Bulldog boys swim team shines at state
BOISE — It was all about quality, not quantity for the Sandpoint boys swim team, which earned a fourth place trophy at the Idaho state swim meet on Saturday despite having only five swimmers competing.
Junior Chris Mann finished second in the 500 free and 6th in the 100 fly to lead the boys team to a trophy finish, no small feat in a meet that featured 64 schools from all classifications. The five swimmers tallied 131 points to tie Skyline for fourth place.
Mann teamed with Garrett Dunn, Barry Wilson and Graham Cole to form two excellent relays, as the foursome raced to a third place finish in the 200 medley relay and a fourth place finish in the 400 free relay.
“The boys team rocked,” said Sandpoint head coach Mike Brosnahan, who thought a top 10 team finish was possible, but not a fourth place. “When the going got tough, they really picked it up. They came together as a unified team and did really well. I’m really proud of them for what they did.”
Wilson also notched an impressive 4th place finish in the 200 free and a 15th place finish in the 100 free, and Dunn nabbed a 6th place finish in the 200 individual medley and a 9th place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Both swimmers shaved time of their record marks in the respective swims.
Gavin was 17th in the 200 free, and Cole was 19th in the 100 breaststroke and was disqualified in the 100 fly to round out the Bulldog boys finishes.
Michele Rockwell, Shanna Crayne, Selena Warburton and Shannon Curran combined to finish 6th in the 400 free relay to lead the girls team, which finished 19th as a team in an ultra-competitive girls field.
Rockwell, Curran, Warburton and Kasey Collins teamed up to finish 14th in the 200 medley relay, and Collins, Crayne, Mica Wolcott and Beth DiBenedetto finished 15th in the 200 free relay for the Bulldogs.
“The girls relays were strong,” said Brosnahan, noting the girls teams have been stronger than the boys team in recent years, but had a bit of an off year at state. “Sometimes kids can peak before they go to state.”
Warburton was disqualified in the 100 breaststroke after finishing 7th in the preliminary heat, and also finished 23rd in the 200 individual medley. Rockwell finished 15th in the 500 free and 19th in the 200 free, Curran 20th in the 50 free and 26th in the 100 free, Kaitlin Wallace 26th in the 500 free, Crayne 27th in the 100 free, Collins 32nd in the 50 free, DiBenedetto 34th in the 50 free and Wolcott 36th in the 50 free to round out the Bulldog girls finishers.