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Will Newman on the podium as the 3rd place Medalist – 100 Backstroke.
Jeanine Apuron | Apuron Photography
San Manuel State Team Jeanine and Vince Apuron | Apuron Photography
The High School State Championship Swim Meet was held at the Skyline Aquatic Center in Mesa on Nov. 6 and 7. The Miners qualified 12 swimmers for the meet which is the largest squad they have ever brought to the swimming championship meet. Miners qualified 4 relays teams, and 6 individuals in a total of 14 events. Preliminaries were held on Friday to determine who would advance to the Championship (top 8) and Consolation (9th -16th) Finals on Saturday. Swimmers are limited to swimming 2 individual events and 2 relays or 1 individual event and 3 relays.
The Girls Medley Relay team of Senior Rebekah Head, Freshman Gianna Sweeney, Freshman Darien Apuron, Sophomore Raya Woods, and Senior Mariela Canisales qualified as first alternate but ultimately did not get to compete. Gianna Sweeney and Darien Apuron, two outstanding Freshman Girls, both qualified in several events and were able to choose the two individual events they competed in. Darien Apuron swam the 100 Butterfly and 500 Freestyle to 26th and 32nd place finishes, respectively. Gianna Sweeney swam the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke to 25th and 20th place finishes, respectively. The coaches were in agreement that the Girls team gained some valuable experience, since this was the first time Miners Girls had competed at the state championship meet.
Of the seven Miner Boys that swam at the meet, six had been there before. Freshman Michael Primero-Predgo joined Sophomore Will Newman, Junior Michael Garcia, Junior Colbey Stratton, Junior Robert Sweeney, Senior Jacob Christian, and Senior Taylor Woods to return to the Championship Meet. On Friday the Medley Relay Team of Primero-Predgo, Christian, Garcia and Stratton finished 30th with a time 2:00.19, with each swimmer swimming a personal best time in each relay leg. Taylor Woods narrowly missed a School Record in the 200 Freestyle (1:56.48 for 25th place) while breaking the School Record he held in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 51.62 on his way to a 22nd place finish. Jacob Christian swam a personal best time of 5:33.96 in the 500 Freestyle for a 28th place finish. Colbey Stratton swam a great 100 Butterfly on his way to a 32nd place finish.
Several Miners qualified for Saturday finals with great swims on Friday. Will Newman achieved top 8 finishes in both the 200 Individual Medley (2nd place, 2:00.74 School Record) and 100 Backstroke (5th place, 55.43) to advance to the Championship Finals. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Stratton, Woods, Sweeney, and Newman advanced to the Consolation Finals (9th, 1:35.18) and the 400 Freestyle Relay team of Stratton, Woods, Christian and Newman advanced to the Consolation Finals (9th, 3:31.61).
“Having Newman advance in the top 8 in both individual events and having both Freestyle relays (200 and 400) advance to the finals fulfilled many team and individual goals,” said Head Coach Alex Gort.
On Saturday, Will Newman entered the 200 Individual Medley (IM) as the number 2 seed after a fabulous swim in Friday prelims. The IM is always an exciting race because as swimmers work through each of the four strokes, each swimmer shows his strength. Newman’s outstanding Butterfly and Backstroke had him in front at the midpoint of the race, however the strong breaststrokers and pure size of the upperclassmen were too much to hold off in the Freestyle and he finished in 4th place for a medal (top 4 places medal in High School Championships).
The Boys 200 Freestyle Relay team of Stratton, Woods, Sweeney, and Christian finished in 16th place with a time of 1:38.32.
Newman set a new school record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 54.59 on his way to 3rd place finish and a bronze medal.
In the final event of the meet, the Miner 400 Freestyle relay team of Stratton, Woods, Christian and Newman won the Consolation Final Heat with a school record time of 3:27.11 (breaking old record of 3:29.42 by over 2 seconds) to place 9th.
Coach Alex Gort was proud of the team’s performance at the meet.
“We gained some valuable experience for the Girls Team,” he said. “The Boys Team built on the experience gained from last year and had great swims. Newman came home with the first medals from a Division II High School State Swimming Championship Meet in school history. Seniors Taylor Woods and Jacob Christian had great swims at their final High School meet. Both boys swam personal best times in every event and were tremendous on the relays.”
The boys finished with 51 points and finished in 15th place overall. Four school records were broken and Newman came home with two Medals. By any measure it was a fantastic finish to what was a great season for Miner Swimming.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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