The Lowry High School swim team had some unexpected time on its hands, before its first meet of the season last Saturday in Reno. The Buckaroos' meet with Incline started about two hours late and the last race did not begin until after 8 a.m.
However, the long wait did not hurt Lowry, as team has picked up where it left off a season ago. The Buckaroos had a handful of its swimmers earn regional qualifying times in sweeping the Highlanders. The girls won 166-50, while the boys claimed a 147-64 victory.
"I could not be more proud of the kids," said LHS coach Mike Owens. "Under the circumstances and with a lot of young kids we could have lost our focus. The older kids stepped up and walked them through the whole thing. We showed how important depth. We had a lot of swimmers and that was the difference. There were five teams there, but I wanted them to worry about Incline."
Individually, Emma Kracaw led the Buckaroo girls with first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle at 2 minutes, 43.38 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle at 1:11.93. Kelsea Perkinson was first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.87 and the 10-yard breaststroke at 1:21.50.
The victories continued for the Lady Bucks in the 100-yard backstroke, with sophomore Madison Lozano stopping the clock at 1:14.59. She also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:13.64.
Sabrina Jensen and Bree LeBrun led a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard individual medley with times of 3:05.56 and 3:06.84. Jensen, a senior, won was second in the 50-yard freestyle at 31.81. LeBrun, a freshman, was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:35.66.
Abbie Whitaker took the top spot in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 8:38.15 and Cheyanna Furnare turned in a pair of runner-up finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (2:45.19) and the third in the 50-yard freestyle (32.64).
Katlyn Barnes was second in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:16.61 and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle at 32.68.
Lowry got more strong performances for underclassmen as Emily Jock was second in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:37.28 and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 34.34.
Melissa Cervantes placed third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 3:06.44 and the junior was third in the 100-yard freestyle (1:22.59). Bridget Cervantes placed fifth in the 50-yard freestyle at 33.36. Abby Flores (1:24.47) and Jessie Bell (1:25.69) were fourth and fifth, respectively in the 100-yard freestyle.
The 200-yard medley of Lozano, Perkinson, Jensen and Kracaw were first at 2:13.71, while the same foursome won the 200-yard freestyle by 20 seconds over Incline at 2:00.69. The 400-yard freestyle of Bridget Cervantes, Nakiya Flores, Furnare and Barnes completed the relay sweep at 5:31.16.
On the boys side, Matthew Jock started his season on a high note, turning in the best time among all the swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. His times were better than swimmers from Reed, Hug, Manogue and Wooster, who were also participating. He stopped the watch at 24.25 in the 50, which was quicker than his time at state last year. He finished at 58.60 in the 100-yard freestyle, five seconds better than any other swimmer.
"He looked awesome right off the bat," Owens said. "It's amazing that he already bested his time from state last year. His goal is to get under 23 seconds in the 50 and I think he can do it."
Tristen Waller finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:22.41. Teammate Chris Franco was second in the event at 2:35.36. Waller took home another first-place honor in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:16.88.
In his first high school meet, freshman Nathan Perkinson was second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:57.75 and second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:27.16.
Liam Walls won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:20.84 and the sophomore was second in the 50-yard freestyle at 29.03. Garrett Gray posted a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:15.97, while Nicholas Maddox was second at 1:35.21.
Ian Maher posted two runner-up finishes in the 100-yard freestyle (1:07.13) and 500-yard freestyle (7:09.80), while Alex Shurtliff was third in the 50-yard freestyle (29.18) and third in the 500-yard freestyle at 7:15.63.
The 200-yard medley relay of Gray, Waller, Walls and Jock were first at 2:04.59 and the same four were the leader of the pack in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:52.69.
"We had nine kids qualify for the regional meet," Owens said. "I don't care if the regional times changed, but that is amazing for the first meet. I am proud of how we swam in the first week. From our freshmen to out seniors, everyone did their job."
Lowry travels to Incline on Saturday for the Aqua 5.
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