SHS swim wins 3 relays, 8 individual events in duals with Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls

COEUR d'ALENE — Sandpoint swim hit the pool at the Kroc Center this Saturday for a tri meet against a pair of 5A schools — Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls.

The Bulldogs won eight of the 16 individual events and three of the six relays at the meet.

The girls squeaked out a 128-121 dual win over the Trojans and fell to Coeur d'Alene 144-113. The Sandpoint boys lost to Post Falls 136-98 and the Vikings 116-100.

Head coach Greg Jackson said he didn't pay much attention to the dual scores because he experimented with his lineup on both sides to try and get a feel for his swimmers' strongest events as the state meet draws closer.

"I thought we did really well," he said. "I was happy with the individual performances."

Jackson wants to ensure he rolls out a lineup that maximizes the Bulldogs' potential.

"I've got maybe four swimmers that I'm pretty certain I know what they are swimming at districts and state, and the rest of them I'm still trying to figure it out," he said.

Sandpoint's top-six girls — Maren Davidson, Ayiana Prevost, Ryleigh Bamer, Emily Ballard, Ava de Leeuw and McKinley Jensen — brought their best once again and helped the team capture first in the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay and third in the 200 free relay.

Bamer, a freshman, took home titles in the 50 free and 100 butterfly. It was her third straight meet with two individual victories.

Ballard continued her stellar season. The junior earned first in the 200 free and 500 free.

"Emily Ballard still stands out just because of the way she is interacting with her team," Jackson said. "She is really just doing a great job of keeping the team focused and on point with what it is we're trying to accomplish."

Davidson placed second in the 100 free and de Leeuw secured second in the 500 free and third in the 200 free.

"Ava de Leeuw had some good, strong races," Jackson said.

Prevost nabbed a pair of fourth-place results in the 200 free and 500 free, Jensen captured fourth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 50 free, and freshman Terra Converse was sixth in the 100 fly. Sophomore Cassidy Aitken took sixth in the 100 back and sophomore Sadie Dignan was third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 100 free.

Typically during a meet, the Bulldogs have multiple swimmers in the pool during each event, so Jackson can't focus on just one athlete at a time. But in the girls 100 breast, Jackson got to put all of his attention toward watching Dignan's performance, and he couldn't have been prouder of what he saw.

"It was a real treat because just the improvement that she has experienced mechanically from the beginning of the year to where we're at now," he said.

Hayden Leavitt earned two individual wins in the 50 free and 100 free to lead the boys. Jackson was impressed with how strong the senior looked.

"He had some really great swims, so that was good to see," Jackson said. "He didn't have the opportunity to swim some things he was hoping to swim last weekend ... and I think he really amped it up."

Leavitt, along with Jack Grzincic, Max Zuberbuhler and Caleb Norling, helped the Bulldogs take first in the 400 free relay. The 200 free relay team made up of Grzincic, Lon LeBlanc, Leavitt and Norling finished just .12 seconds behind first place Post Falls.

Norling brought home first in the 100 fly and second in the 200 individual medley. Grzincic won the 200 free and was second in the 100 fly, while Zuberbuhler grabbed third in the 200 free and sixth in the 100 free.

In the 100 breast, Harrison Gedde and Luc LeBlanc finished fifth and sixth respectively. Lon was also fourth in the 200 free.

Jackson said there is a positive energy around the boys team right now.

"For the boys, they are all standing out," he said. "They are all putting the pool time in and putting the effort in."

The three sophomores on the boys side — Luc, Lon and Gedde — keep making strides and Jackson is excited about where they could be in a few more weeks.

"I would like to see those three boys qualify for the state meet," he said.

Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Idaho Falls on Friday to participate in a meet hosted by Madison High. Warmups start at 9 a.m.

A handful of schools will be at the meet, including Skyline, Rigby, Idaho Falls, Bonneville and Hillcrest. Jackson said this long bus ride south is a great way to prepare for the state meet on Nov. 5-6 and the team should be fired up for the level of competition they will encounter.

"I think it's going to do a lot for us," he said. "Everybody up here in the north, they're only getting four meets in before districts, but we upped our competition to six and I think that's huge as far as opportunities for these kids to compete both mentally and physically, especially when you talk about training for some of these more technical events."

SANDPOINT RESULTS

GIRLS

DUAL SCORES — Sandpoint 128, Post Falls 121; Coeur d’Alene 144, Sandpoint 113.

200-yard medley relay — 1, Sandpoint (Maren Davidson, Ayiana Prevost, Ryleigh Bamer, McKinley Jensen), 2:12.83.

200 freestyle — 1, Emily Ballard, 2:11.63. 3, Ava de Leeuw, 2:13.85. 4, Ayiana Prevost, 2:14.20.

50 freestyle — 1, Ryleigh Bamer, 26.99. 6, McKinley Jensen, 30.53. 8, Terra Converse, 33.18.

100 butterfly — 1, Ryleigh Bamer, 1:06.55. 6, Terra Converse, 1:26.54. 7, Emma Schmitt, 1:31.11.

100 freestyle — 2, Maren Davidson, 1:06.59. 4, Sadie Dignan, 1:16.00.

500 freestyle — 1, Emily Ballard, 5:51.39. 2, Ava de Leeuw, 6:00.14. 4, Ayiana Prevost, 6:11.35.

200 freestyle relay — 3, Sandpoint (Ava de Leeuw, Maren Davidson, McKinley Jensen, Emily Ballard), 1:55.94. 5, Sandpoint (Cassidy Aitken, Terra Converse, Sophie Dignan, Emma Schmitt), 2:13.99.

100 backstroke — 4, McKinley Jensen, 1:14.48. 6, Cassidy Aitken, 1:27.80.

100 breaststroke — 3, Sadie Dignan, 1:34.99.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Sandpoint (Emily Ballard, Ava de Leeuw, Ayiana Prevost, Ryleigh Bamer), 4:04.29.

BOYS

DUAL SCORES — Post Falls 136, Sandpoint 98; Coeur d’Alene 116, Sandpoint 100.

200-yard medley relay — 3, Sandpoint (Max Zuberbuhler, Harrison Gedde, Luc LeBlanc, Lon LeBlanc), 2:10.46.

200 freestyle — 1, Jack Grzincic, 2:05.60. 3, Max Zuberbuhler, 2:22.30. 4, Lon LeBlanc, 2:28.78.

200 individual medley — 2, Caleb Norling, 2:10.78.

50 freestyle — 1, Hayden Leavitt, 22.89. 7, Lon LeBlanc, 29.00. 8, Calvin Williams, 57.38.

100 butterfly — 1, Caleb Norling, 57.88. 2, Jack Grzincic, 1:02.10.

100 freestyle — 1, Hayden Leavitt, 49.82. 6, Max Zuberbuhler, 59.67. 8, Harrison Gedde, 1:01.03.

200 freestyle relay — 2, Sandpoint (Jack Grzincic, Lon LeBlanc, Hayden Leavitt, Caleb Norling), 1:38.24.

100 breaststroke — 5, Harrison Gedde, 1:37.16. 6, Luc LeBlanc, 1:27.95.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Sandpoint (Jack Grzincic, Max Zuberbuhler, Caleb Norling, Hayden Leavitt), 3:36.88.