The Cortez Leopard Sharks and Mesa Verde Aquatics Club Rapids concluded their summer seasons last weekend at the Scottie Aschermann Seasonal Championship in Craig.
Yosi Waller-Hardie, Delta Suckla and Cody Farias each swam in multiple events for the Leopard Sharks.
In the eight-and-under division, Waller-Hardie won the 25m butterfly, took second in the 25m breaststroke, and finished third in the 50m freestyle, fourth in the 100m IM and fifth in the 25m free.
Suckla, swimming in the 9-10 year-old division, placed second in the 50m breast and 100m breast, sixth in the 50m back, eighth in the 50m free, ninth in the 100m IM, 200m IM and 100m free and finished 11th in the 50m fly.
Finally, Farias, competing in the 11-12 year-old class, took home a first-place finish in the 200m free, finished second in the 100m IM, 100m free, 200m IM and 50m fly and placed third in the 100m breast.
Will Brown and Trent Bagge qualified for the meet for MVAC but were unable to attend, leaving Tessa Jackson as the Rapids’ lone competitor.
In her first trip to the seasonal meet – swimming in the 8-and-under division – Jackson finished fifth in the 25m backstroke and 20th in the 25m free.
“It is her first ever seasonal meet,” coach Miranda Ludington said leading up to the event. “And to make such progression from not knowing how to swim very well to now competing at such a major level, we want her to be very proud of herself and see her achievements.”
The week prior to the seasonal state contest, both clubs sent representatives to the Colorado CSI Long Course State Championships in Grand Junction.
Ryan Cutrone, Tyler Cutrone, Delta Suckla and Cody Farias all qualified for the Long Course State Championships for the Leopard Sharks, although Farias was unable to attend.
Swimming the 14-and-under class, Tyler Cutrone cut four seconds off his entry time in the 100m breaststroke and made it back in the consolation bracket to the finals to finish 15th.
“I was really pleased with that race,” said head coach Ian MacLaren. “Anytime you cut four seconds in 100 that’s a substantial amount of time. He did really well.”
Tyler also placed 20th in the 200m breast and 33rd in the 1500m free.
Swimming in a loaded 15-and-over division, Ryan Cutrone cut time off his performance to finish 70th out of 94.
Finally, competing in the 10-and-under division, Suckla finished 14th place in both the 50m breast and 100m breast.
“She swam really well once again,” said MacLaren. “It was her first big meet and she was right in the thick of it. So a really good day for her.”
Trent Bagge, Jenna Barner and Sam Bagge each qualified for the Rapids.
Swimming in the 14-and-under divisions, Trent Bagge finished 45th in the 50m free and Barner finished 103rd in the 100m free.
“He swam excellent,” Ludington said of Bagge. “It was great competition and it was just such a great meet to be at and he ended up 45th in the state and we’re really excited about it.”
“She did add a little bit of time,” she added about Barner. “But she had a great swim against great competition. And she came out of the water smiling and excited about competing.”
Sam Bagge swam a 28.54 in the 50m free prelims to advance to the finals. And there, she swam a 29.24 to finish eighth overall. She also placed 24th in the 100m free.
Bagge is competing at the 2016 Arena Western Zone Senior Championships this week in Clovis, California, but results were not available at the time of printing.
