Prior to the start of the 2016-17 swim season, Montezuma-Cortez High School swim coach Gayle Earley said that her team’s goals included qualifying swimmers for state and breaking school records.
Competing at the West Slope Regional Meet in Grand Junction, Feb. 3-4, the Panthers accomplished both their coach’s goals as six swimmers qualified for state and six school records were broken.
Leading the way for the Panthers was senior co-captain Samantha Bagge, who placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 25.25. Bagge also cracked the top five in the 100-yard butterfly as she finished fourth overall with a school-record time of 1:02.97.
Also breaking individual school records for the Panthers was senior co-captain Bailey Duran, who placed sixth in the 200-yard individual medley and 10th in the 500-yard freestyle. Duran’s prelim times of 2:23.23 in the 200-yard IM and 5:45.08 in the 500-yard freestyle were both school records.
Other M-CHS swimmers that cracked the top-10 in individual events included junior Caisey Duran, who finished eighth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:07.91 and sophomore Jenna Barner, who placed 10th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:11.26.
The Panthers’ 400-free relay made up of Barner, Bagge, Bailey Duran, and Caisey Duran finished fourth with a school record time of 3:55.05. The 200-yard medley relay made up of the same swimmers finished fifth overall and set a school record during the prelims with a time of 2:00.79.
Other M-CHS swimmers qualifying for state included sophomore Nanabah Sam, whose time of 1:08.89 in the 100-backstroke was good enough to qualify for the Class 3A state meet. Freshman Bess McAlpin also qualified for state in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:09.30.
As a team, the Panthers finished eiighth overall at the Regional meet with 175 points. Glenwood Springs High School finished won the meet with 353 total points.
Next up for M-CHS will be the Class 3A state meet, which will take place in Thornton, Feb. 10-11.
Several Panthers are ranked well headed into the state meet, including Bagge, who is currently sitting sixth overall in the 50-yard freestyle, and Duran, who is currently ranked 13th in the 200-yard individual medley. The M-CHS 400-freestyle relay is ranked 10th overall in Class 3A.