The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate swim team returned to action Tuesday in Sargent following a holiday break that included only two team practices.
But, despite the limited practice, coach Heather Miller notes in an email to The SUN the team swam as expected and, in some cases, better than expected.
“With only 2 formal practices and the hardest practice of the season on Monday I expected a real challenge to be at or near best times,” she wrote. “We saw a few significant time improvements and many were at or near their best times. We also had no relay false starts and only 1 disqualification.”
She also explains she pushed the Lady Pirates outside of their comfort zones at the meet.
“Most swimmers swam one new or unusual event for them and everyone rose to the occasion, they may not have liked the event but they all gave 100% effort,” she wrote. “I am truly impressed with the effort and attitude at the meet.”
Sargent scored 122 points, while Pagosa scored 44.
“We had two real standouts at the meet Kaiya Lyons and Ruby Snell both had best times and swam [some] very challenging events,” Miller highlights.
The Lady Pirate team of Marlowe Hedgecock, Leah Blackman, Chloe Gantt and Asia Gorman took second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of two minutes, 23.40 seconds to score four points.
The team of Bree Gerdel, Gianna Shaeffer, Grace Cram and Brooklyn Trujillo took fifth with a time of 2:49.54.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Slingerland took fourth with a time of 3:11.12 to score three points. Ruby Snell followed in fifth with a time of 3:11.25 to earn two points. Lucia Rivera finished in sixth with a time of 3:53.66.
Cram took third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 3:37.32 to earn three points.
Gerdel took third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 33.41 seconds to earn three points. Kateyln Fricke finished fourth and earned two points with a time of 35.01 seconds. Shaeffer followed in fifth with a time of 36.09 seconds to earn one point.
Lyons swam the event as an exhibition, logging a time of 36.39 seconds, which Miller notes is about five seconds off her previous time.
Miller adds, “this is a huge drop for a short event. She also swam the 500 free, which is a big challenge for a first year swimmer.”
Trujillo also swam the 50 free event as an exhibition, swimming a time of 42.23 seconds.
With a time of 1:23.13, Gantt took third in the 100-yard butterfly, scoring three points. Hedgecock followed in fourth with a time of 1:40.37 to score two points.
Three Lady Pirates took to the water for the 100-yard freestyle, with Gerdel taking third and earning two points with a time of 1:22.47. Snell followed in fourth and earned one point with a time of 1:23.56 — cutting a minute from her previous time, according to Miller. Fricke took sixth with a time of 1:29.62.
Lyons took third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 9:15.67 to earn three points. Blackman followed with a time of 9:17.88.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Lady Pirate team of Gorman, Cram, Hedgecock and Gantt earned four points and second place after swimming a time of 2:07.59.
The team of Gerdel, Shaeffer, Slingerland and Blackman followed in third and earned two points with a time of 2:31.83.
The team of Lyons, Snell, Rivera and Trujillo took fifth with a time of 2:44.40.
Miller notes Snell “swam a great first 200 free.”
Gorman took fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:25.28 to earn two points. Cram followed in fifth to earn one point with a time of 1:30.73. Slingerland took sixth with a time of 1:42.01.
Shaeffer and River swam the event as an exhibition, with Shaeffer logging a time of 1:49.58 and Rivera swimming a time of 2:21.00.
Blackman took third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:36.25, scoring three points for the team. Hedgecock swam a time of 1:38.29 to take fifth and earn one point. Gantt followed in sixth with a time of 1:39.29. Trujillo swam the event as an exhibition, logging a time of 2:04.48.
The final event was the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Lady Pirates’ team of Fricke, Snell, Lyons and Slingerland took fourth and garnered two points with a time of 6:01.54.
Beyond Lyons and Snell, Miller also highlights a number of other performances on the day, including Shaeffer in the 50 free, Gerdel in the 100 free and Gorman in the 100 backstroke.
The Lady Pirates will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 10, in Montrose, with action set to begin at 5 p.m.
“I am looking at this meet as an opportunity to race,” Miller notes. “We are not doing any special meet preparation for the meet but swimming through the meet, so no pre meet rest or work specific for the meet. If we show up and race with best efforts that will make the meet successful. Any best times are a bonus at this meet.”
randi@pagosasun.com
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