WINNEMUCCA - With the regular season coming to an end this weekend, the Lowry High School swim team is looking to the postseason and gained some momentum to that point with two wins in South Tahoe this past Saturday against Wooster.
The Lady Bucks won their first Zephyr League dual of the season, beating the Colts 136-131. The boys improved to 3-1 with a 132-91 victory.
"This is as tough a year as I have seen in the league for the girls," said LHS head coach Mike Owens. "It is very competitive throughout all the teams. When you win by five points, every one of those points is a big deal. The difference in the outcome can be one position in the race. I was very happy with the outcome and was pretty much at full strength."
Johana Christensen picked up two wins for the Lady Bucks, leading the way in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1 minute, 6.13 seconds and the 50-yard freestyle at 26.00. Sophomore Karen Esparza swam the 500-yard freestyle for the first time this season and won the event with a time of 7:26.52.
Olivia Snow posted a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:25.79, qualifying her for the Northern 4A regional championships. In addition, the senior also finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle at 30.14.
"I was so proud of Olivia," Owens said. "She has been doing this for four years and never qualified for the regional as an individual. When she saw her time on the backstroke, she was in tears. Olivia is pretty quiet but works hard."
Junior Tori Echeverria turned in two runner-up finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, respectively, with times of 28.10 and 2:27.62. Teammate Kinzie McClintick did the same, as she was second in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:46.30 and the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:22.85.
Patricia Bates placed second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:06.34 and was third in the 200-yard freestyle, timing in at 2:35.43. Sabrina Jensen finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:22.67 and ninth in the 50-yard freestyle at 32.29. Becky Barber and Jessica Jensen were third and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with times of 1:34.69 and 1:42.25, while Barber also placed third in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:36.62. Rachel French placed fourth in both the 200-yard freestyle (2:58.18) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:33.56), taking nearly 15 seconds off her previous best time.
Cecily Snow placed fifth in the 50-yard freestyle (30.86) and seventh in the 100-yard freestyle (1:12.79). Emma Kracaw was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:12.41.
The girls 200-yard medley relay of Christensen, Bates, Echeverria and McClintick ran away with the race in a time of 2:10.01, to win by 19 seconds. The 200-yard freestyle was a 1-2-3 finish for the Lady Bucks, with the same foursome winning with a time of 1:54.71. Wooster won the 400-yard freestyle relay, with the group of Jerrica Hansen, Barber, Esparza and Abby Flores placing second at 5:26.82.
"We were down for much of the dual but came back at the end," said the coach. "It was big for us to sweep the first three spots in the 200 relay. It just shows that every point counts when you are in these duals."
Jessie Pate picked up two wins for the boys, claiming the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2:35.95 and the 100-yard backstroke at 1:12.97. Joe Schmidt paced the field in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:33.38 in the first time he has raced the event this year. Schmidt was second in the 50-yard freestyle at 29.37.
His teammate, Michael Drake, win the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.95. The senior also finished second in the 100-butterfly at 1:03.54. AJ Jackson won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:55.71, nearly 39 seconds ahead of second place. Jackson went on to add a third-place outing in the 50-yard freestyle at 29.62.
Matthew Ruehl picked up two second-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley (2:54.97) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:21.25), while teammate Jeremiah Maestrejuan was third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:28.57.
Wyatt Lester led a 2-3-4-5 Lowry finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:11.88. He was followed by Dusty Thiede, Jacob Schmidt and Bradley Schmidt. Dain Maher and Tristen Waller were third and fifth, respectively, in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:17.93 and 1:43.07. Trystan Blouir was third in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:46.52.
The 200-yard medley relay of Drake, Ruehl, Jackson and Pate ran away with the victory in a time of 2:05.33 to beat Wooster by 23 seconds. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Drake, Joe Schmidt and Maestrejuan won in a time of 1:50.29.
"We had kids really step up," Owens said. "That was a great time for Jeremiah in the breaststroke and Becky has improved every week. Sabrina was behind a Wooster girl before the final turn and came back to pull ahead of her, which was big for us."
Lowry closes out its Zephyr League schedule on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Churchill County at Northwest Pool in Reno.
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