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Gianna Sweeney 9th Place 100 Breast 9th 50 Free School Record 25.95 (Photo courtesy Apuron Photography)
The Division III High School State Championship Swim Meet was held at the Phoenix Country Day Aquatic Center in Paradise Valley on Nov. 5. The Miners qualified a total of 7 swimmers, 5 swimmers in individual events and 2 relay teams for the meet for a total of 7 swimmers. Unfortunately, two of the swimmers did not maintain academic eligibility during the final week of the season and were not allowed to compete. This also had the effect that the Miners were not able to swim the relays at the meet.
“Instead of taking all 7 qualifying swimmers to State, we took only 3, a lesson that everyone involved I am sure will remember,” commented Coach Alex Gort.
Preliminaries were held on Saturday morning to determine who would advance to the finals on Saturday afternoon. Swimmers are allowed to swim two individual events and all three of the Miner swimmers qualified in two events.
Colbey Stratton 50 Free 15th 100 Fly 12th. (Photo courtesy Apuron Photography)
Senior Colbey Stratton made the most of his final High School Meet by advancing to finals in both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly. In the finals, he finished 15th in the 50 Freestyle and 12th in the 100 Butterfly with his fastest time all season (59.49).
The sophomore girls, Darien Apuron and Gianna Sweeney, had their best swims of the year at the meet. After coming up short from advancing to the finals in the State Championship Meet last year, both qualified for the finals in 2 events.
Darien Apuron 9th in 100 Fly School Record 1.03.51 14th in 100 Baskstroke. (Photo Courtesy Apuron Photography)
Darien Apuron advanced to finals in the 100 Butterfly breaking her school record in preliminaries with a time of 1:03.51 and finishing in 9th place in finals. In the 100 Backstroke, Darien swam a season’s best time in prelims and finished in 14th place in the finals.
Gianna Sweeney advanced to finals in the 50 Freestyle despite having a slow start off the blocks in preliminaries. She came roaring back in the finals and swam a sizzling time of 25.95 (a new school record) to finish in 9th place. In the 100 Breaststroke, Gianna easily qualified for finals and swam fast enough to secure another 9th place finish in finals.
Coach Alex Gort was pleased with the team’s performance at the meet.
“All three Miner Swimmers advanced to finals and swam some great times at the end of the season. The girls built on the experience they gained from last year and advanced to finals. Senior Colbey Stratton had a great final high school swim, breaking a minute in the 100 Butterfly,” Gort said.
The Boys finished with 7 points and in 27th place overall. The Girls finished with 30 points in 23th place. All three swimmers advanced to finals in the maximum number of events, and two School records were broken. For the swimmers at the meet, it was a great finish to the 2016 Miner Swimming Season.
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