Palo Verde girls, boys capture state swimming crowns
CARSON CITY — A drama-free afternoon for Palo Verde’s girls swim team Saturday set the stage for a raucous bus ride home.
After having their three-year state championship streak snapped last season, the Panthers made a relatively easy time of winning the Class 4A state title at the Carson Aquatic Club.
Palo Verde scored 109 points. Galena was second with 83 and Bishop Gorman third with 73.
“Last year we lost by 20, and that was just something we wanted to make up for,” Palo Verde coach Brent Gonzalez said. “We’ll enjoy this, and it will make the ride a little easier.”
Chloe Freeman won two events for the Panthers, taking the 100-yard butterfly in 56.55 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 5:00.11.
Palo Verde’s Paige Kuwata won the 200 freestyle in 1:52.36, and teammate Reese Hazen won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.81
The biggest concern for the Panthers was whether junior Victoria Gutierrez would be able to swim because of a back injury. She did and finished fifth in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
“Overall we were well-balanced,” Gonzalez said. “We just came out and swam.”
Bishop Gorman’s Audrey Yu had a hand in four wins. She won the girls 50 freestyle in 23.10 and the 100 freestyle in 50.84 and swam on the Gaels’ winning 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.
In Class 3A, Boulder City won its seventh consecutive state championship with 146 points, nipping second-place Truckee, which had 135.
“We didn’t have a lot of wiggle room, but the girls just did what they had to do,” Boulder City coach Sara Carroll said.
Boulder City’s Aimee Garcia won the 200 freestyle in 1:55.63 and the 500 freestyle in 5:07.58, and teammate Rose Pouch took the 200 IM in 2:05.06 and the 100 butterfly in 56.74.
Boys
Led by senior Tyler Edlefsen, Palo Verde’s boys ran their streak to six consecutive Class 4A state titles.
The Panthers scored 91 points to edge second-place Coronado by seven points.
Edlefsen won two events and swam a strong relay leg to have a hand in 36 points.
“We knew it would be close with Coronado, and we knew they want to beat us,” Gonzalez said. “We did what we had to do to beat them and make sure they can’t knock us down yet.”
Edlefsen, Trajan Houston, Thomas Miller and Joseph Gutierrez won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:37.75, beating Coronado by half a second and taking a lead the Panthers maintained through every event.
Edlefsen followed with wins in the 200 IM in 1:49.98 and the 100 breaststroke in 57.40.
The Panthers’ Ren Prescott, Brooks Blackert, Devin Bauman and Gutierrez finished second in the day’s final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to secure the title.
“All the boys stepped up and did well, and that last relay did what they had to do,” Gonzalez said.
In Class 3A, Boulder City came up short in its attempt to start another championship streak.
Truckee won its second consecutive 3A championship with 135 points to 127 for Boulder City, which had won seven consecutive championships until finishing second last year.
Boulder City’s A.J. Pouch won the 200 IM in 1:50.42 and the 100 breaststroke in 55.63 and was part of two winning relays.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Elias Woodbury, Ladd Cox, Chandler Larson and Pouch finished first in 1:34.31. Martin Thompson, Ethan Porter, Joseph Purdy and Pouch won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:19.30.
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