Competing at the Montrose Marlins Summer Open in Montrose on July 6-8, numerous swimmers from each of Cortez’s two swim teams earned Top 3 finishes, and both teams cracked the Top 10 in the overall standings.
Leading the way among local swimmers was 10-year-old Mesa Verde Aquatics Team standout Erin Lawrence, who dominated the girls division for ages 9-10 and won the 50-yard backstroke (38.06), the 100-yard freestyle (1:13.95), the 100-yard backstroke (1:17.54), the 100-yard individual medley (1:22.58), the 200-yard freestyle (2:38.94) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:57.40).
Also winning an individual event for MVAC was Lelia Thompson, who placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:47.95) and second in the 50-yard breaststroke (48.72) while competing in the girls division for ages 9-10.
Other Top 3 finishers by MVAC swimmers included 8-year-old Lavender Blacow, who placed third in the 25-yard butterfly (34.07); 5-year-old Theta Decker, who finished third in the 25-yard freestyle (46.39); 10-year-old Dannika Goodall, who touched the wall second in the 100-yard butterfly (2:22.47); 9-year-old Tessa Jackson, who placed second in the 25-yard butterfly (22.92); 13-year-old Anna Lawrence, who placed third in the 200-yard butterfly (3:16.41); and 16-year-old Maddy Ludington, who placed third in the 50-yard breaststroke (43.71).
MVAC’s Top 3 finishers on the boys’ side included 10-year-old Miles Anderson, who placed second in the 100-yard individual medley (34.92); and 16-year-old Caleb Podgornoff, who swam to a third-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly (29.27).
MVAC scored 1,342 points as a team, which was good enough to place it sixth overall in the 16-team meet, which was won by Montrose with 3,647 points.
Pacing the Cortez Leopard Sharks with several impressive performances was Delta Suckla, whose superior speed in the breaststroke was evident during first-place finishes in the 50-yard breaststroke (38.16) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:21.43). Suckla also placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke (3:08.79) and third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:49.98) in the division for girls ages 11-12.
On the boys’ side, the Leopard Sharks were paced by Cody Farias, who earned seven Top 3 individual finishes among boys ages 13-14. Among Farias’ finishes was a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:49.90), a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (2:07.38), a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (2:27.90), a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:08.80), a third-place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke (36.04), a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:18.51), and a third-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley (2:27.22).
Houston Hurst touched the wall first in the 200-yard breaststroke (3:28.23) in the division for boys ages 11-12. Taylor Johnson placed third in the 25-yard breaststroke (29.93) among girls ages 9-10, and 12-year-old Braden Schmittel finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:24.84), third in the 100-yard individual medley (1:25.11), and third in the 200-yard freestyle (2:43.48).
Tyler Cutrone rounded out members of the Leopard Sharks team who cracked the Top 3 in at least one individual event with a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.88) and a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.87) among boys 15 and over.
The Leopard Sharks finished ninth overall in the team standings with 825 total points.
