By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Swim team traveled to Las Vegas last weekend for their first meet of the season. The Pirates went head-to-head with the Valley Vikings in this event. With a young Pirate team on both the boys and girls sides, Moapa looked to gain valuable experience but also walk away with a successful finish.
The Pirate girls team fell to the Vikings by a final score of 104-93. The girls were just a few finishes from closing the gap.
The highlight of all of the races came in the 200 yard freestyle race where Elizabeth Williams, Sara Mills, and Checotah Rowley all qualified for Regionals on just the first meet of the season. Williams, Mills, and Rowley finished in the top three spots respectively, and Williams took home the fastest time with a 2:54.48.
The girls’ 200 yard relay and 400 yard relay teams impressed as well, each taking first place against Valley. Ultimately, a few impressive finishes in the individual races by the Vikings made all the difference. The Pirates fell just eleven points shy.
“For a lot of these individuals this was their first time swimming competitively so they were nervous,” said Pirate head coach Erinn Thompson. “It’s just about getting the kinks out because they’re in such a very different format. It’s only the first meet and we’ve had three weeks of practices so the times will only get better. It’s going to be easy for them to improve on.”
On the boys’ side, the Pirates wound up on top with a resounding 73-51 team victory.
There were individual regional qualifiers all around the squad. A 2:45.56 time for Dillion Jones in the 200 yard free was good enough for the sophomore returner to book a trip to regionals. Sam Jolley, the team’s only three year veteran, impressed with first place finishes in the 100 yard backstroke and freestyle races. Also qualifying for regionals was Hayden Redd, who finished second in the 50 yard freestyle.
Going forward, Thompson has set some high goals for both the team’s veterans and new swimmers after this first meet.
“I kind of have high expectations for my returning swimmers because I know what they can do,” Thompson said, “As far as my new swimmers, I’m impressed with their hard work and dedication because it’s a different type of sport. I see good things coming forward.”
Looking ahead, Thompson asserted that, for both the boys and the girls, this opening weekend gives her plenty of hope for sending swimmers into the postseason.
“My main goal is to get as many swimmers as possible to regionals, and I think that will happen,” said Thompson.
The Pirates continue their season on Saturday against SLAM Academy in Las Vegas at 1:30 PM. Moapa Valley looks to continue improving upon their young roster and hopefully qualify even more athletes after a promising season opening meet.
