Pirate Swimmers Perform Well In First Meet

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Swim team has officially made it into the water and begun their season. With a team full of returning athletes; as well as a host of newcomers; Saturday’s meet in Las Vegas made for an interesting first outing of the season. However, despite falling to their opponent, it was viewed as a successful start by head coach Erinn Thompson and her team.

As a whole, the Pirate boys team fell to the Dragons of Del Sol by a score of 97-79, despite scoring a few first place finishes. The Pirates took first in both the 200 and 400 yard relays.

The 400 relay, featuring Tyler Holmes, Chase LaCroix, Nathaniel Thompson, and Zane Lamping, was perhaps Moapa’s best event. Thompson called the team “incredible”.
Meanwhile, LaCroix headlined the team’s success in individual events after a 1:17.82 time in the 200 breaststroke qualified him for regionals early in the season.

LaCroix wasn’t the only Moapa Valley swimmer to qualify in the 200 breaststroke, however. In the girls event, Camille Hardy finished with a 1:39.96 to claim a spot in this season’s regionals. This time also put her in first for the meet, with a full six seconds separating her and her closest competitor.

Hailee Heiselbetz took first in the 200 freestyle race with Sara Mills seven seconds behind in second.
Abby Rose and Payten Peluaga led the Pirates in the 100 freestyle. Rose took first with a time just under 1:24.
Despite these first place finishes, alongside a spectacular 200 relay finish, the lady Pirates would come up short in the final score with 120-93 standing as the final tally.

Thompson was more than satisfied with the team’s performance, considering the experience level this early in the season.
“My returners were awesome and my beginning swimmers performed excellent,” Thompson said. “I know some were a little nervous but I was impressed and they did great. They were better than I anticipated given they only had two weeks of practice in the water. They can only build up from here.”

Thompson noted that in this first meet, the focus was on getting experience for her team. She put all of her athletes into relays and plans to move more swimmers into individuals as the year moves along.
“Some didn’t have individual events,” she said, “but this week a lot of the kids will be doing both. This meet I focused on getting the nerves out so now they know how it’s run,” she explained.