The Lowry High School swim team concluded its season this past Saturday at the NIAA State Championships at the Carson Aquatic Center in Carson City.
The Buckaroos had a handful of athletes compete, with senior Garrett Gray finishing fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 5.05 seconds, which was .88 seconds quicker than his seed time.
Sage Ridge’s Stuart Hayes won the race at 59.73. Boulder City’s Chandler Larson (1:00.61) and Mojave’s Mason Claiborne (1:01.27) were second and third, respectively.
Junior Nathan Perkinson raced in the 100-yard backstroke, after Churchill County’s Isaac Kelsey scratched from the event and did not race. Perkinson placed eighth with a time of 56.59, which was nearly a second quicker than his seed time.
Boulder City’s Braden Klouse was the state champion at 49.18, while Claiborne was second with a time of 51.32.
Boulder City's Clayton Pendleton was third with a time of 51.68 and Cheyenne's Aiden Narkter (51.71) was fourth and South Tahoe's Luis Martin (53.07) and Adelson's Noah Ferber (53.07) tied for fifth.
“Everyone did a great job and dropped a little more time,” said LHS coach Shelby Ruff. “Nathan had a personal best time in his race.”
The boys 200-yard medley relay of Gray, Perkinson, Liam Walls and Alex Shurtliff had the best finish of the day for the Buckaroos, placing in the runner-up spot. Lowry had a time of 1:56.22, while Boulder City won the race in an impressive time of 1:46.56.
The girls 400-yard freestyle relay of Hallie Caratzola, Halle Sullivan, Adya Goldblatt and Bree LeBrun were sixth with a time of 4:45.76, which was nearly eight seconds quicker than their seed time.
Boulder City was first at 3:45.92 and was the only school to break the four-minute mark. Adelson was second at 4:13.61.
“Both relays finished two spots higher than their seed coming into the meet,” Ruff said.
The Lowry boys finished 11th in the team standings with 20 points. Boulder City claimed the state championship with 132 points, while Truckee (99) was second. Chaparral (47), Cheyenne (33) and SE Career Tech Academy (31) rounded out the top five.
The Lady Bucks were 12th with six points. Boulder City ran away with the state championship with 214.50 points. Truckee was a distant second with 75 points, while Virgin Valley (44.50) was third. Adelson (42) and Sage Ridge (36) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
“Between our progress this year and the changes with the city team, we’re looking forward to continued improvement next season,” added the coach. “We had some swimmers really step up at the end of the season and fill some holes in the event entries.”
