Sam Bagge, Jenna Barner, Shundiin Kauffman and Kayla Hageman all punched their tickets to the Colorado Class 4A swimming and diving state championship last weekend during the regional meet in Grand Junction.
Swimming at Colorado Mesa University, Bagge qualified for state in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, and Barner, Kauffman, Hageman and Bagge qualified for state in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Bagge swam personal best times in both of her individual events – finishing third in the 50-yard freestyle (25.8) and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (56.2) – and her time in the 100-yard freestyle broke the school record of 57.78, set in 1994.
“Making the finals would be magical,” Bagge said looking forward to the 50-yard race at the state championship. “But 24.9 is my goal time.” As for the 100-yard freestyle race at state, Bagge’s goal is 56.6.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team that qualified for the state meet also set a new M-CHS record. Barner, Kauffman, Hageman and Bagge finished with a time of 1:48.52, breaking the previous school record of 1:50.32.
And at the state meet next weekend, they have their sights set on breaking it again.
Although there were no other state qualifiers, a handful of the Lady Panthers swam their best times at the regional meet.
Barner swam her way to the finals in the 50-yard freestyle, where she set a personal best time of 27.7. She also made it to the finals in the 100-yard freestyle and swam a new best, 58.68, placing eighth overall.
Kauffman moved on to the 50-yard freestyle finals as well, swimming a personal best time of 28.10. And in the 200-yard freestyle relay, she swam her leg in an even faster 27.7.
Autumn Van Bibber (1:32.27) and Alexx Earley (1:33.82) each swam personal bests in the 100-yard breaststroke, Breezy Milligin swam a 2:49.49 in the 200-yard freestyle and Nanabah Sam placed 17th in the 500-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 6:37.83.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Keyana Matteson, Milligin, Lynda Lapaz and Stevee Brenner finished 17th place with a time of 5:01.07, and the Lady Panthers finished ninth overall in the team standings with 83 points.
“I am very excited that the hard work the girls have put in this season has paid off greatly,” head coach Gayle Earley said in an e-mail. “The determination the girls have shown this season is outstanding. Despite the alarming changing of coaching staff at the beginning of the season the girls were able to come together as a team and work towards their goals.”
“The girls’ primary goal was to become one unit and they did accomplish just that,” she continued. “The girls set individual goals at the beginning of the season and it was a great accomplishment for them to make those goals. I am very proud of this team.”
The Lady Panthers will start swimming at the state competition with prelims on Friday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton, CO, with the finals scheduled the following day at 2 p.m.
