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On Wed., Sept. 26, Miner swimmers hosted a swim against Coolidge and Immaculate Heart High Schools. Coaches expected the meet to be close for the both the boys and girls teams.
Once again Miner swimmers found a way to win the Medley Relays. The boys team won in convincing fashion, and the girls edged out Coolidge for the win. Head Coach Alex Gort was pleased with the Medley Relay swims “Both the boys and girls winning the Medley Relay was important, but what really impressed was that our girls B-Medley Relay beat the Coolidge B-Medley Relay. Coolidge has a great girls’ team and this showed that we may have the team depth it takes to win the meet.”
The Miner boys team went on to win 9 out of the 11 races at the meet. Senior Wayne Newman (50 Free, 100 Fly) and Junior John Bribiescas (200 Free and 400 Free) lead the charge by winning both their individual events. Senior Andy Monfred (100 Back), Freshman Alec Newman (200 IM)and Freshman Taylor Woods (100 Free) each one individual event. The Miners finished off the meet with a 400 Freestyle relay win. The final score for the Boys was San Manuel 76, Coolidge 60, and Immaculate Heart 13.
The girls’ team traded races with Coolidge after the Medley Relay. Junior Amara Apuron won the 200 Freestyle followed by a Cita Sweeney win in the 200 IM. The Coolidge girls won the 50 Free and 100 Free. Cita Sweeney won the 100 Butterfly.
It was the 400-Meter Freestyle that put the meet out of reach for the Coolidge. Apuron andJunior Megan Garcia finished first and second in that race to give the Miners a 19 point lead with only four events remaining.
Junior Nicole Primero-Predgo went on the win the 100 Backstrokeand the Miner Relay went on to win the final event the 400 Free Relay. Final Score for the Girls was San Manuel 90, Coolidge 72, and Immaculate Heart 38.
On Sat. the Miners traveled to Queen Creek to compete in the Canyon State Academy Invitational Swim and Dive Meet. This was a state qualifying meet, and several Miners had a shot at achieving State Championship Meet Qualifying Times.
There were 10 teams present at the meet and medals were award to the top three finishers in each event.
The Miners Girls Medley Relay team of Apuron, Austin, Primero-Predgo, and Sweeney got the State Qualifying time in the Medley Relay.
John Bribiescas was the first Miner swimmer to earn a medal finishing third in the 200 freestyle. In the next event, the 200 IM, Wayne Newman and Alec Newman finished first and secondrespectively.
Then Cita Sweeney swam to a third place finish in the 200 IM against a very tough field. Cierra Austin finished third in the 50 Freestyle.
Once again it would be in the longest race that the Miner swimmers would shine. John Bribiescas went stroke for stroke in the 500 freestyle with the leader for a strong second place finish. In the girls 500 Freestyle, Amara Apuron swam a 6:15.0 for her first ever-individual State qualifying time.
Apuron won the race followed by Cita Sweeney’s second place finish and Megan Garcia’s sixth place finish. Wayne Newman won the 100 Backstroke with a State Qualifying time of 1:04.8. Cierra Austin finished third in the 100 Breaststroke.
Coach Charlie Woodhouse “Our upperclassmen put in solid efforts and are continuing to improve closing in on or meeting Sate qualifying times. I was impressed with the Freshmen Cita Sweeney and Alec Newman stepping up with substantial contributions for the team. Sophomore Kadi Monfred continues to improve as well. This all bodes well for the future of Swimming at San Manuel.”
The final meet scores for the girls were:Coolidge 106, Poston Butte 105, Gilbert Christian 103, Florence 88, San Manuel 87, Valley Christian 27. The meet score for the boys were Gilbert Christian 122, Poston Butte 105, Canyon State 80, Valley Christian73, Florence 65, San Manuel 64, Coolidge 11.
Coach Alex Gort summarized the meet, ”Three new State Qualifying times, 10 Medals earned and three races won. Most importantly many lessons were learned that will help us at future meets.”
The Miners will attend the High School Classic Swim Meet at University of Arizona on Sat. Oct. 6.
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