Ballard, Schoening win prelims at state swimming
(Photo by JACINDA BOKOWY) William Dorman does the butterfly as part of the 3rd place medley relay team on the first day of the state meet on Friday at the Boise YMCA. The finals are today, with a host of Bulldogs in contention for titles.
(Photo by JACINDA BOKOWY) Kaya Wright was 6th in the 100 free and 5th in the 100 back, while also swimming on the 200 free winner in the state swimming prelims.
BOISE — Autumn Morgan, Kaya Wright, Mikayla Schoening and Kate Bokowy showed the Bulldogs’ raw speed by winning the 200 free relay (akin to the 4x100 relay in track) by more than four seconds in the prelims of the 4A Idaho State Swimming Championships on Friday at the Boise YMCA.
It was one of several standout performances in the first day’s preliminary heats, as Jacob Ballard and Schoening also won individual heats, and will be the favorites in today’s finals.
It was a stellar first day for the Bulldog girls, as Schoening won the 100 free prelim by .1 seconds, was second in the 50 free, and teamed with Sierra Speakman, Bokowy and Morgan to finish second in the 200 medley relay by just one second to Idaho Falls. The Bulldogs could win a pair of relays, which would produce big points in the hunt for the team trophy.
Jacob Ballard destroyed the field in the boys 100 fly, winning by more than four seconds to earn the top lane in today’s finals. He also finished third in the 100 breast, and teamed with Hayden Leavitt, Jack Grzincic and Hayden Norling to finish third in the 400 free relay and with William Dorman, Norling and Garrett Bamer to finish third in the 200 medley relay.
Norling, just a freshman, was third in the 500 free prelims and fourth in the 200 free, edging Jerome’s Jackson Brown (no E) by .02 seconds. Not to be outdone, Grzincic finished 8th in the 200 IM to advance to the final, knocking out Jerome’s Jack Johnson.
Other top performances at day one of state for the Bulldog girls included Morgan finishing 3rd in the 100 breast and 7th in the 200 IM, Bokowy 4th in the 200 IM and 6th in the 100 fly, Wright 5th in the 100 back and 6th in the 100 free, Speakman 8th in the 100 fly and 12th in the 500 free, Sabrina Wilson 11th in the 100 breast, Bri Brosnahan 16th in the 200 free, and Clara Cave, Speakman, Brosnahan and Wilson 10th in the 400 free relay to round out the girls action.
Other top finishes for the boys were turned in by Bamer, who was 5th in the 100 back and 10th in the 100 free, Hayden Leavitt 7th in the 500 free and narrowly missing the finals by less than half a second at 9th in the 200 free, Dorman 11th in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 fly, and Jake Aitken, Leavitt, Grzincic and Dorman claiming 7th in the 200 free relay.
The top eight individuals and top six relays advance to today’s finals.