Competing against three of the top teams in the Western Slope Conference, the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls swim team found individual victories hard to come by.
Opening its season in Durango on Dec. 5, M-CHS finished fourth behind Montrose, Grand Junction and meet winner Durango High School. Piedra Vista High School (Farmington, N.M.) also competed in the meet, but did not score due to its out-of-state location.
Leading M-CHS against Durango, sophomore Samantha Bagge finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (26.80) and the 100-yard freestyle (59.31).
Sophomore Bailey Duran finished second in the 500-freestyle (6:14.30) and second in the 200-individual medley (2:39.63). Freshman Caisey Duran rounded out the Panthers’ top-three finishers by placing third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:11.54).
Competing in Cortez on Dec. 6, M-CHS finished fourth for the second consecutive day behind Montrose, Grand Junction and meet winner Durango.
Bagge notched the Panthers first individual win of the season with a first place finish in the 50-freestyle (26.96). The sophomore finished third in the 500-freestyle (6:03.34).
Other top-three finishers in Cortez included Madison VanBibber, who finished third in the 200-freestyle (2:21.43) and Bailey Duran, who finished third in the 100-yard butterfly.
Highlighting the meet for M-CHS was the 200-yard freestyle relay event, which saw a Panthers team made up of Elana Cope, Bailey Duran, VanBibber and Bagge finish first overall (1:54.47).
Next up for the M-CHS girls’ swim team will be the Western Slope Conference League Relays Meet, which takes place in Grand Junction on Dec. 13.