The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate swim team started its 2025-2026 season with a splash Tuesday, with all of the team’s swimmers doing “so well” at the season’s opening meeting, according to coach Heather Miller.
The team hit the water as part of a three-team meet in Salida Tuesday, Dec. 2, with Salida winning the meet and Pagosa tying with Manitou Springs.
“The meet was a great experience for the team, some experienced their first meet, some swam a meet with very little training,” Miller wrote in an email to The SUN. “We did have some best times, although it is a bit hard to compare since the pool is a meters pool vs yards which is what we usually swim. I was impressed with bravery of the new swimmers in their first meet and the fortitude of our returning swimmers to step up in a meet with very little training. We had a few mistakes but no major problems.”
This year’s squad includes 21 swimmers, according to Miller, with 12 returning from last year.
“We have a very strong group of experienced swimmers and leaders who are returning this year,” she wrote. “ All members of our state relay teams are back and they are leading by example with their excellent work ethic and supporting the new swimmers.”
Many of the team’s new swimmers, she adds, have some previous swim team experience, though a few are new to the sport.
She notes the team was able to get going with preseason practices pretty early this year, allowing the new swimmers to dive in and “learn more about the sport of swimming and start working on stroke technique.”
Miller adds the Salida meet falling so early in the season allowed the team to get a good baseline.
“We were able to get a good idea of where we are and what we need to work on for our meets next weekend,” she wrote.
Miller highlights that a pair of returning swimmers — Gianna Shaeffer and Ruby Snell — had best times in every swim at the Salida meet.
The 200-meter medley relay team of Marlowe Hedgecock, Leah Blackman, Chloe Gantt and Asia Gorman finished fourth with a time of two minutes, 36.95 seconds.
In the 200-meter freestyle, Leilani Snell finished fifth with a time of 3:22.40, followed by Brooklyn Trujillo in sixth with a time of 3:48.53, Cheyenne Trujillo in seventh with a time of 3:49.02 and Blackman in eighth with a time of 3:51.62.
Gantt took fourth in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 3:15.47, with Gorman logging a time of 3:19.82 to follow in fifth. Shaeffer took seventh with a time of 3:42.84, and Lucia Rivera finished ninth with a time of 4:32.59.
Hedgecock finished second in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 34.17 seconds, with Angelique Buffum notching fourth with a time of 43.54 seconds. Avery Book logged a time of 47.72 to finished sixth, and Isa Forster took eighth with a time of 50.48 seconds.
Gantt logged a time of 1:35.13 in the 100-meter butterfly to take third, with Kailey Vincent taking fifth with a time of 2:04.69 and Angela Gomez taking sixth with a time of 2:09.25.
In the 100-meter freestyle, the Lady Pirates were led by Vincent, who took fifth with a time of 1:42.03. Shantee Murphy followed in sixth with a time of 1:43.69, Rivera finished seventh with a time of 1:45.90, and Buffum finished 10th with a time of 2:02.06.
Gorman also notched second in the 400-meter freestyle, logging a time of 6:11.59. Grace Cram took fifth, swimming a time of 6:42.42.
In the 200-meter freestyle relay, the squad of Cram, Gomez, Ruby Snell and Hedgecock finished third with a time of 2:29.93. The squad of Vincent, Leilani Snell, Brooklyn Trujillo and Rivera followed in fourth with a time of 2:57.17.
Book led the Lady Pirates in the 100-meter backstroke, logging a time of 2:00.47 to finish fourth. Brooklyn Trujillo followed in fifth with a time of 2:06.06. Forster swam a time of 2:57.04 to finish eighth, and Kaillen Taylor finished with a time of 3:05.02 to take ninth.
Shaeffer finished fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:37.44. Blackman followed in seventh with a time of 1:46.19. Ruby Snell followed in ninth with a time of 1:56.80, and Leilani Snell swam a time of 2:03.47 to finish 11th.
The Lady Pirate squad of Hedgecock, Cram, Gorman and Gantt took second in the 400-meter freestyle relay with a time of 5:21.86. The squad of Book, Buffum, Cheyenne Trujillo and Leilani Snell finished fifth with a time of 7:28.59.
“I am really excited to see what this season brings,” Miller wrote. “We have a lot of new talented swimmers and with our strong core of returning swimmers I think it will be a special season!”
Schedule
The following schedule was accurate as of press time Wednesday, but is subject to change.
Next up for the Lady Pirates will be a Dec. 12 meet in Delta that is set to begin at 5 p.m.
The following morning, the team will be back in action, this time in Gunnison, with action beginning at 10:15 a.m.
The team’s final meet of the calendar year will take place on Dec. 18, when the team will take part in the Sargent Swim Meet at Adams State University in Alamosa, with the meet kicking off at 4 p.m.
Following the holidays, the Lady Pirates will dive back into action on Jan. 9, 2026, against Delta at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, with action beginning at 5:15 p.m.
The following evening at 5 p.m., the team will take on Grand Junction at the same location.
On Jan. 16, 2026, the team will swim in Montrose, with action beginning at 5 p.m.
On Jan. 23, 2026, the team will be in action in Gunnison beginning at 5 p.m.
The team will compete in Durango on Jan. 30 and 31, 2026, with action beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 and 10 a.m. on Jan. 31.
The team will then cap off the regular season at Colorado Mesa University beginning at 6 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2026, and continuing at 1 p.m. the following day.
randi@pagosasun.com
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