WINNEMUCCA - With a bye week at the start of the season, the Lowry High School swim team hit the pool for the first time in competition mode last Saturday against Wooster at the Incline Recreation Center.
The Buckaroos began the year on a high note with the boys winning 111-92 and the Lady Bucks claiming a 121-113 victory.
"It was an awesome facility to swim at," said LHS head coach Mike Owens. "I'm thinking probably 15 of the kids had not been to any facility like that in their lives. So they were a little awestruck. We had just three disqualifications on the day and we took 25 new swimmers (no swimming experience). I was so happy with how we did."
Tori Echeverria swam the 100-yard butterfly, where she finished first to go with a second-place outing in the 50-yard freestyle. She qualified for the Division I-A regional championships in both events.
Emma Kracaw turned in a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Sabrina Jensen won the 100-yard backstroke and was fifth in the 200-yard individual medley.
A pair of new swimmers helped the Lady Bucks out, with Katlyn Barnes finishing fourth overall in the 50-yard freestyle and sixth overall in the 100-yard freestyle. She was part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed fifth.
Freshman Kelsea Perkinson finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke and sixth in the 200-yard individual medley. She also swam on the 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished second and was a part of the winning 200-yard individual medley relay team. The coach said she is a great addition to the team with a good background in swimming. Perkinson had previously been a swimmer in California.
The girls 200-yard medley with Perkinson, Kracaw, Echeverria and Jessica Jensen won, along with the 400-yard freestyle relay of Rachel French, Kracaw, Abby Flores and Sabrina Jensen.
While competing in two relay races, Flores also swam the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke where she finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
"That is a hard day of swimming for anyone, let alone a second-year swimmer," Owens said.
The boys 200-yard freestyle relay team of Wyatt Lester, Dain Maher, Jeremiah Maestrejuan and Tristen Waller recorded a first-place finish.
Maestrejuan swam the 100-yard breaststroke and came in third place and was on the 200-yard medley that came in second place.
Waller swam the 100-yard backstroke and placed third and the 50-yard freestyle where he finished eighth. He was also a part of the second- place 400-yard freestyle relay team.
Maher finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and was part of the second-place 200-yard individual medley relay team.
Owens added that new swimmer James Perkinson and returning swimmer Lester were pleasant surprises in there events.
"I was so proud of how our team performed and executed the strokes," Owens said. "They stayed on the deck the entire day cheering each other and were so excited to be there. I look forward to a great season with a lot of fresh faces with new and better results each week with the veterans helping and getting faster as the season progresses."
Lowry travels to Reno today to face Churchill County at 2 p.m. and travels to Carson City for the Zephyr Aqua 5 at 9 a.m.
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