate Tristen Waller cut off 10 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke to finish 12th with a time of 1:33.06. In addition, Waller placed 15th in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:12.94, which was four seconds better than his previous best. Jacob Schmidt and Bradley Schmidt were 19th and 20th in the 50-yard freestyle at 37.31 and 39.92, respectively.
Freshman Cecily Snow led the Lady Bucks, as she was sixth in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 30.22 and 10th in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:10.06. Teammates Rachel French and Emma Kracaw tied for eighth in the 50-yard freestyle with identical times of 31.72. Kracaw turned in a ninth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:09.34 and French was 14th with a time of 1:14.42.
Becky Barber placed 10th in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 7:21.53, while Eva Mercado trimmed off seven seconds to be 11th in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:39.64 and 15 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley to place 12th in a time of 3:00.14.
"Eva swam well all day and I was proud of her," said the coach. "She took a lot of time off in both her races."
Sabrina Jensen finished 13th in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:22.69 and 14th in the 50-yard freestyle at 33.25, with Xana Childs 22nd in the 200-yard freestyle at 3:35.82 and 25th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.03.
Lowry travels to Carson City this weekend for the Northern 4A Regional Championships. The trials begin at 1 p.m. today and the finals are set for Saturday at 1 p.m. The top three individual finishers and the top three relay teams in each event advance to the 2012 NIAA Class 4A Nevada State High School Swimming and Diving Championships at Buchanan Natatorium on the campus of UNLV on Saturday, May 19.
"I am thinking we can get about seven kids into the second day on Saturday," Owens said. "If we can do that I think we will be in good shape."
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