The Mesa Verde Aquatics Club Rapids and Cortez Leopard Sharks each sent swimmers to the Telluride Open and Grand Junction Invite the weekend of June 23-25.
In what MVAC head coach Kevin Ketterer called a developmental meet, the two Cortez-based clubs sent younger swimmers to Telluride to compete against Telluride, Montrose, Durango and Ouray.
The Rapids finished third in the boys standings with 127 points and the Leopard Sharks were fourth with 46. In the girls standings, the Leopard Sharks tallied 88 points to finish in third and the Rapids were sixth with 16 points. Finally, in the combined team scores, the Leopard Sharks finished with 150 points to take third place and the Rapids finished just seven points behind, in fourth place with 143.
Both clubs saw a handful of team members take home first-place finishes on the day.
In the 50-yard butterfly, Delta Suckla, Jessica Lopez, Bobby Likes, and Cody Farias all won their respective divisions for the Leopard Sharks, while Jared Michael Gripp, Caleb Vaquera, and Gabriel Vaquera finished in first in their classes for MVAC. Caleb Vaquera also won the 100-yard butterfly in the boys’ 13-14 division.
Tessa Jackson, Tyler Jackson and Rookh Fairley each won their category of the 25-yard backstroke for the Rapids. Fairley also won the 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke, and representing the Leopard Sharks, Jenny Shields won the 50-yard backstroke.
Gripp and Farias each won their division of the 100-yard freestyle, and Suckla, Shields, Gripp, Farias and Gabriel Vaquera all won their class in the 50-yard breaststroke. Suckla also won the 100-yard breaststroke and she, Shields, Gripp, Likes and Farias each won the 100-yard IM in their respective class.
Tessa Jackson won the girls 8 & under 25-yard freestyle, and Fairley, Trent Bagge and Gabriel Vaquera all won their class of the 50-yard free.
The Leopard Sharks’ and Rapids’ older swimmers traveled to a massive meet in Grand Junction that featured over 30 teams and had multiple events with over 50 competitors.
Each squad had multiple swimmers qualify out of prelims and into the finals, and in the final combined team standings, the Leopard Sharks finished 19th with 195 points and the Rapids were 30th with 12.5.
Sam Bagge and Jenna Barner were MVAC’s only swimmers, but each made the finals in at least one event and scored points for the team.
Swimming in the girls 15 & over division, Bagge placed 12th in the 50-meter freestyle and 15th in the 200m backstroke. Barner, who swam in the girls 13-14 group, placed 11th in the 200m backstroke.
Ryan Cutrone, Bailey Duran, Caisey Duran, Victoria Duran and Tyler Cutrone were the five Leopard Sharks that swam their way into the finals.
Ryan Cutrone placed 12th in the boys 15 & over 200m breaststroke, and swimming in the girls 15 & over division, sisters Bailey and Caisey Duran placed in multiple events.
Bailey placed 12th and Caisey finished 15th in the 400m IM, Bailey was 13th and Caisey 15th in the 200m breaststroke, Bailey placed ninth and Caisey 12th in the 1500m freestyle and Caisey finished 14th in the 100m breaststroke.
In the girls 13-14 group, Victoria Duran took eighth in the 400m free, 12th in the 200m back and 400m IM, 13th in the 200m breaststroke and 16th in the 100m breaststroke.
Tyler Cutrone, swimming in the boys 13-14 division, placed second in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke, third in the 100m back, 200m back and 200m IM, fourth in the 400m IM, sixth in the 100m butterfly and seventh in the 100m and 200m freestyle.
Both the Leopard Sharks and Rapids will compete in The Montrose Marlins Summer Open from July 8-10.