Bokowy, Ballard power Bulldogs at district meet
—Photo by JACINDA BOKOWY Sandpoint’s Garrett Bamer takes off from the starting blocks at the district championships in Moscow.
—Photo by JACINDA BOKOWY Winners of the 200 free relay, pictured from left to right: Payton Bokowy, Mikayla Schoening and Sierra Speakman. Not pictured: Emily Hieronymus.
MOSCOW — Junior Payton Bokowy won the 50 and 100 free, and teamed up with Emily Hieronymus, Sierra Speakman and Mikayla Schoening to win the 200 free relay, leading the Bulldog girls swim team to a third place finish among nine teams at the District 1-2 swimming championships Saturday at the University of Idaho pool.
The two-time defending state champ, Bokowy took care of business as usual in the sprints, remaining undefeated and entering state with a host of swimmers coming for her crown. All told, the Bulldogs qualified 21 swimmers to state, including 13 girls and eight boys.
Freshman Jacob Ballard led the boys team with a second place finish in the 200 IM, and a third place finish in the 100 fly, while also teaming with Garrett Bamer, Seth Bamer and Miles Luce to finish third in the 400 free relay, as the Bulldog boys finished fourth as a team.
Other Bulldog boys notching top 10 finishes include Seth Bamer (3rd 200 free, 9th 100 fly), Luce (3rd 100 breast, 4th 100 free), Johnny Parkinson (6th 500 free), Garrett Bamer (6th 100 back, 7th 50 free), Lukas Aanes (6th 200 free), Izaak Bartlett (7th 500 free, 8th 200 free) and Alex Johnson (7th 200 free, 9th 100 back).
Other Bulldog girls in the top 10 at districts include Speakman (4th 500 free, 5th 100 fly), Emma Reed (6th 200 IM), Catherine Brenner (6th 500 free, 7th 200 free), Mikayla Schoening (8th 50 free), Logan Sanborn (8th 500 free), Ellie McCray (9th 50 free) and Hieronymus (10th 200 free).
The State swimming championships will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Boise YMCA, where every school in the state competes in the same classification.
See the Bee later this week for a state swim preview and a complete list of entries.