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Miner swimmers traveled to Canyon State Academy in Queen Creek last Thurs. to compete in a state qualifying meet.
To swim at the state championship swim meet, swimmers must achieve state qualifying times at designated state qualifying meets. Teams are allowed to participate in limited number of these qualifying meets, and this was the first one of the season for the Miners.
The other teams at the meet, Poston Butte and Canyon State, had significantly more swimmers than the San Manuel.
Miner swimmers looked sharp in their new team swimsuits and started things off by winning the Boys Medley Relay with the team of Andy Monfred, Wayne Newman, Armanda Noriega and Alec Newman.
The Girls Medley Relay fought a much closer battle but came away with the win with the team of Nicole Primero, Cierra Austin, Jazelle Sanchez and Cita Sweeney.
Miner Swimmers went on to win nearly every race until the diving break. John Bribiescas swam a new personal best on his way to winning the boys 200 Freestyle. Amara Apuron won the Girls 200 freestyle with a spectacular time of 2:16.13 breaking the School Record by nearly 12 seconds and narrowly missing the state qualifying time by fractions of a second.
Wayne Newman easily won the 200 Individual Medley (IM) but also narrowly missed the state qualifying time. Cita Sweeny went on to lead the Miner 1-2 finish in the 200 IM with Kadi Monfred. Cierra Austin won the 50 Freestyle in new school record time of 27.64, just missing the state qualifying time by 0.05 seconds.
At the Diving Break, the boys’ team was in a close meet, but without divers, it was evident that any hope of winning the meet was over.
The Miner Girls, however were up 48-31 over Poston Butte, who had a strong second half lineup. It looked like the meet would come down to the 200 Freestyle Relay late in the meet and perhaps even the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay.
The Miners could not earn a win in the second half of the meet until Nicole Primero wonthe Girls 100 Freestyle with a time of 1:05.52. A few events later, the Girls 200 Freestyle Relay would line up behind the blocks.
Both San Manuel and Poston Butte had virtually the same seed times and were both hoping to hit the state qualifying time on 2:01.56. As the relay progressed, the Miners team of Amara Apuron, Cierra Austin, Jazelle Sanchez and Nicole Primer took an early lead only to only to get passed on the final leg.
The disappointment of losing such a close relay, was quickly overcome by joy when the Miners learned of their time of 1:57.63. They had qualified for State and broken the school record by more than three seconds.
Wins for the Miners were sparse in the final events. Wayne Newman was able to win the 100 Breaststroke with a state qualifying time of 1:08.42.
The final event of the afternoon would be Girls 400 Freestyle Relay, the same Poston Butte relay team that edged out the Miners in the 200 Freestyle Relay would line up to face the Miners again.
This time the team of Cierra Austin, Amara Apuron, Cita Sweeney and Nicole Primero took an early lead and won the relay convincingly with a time of 4:19.69, another State qualifying time and had shattered the school record by more than 20 seconds.
Coach Alex Gort was excited about the way the Miners swam. “Both Girls Freestyle relays hit some outstanding times for this point of the season. Miner swimmers have been working very hard in practice, and the results are starting to show.”
Final scores for the Boys were Poston Butte 122, Canyon State 97 and San Manuel 70. Final scores for the Girls were Poston Butte 129 San Manuel 106.
Miner Swimmers will compete in a meet at Amphitheater High School on Thurs. Sept. 20 at 4:00 p.m.
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