Dominant as ever Saturday at the Carson Aquatic Center, both Boulder City High School swim programs kept their 3A state championship streaks alive, holding off Northern challenger Truckee.
The boys extended their state championship streak to seven and 10th overall under head coach Sara Carroll, while the girls breezed through their Northern challenger nearly tripling their point total to capture their fifth consecutive state title.
The Eagles won with 132 points. Truckee finished with 99 points, and Chaparral was third with 47 points. The Lady Eagles, meanwhile, nearly matched their 2014 state record for most points in a state meet with 220, racking up 214.5 first-place points, while Truckee finished second with 75 and Virgin Valley was third with 44.5.
“This (boys’ team) victory is one for the books; I honestly couldn’t be happier of how our team performed,” sophomore A.J. Pouch said. “I don’t think Truckee has ever been this close to us before in points. The team really deserved this, especially with how hard we’ve worked for this moment. It was a total team effort.”
Fighting off Truckee, which won the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly behind senior Cooper DeRyk and the 400-yard freestyle team relay, Pouch and senior Braden Klouse each won their pair of events for the Eagles.
Pouch dominated the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. One of the fastest swimmers in Southern Nevada, Pouch defeated Chaparral’s Adam Mirjanian (2 minutes, 9.6 seconds) in the medley with a time of 1:57.44 and later in the breaststroke (1:05.25) with a time of 58.65 seconds.
Placing first in the 100 and 200 freestyle, Klouse was just under two seconds faster than his nearest challengers, finishing with times of 49.18 seconds and 148.95, respectively.
Sophomore Paco Cuevas won the 500 freestyle in 5:04.07 and placed second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 52.78 seconds, behind DeRyk’s time of 49.87 seconds.
Sophomore Chandler Larson placed second in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.61 behind Sage Ridge swimmer Stuart Hayes (59.73).
The Eagles’ 200 freestyle relay team of Klouse, Pouch and juniors Andre Pappas and Clayton Pendleton won in a time of 1:32.39, while their 200 medley relay team of Pouch, Cuevas, Larson and junior Robbie Leavitt took first in 1:46.56.
The Lady Eagles now hold the top five spots for most points in a state meet according to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s record book.
“Winning another state championship for the last time was incredibly exciting and made my last high school season one I will never forget,” senior Montana Lloyd said. “Going out on top is something I think a lot of high school teams and especially high school seniors wish to do, so to actually be able to go out on top means everything, especially getting to be an Eagle and doing it in style.”
Lloyd and senior Mandy Gebhart each won their pair of individual events and were on three winning relay teams.
Concluding her prep career with her best race of the season, Gebhart won the 500 freestyle in a 3A state record time of 4:54.54 and the 200 freestyle with a 3A state record time of 1:49.73. Her closest competitor was Boulder City sophomore Annika Freiburger, who finished with a time of 5:25.48 in the 500 and Boulder City sophomore Rose Pouch, who finished with as time of 1:56.60 in the 200.
Lloyd capped her prep career by winning the 200 individual medley in 2:08.07 and 100 backstroke in :57.37.
The 200 medley relay team of Lloyd, Gebhart, Pouch and sophomore Aimee Garcia won by almost 13 seconds with a time of 1:48.91, while the 200 freestyle relay team of Lloyd, Gebhart, Pouch and senior Abby Sauerbrei won by more than 10 seconds with a 3A record time of 1:40.17.
The 400 freestyle relay team of Sauerbrei, Garcia, senior Sarah Estes and freshman Quinci Thomas won by almost 28 seconds, finishing in 3:45.92.
Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.
Class 3A Boys Honors
All-Southern Region
First Team
Paco Cuevas, Braden Klouse, Chandler Larson, Robbie Leavitt, Ben Missel, Andre Pappas, Clayton Pendleton and A.J. Pouch.
Second Team
Benson Deml, C.J. Herrera and Ty Pendleton.
Class 3A Girls Honors
All-Southern Region
First Team
Sarah Estes, Annika Freiburger, Aimee Garcia, Mandy Gebhart, Abby Harling,Mackenzie Hvinden, Montana Lloyd, Gwynneth Miller, Rose Pouch, Abby Sauerbrei, Audrey Selinger, Alexis Stebbens, Quinci Thomas and Ashleigh Wood.
Second Team
Megan Johnson, Tegan Pappas, Jillian Porter and Tara Spinkelink.