The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate swim team swam at the 2026 Southwest Conference Championships on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6 and 7, in Grand Junction, earning their best finish ever at the event and setting multiple new school records.
The girls raced in the preliminaries on Friday and the finals on Saturday. Out of the 10 teams competing, the Lady Pirates placed ninth with 92 points.
Coach Heather Miller called the meet spectacular.
“We had so many best times, 3 times on the podium, 2 records broken, Asia Gorman broke the 200 Free record and the 400 free relay broke the record 2 more times this weekend and qualified for state and had our highest place ever at conference,” Miller wrote in an email to The SUN.
The first event was the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Marlowe Hedgecock, Gianna Shaeffer, Chloe Gantt and Gorman placed ninth overall in the finals with a time of two minutes and 14.29 seconds. The Lady Pirates’ other team was disqualified in the preliminary round and didn’t swim in the finals.
Gorman broke the school record in the 200-yard freestyle in the preliminary round, swimming a 2:18.99. In the finals she placed 10th after swimming a 2:19.61.
Even though Shaeffer, Leilani Snell and Kailey Vincent didn’t make it to finals, they all swam their best times in the prelims. Shaeffer dropped 0.84 seconds and swam a 2:37.90, Leilani Snell dropped more than 11 seconds and swam a 2:50.80, and Vincent dropped 0.76 seconds and swam a 3:10.66.
Gantt swam a personal best 2:44.21, dropping over a second, in the 200-yard individual medley prelims to make the finals. In the finals she placed 14th with a 2:46.10.
Grace Cram, Leah Blackman and Ruby Snell all swam personal bests in the prelims, but didn’t make the finals. Cram swam a 3:11.74, dropping almost six seconds; Blackman swam a 3:13.09, dropping more than five seconds; and Ruby Snell swam a 3:18.95, dropping almost two seconds.
No Lady Pirates made the finals in the 50-yard freestyle. In the prelims, Hedgecock swam a 29.76 and placed 22nd, Angela Gomez swam a 31.89 and placed 28th, Brooklyn Trujillo swam a 37.05 and placed 31st, and Isabela Forster swam a 37.38 and placed 32nd.
Gantt placed ninth in the prelims of the 100-yard butterfly with a 1:14.21, making the finals. In the finals she swam a personal best 1:11.88, dropping more than two seconds and placing seventh overall.
The other three Lady Pirates competing in the event did not make finals. Natalia Monterroso swam a personal best 1:33.12, dropping more than two seconds, and placed 22nd in the prelims. Lucia Rivera placed 24th in the prelims with a 1:49.82. Kaillen Taylor swam a personal best 2:26.92, dropping more than eight seconds, and placed 34th in the prelims.
No Lady Pirates advanced to the 100-yard freestyle finals. Gomez placed 25th in the prelims, swimming a personal best 1:11.38 after dropping 0.99 seconds. Cheyenne Trujillo placed 31st in the prelims, swimming a personal best 1:21.02 after dropping over a second. Shantee Murphy placed 32nd in the prelims, swimming a personal best 1:21.13 after dropping more than a second. Forster was the final Lady Pirate finisher, placing 34th with a 1:28.17.
Two Lady Pirates reached the finals in the 500-yard freestyle. Gorman swam a personal best 6:36.98, dropping more than eight seconds, to reach the finals. In the finals she placed 12th after swimming a 6:43.58. Cram swam a 6:57.29 in the prelims to reach the finals. She placed 14th in finals after swimming a 6:58.74.
Leilani Snell and Vincent each swam in prelims, but did not make finals. Leilani Snell swam a personal best 8:02.17, dropping more than 26 seconds, and placed 22nd in the prelims. Vincent swam a 9:01.14 and placed 23rd in the prelims.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Ruby Snell, Leilani Snell, Blackman and Gomez placed 16th in the prelims with a time of 2:09.39 to make the finals. In the finals they swam a 2:09.43 and placed 15th.
The team of Cheyenne Trujillo, Brooklyn Trujillo, Vincent and Monterroso swam a 2:21.76, placed 18th in the prelims and did not make the finals.
No Lady Pirates made the finals in the 100-yard backstroke. Hedgecock swam a 1:20.65 and placed 18th in the prelims. Ruby Snell swam a personal best 1:28.51, dropping more than a second, and placed 23rd in the prelims. Monterroso swam a personal best 1:34.28, dropping more than three seconds, and placed 27th in the prelims. Cheyenne Trujillo swam a personal best 1:39.73, dropping 0.35 seconds, and placed 29th in the prelims.
All four swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke did not make finals, but they all swam personal bests. Shaeffer swam a 1:25.06, dropping 0.65 seconds, and placed 17th in the prelims. Blackman swam a 1:25.85, dropping more than two seconds, and placed 18th in the prelims. Rivera swam a 1:44.47, dropping 0.78 seconds, and placed 31st in the prelims. Brooklyn Trujillo swam a 1:50.90, dropping 0.90 seconds, and placed 35th in the prelims.
Both the Lady Pirate teams made the finals in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Gantt, Gorman, Hedgecock and Shaeffer placed sixth in the prelims with a 4:29.60 and then placed fifth in the finals with a 4:21.82. The team of Leilani Snell, Cheyenne Trujillo, Monterroso and Cram placed 13th in the prelims with a 5:12.27 and placed 11th in the finals with a 5:04.61.
In the last event of the meet, Taylor placed third in the Unified 50-yard freestyle finals, swimming a time of 57.56 seconds.
After the meet, Gorman was named the Southwest Conference Swimmer of the year.
This week, the Lady Pirates will take part in the state championships on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14, where they will compete in the 200 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay and Unified 50 free.
Representing the Lady Pirates at state will be Taylor in the Unified 50 free; Blackman in the 200 medley relay and as an alternate for the 200 and 400 free relays; Gantt in all three relays; Gorman in all three relays; Hedgecock in all three relays; Schaeffer in the 200 and 400 free relays, and as an alternate in the 200 medley relay
Cram, Gomez and Ruby Snell will serve as alternates for all three relays.
“For state we plan to keep the momentum going, our goal is to qualify for finals on Saturday in all relays,” wrote Miller.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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