Holiday swimming wrapped up like presents last weekend.
Sharks, piranhas and porpoises blazed through the waters of the Ute Mountain Recreation Center Pool in Towaoc.
The Cortez Leopard Sharks tallied nine high points award winners in the sixth annual Spirit of Christmas Invitational swim meet. The event is hosted by the Four Corners Aquatic Team of Towaoc (the Piranhas), who garnered three high points awards. The Pagosa Springs Lake Porpoises also landed three high points winners.
The Spirit of Christmas meet concluded the 2011 youth swimming season. Leopard Sharks coach Kevin Ketterer always looks forward to closing out the year close to home.
Its great for our team. It was well run, he said. For my kids, its just a great opportunity, especially my youngest swimmers, to get the feel of a meet without having hundreds of kids there. Its a good experience. Its a good way to wind up the season. We have fun there. We look forward to this meet every winter. It fires the kids up to come back in April.
FCAT coach Peter DuMont felt his meet ran accordingly.
The meet went very smoothly. The sessions went quickly, we werent affected by weather, DuMont said. Its always a pleasure having the Cortez group here.
Kaylyn Miller, 8, led the Piranhas with four first-place finishes out of five events. She was first in the girls 8U 25-yard backstroke (30.69), 50-freestyle (1:02.22), 25-free (26.98) and the 50-back (1:06.31). Miller was the girls 8U high points winner with 64.
She is an extremely hard worker. Shes got great parental support. She shows up for nearly every practiced and works hard, DuMont said about Miller, who starter swimming competitively a year ago. Shes got a great competitive spirit and is always disturbed when she doesnt win. I think shes got a good future, because she is a hard worker. Shes a natural kicker, which is what really powers your stroke.
ReeAnna Mills, 18, won the girls 400-free in 7:33.93 to win her ages high point award. Younger sister Tifiny Mills, 13, placed second in the girls 13-14 200- and-100-free in 3:43.81 and 1:41.57. She was second in the girls 13-14 high points category.
The youngest swimmer in the pool was 6-year-old Benjamin Lewis of the Leopard Sharks. He took first in the boys 8U 25-free in 43.70.
He was the toughest fish in the pool, DuMont said abut Lewis.
Nine-year-old youngsters Trenton Bagge and Gavin Quinlan are no strangers to the pool. But each swam the boys 9-10 400-free for the first time and took first and second, respectively, at 7:49.99 and 7:57.59.
Swimming a distance event for those boys for the first time, they swam really well, Ketterer said. They swam smart races. They had good splits. I was impressed with that.
Quinlan was his age groups high points champion.
Other high points winners for the Leopard Sharks included, Ryan Cutrone, boys 11-12; Bailey Duran, girls 13-14; Cole Gropp, boys 8U; Samantha Bagge, girls 11-12; and, Emma Ward, girls 9-10. Victoria Duran, Trenton Bagge and Lewis were second at high points in their age groups.
Bailey, Victoria and Caisey Duran all swam in their first meet. Bailey was first in the 200- and 100-free at 3:29.16 and 1:32.92. Caisey had a top time in the girls 11-12 50-breaststroke in 58.40. Victoria had runner-up finishes in all four events she swam.
What impresses me about these girls is in practice, theyre easy to coach, Ketterer said. They listen to what you have to say, they try the ideas and the techniques that I present to them. They come to every practice, wonderful work ethic, theyre always paying attention, theyre always trying to improve their stroke. Thats true for all three of them. Theyre just really fun to coach.
The youth swimming season will resume in April, 2012 for the Leopard Sharks and Piranhas.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at [email protected].
