The Miner Swim Team traveled to McDowell Mountain Ranch Aquatic Center in Scottsdale to compete against Scottsdale Preparatory Academy and Scottsdale Christian Academy on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Miners came away from the meet with mixed results, the boys won the meet and girls finished third. Final Scores for the girls were Scottsdale Prep 156, Scottsdale Christian 80 and San Manuel 59. Final Scores for the boys were San Manuel 113, Scottsdale Prep 91, and Scottsdale Christian 58.
The Girls Medley Relay team of Theresa Sweeney, Raya Woods, Jazelle Sanchez, and Mariela Canisales finished second to a tough Scottsdale Prep relay. That would be the best finish for the Miner Girls at the meet. Only Theresa Sweeney was able to finish in the top three in individual events (third in 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle). The Miner Girls posted many personal best swims against two very good teams.
The boys team yielded much different results. Miner Boys won both the Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay along with six out of the eight individual events.
The Medley Relay team of Will Newman, Taylor Woods, Colbey Stratton, and Michael Garcia started things off with great swim for the win.
Junior Taylor Woods won the 100 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke both with personal best times. Team Captian Colbey Stratton won a very close 50 Freestyle (25.90) and short time later won the 100 Butterfly with a new school record time of 1:04.46 (beating his own record by four-seconds). Freshman Will Newman won the 200 Individual Medley by a large margin and went on to win the 100 Backstroke with a new school record time of 1:00.69 (previous record held by his older brother Wayne Newman set in 2011).
The Boys 400 Freestyle Relay team of Stratton, Newman, Woods, and Junior Jacob Christian won by a large margin and set a new school record of 3:52.94 breaking the previous time (3:58.50) set in 2013 by Stratton, Woods, Colten Smith and John Bribiescas.
Head Coach Alex Gort was pleased with many things he saw at the meet. “The girls team is getting faster each week, and the boys team is starting to show just how good they are.”
The boys record improves to three wins, one tie and zero losses, while the girls is zero wins and three losses.
The Miners next meet will be on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at home against Arizona College Prep (Chandler) and Florence High School beginning at 4 p.m. Florence High School was the only team to beat the boys last season in a Non Invitational meet, so the meet this year will be a good test for the Miners.