Girls place first, boys take second at Madison High Invitational

IDAHO FALLS — The Sandpoint swim team faced one final test before districts.

On Friday, the squad traveled about eight hours south to take part in the Madison High School Invitational. There, the Bulldogs went head-to-head with four 5A and four 4A schools from District 6 and continued to rise to the top.

The Sandpoint girls won 104-65.5 over host Madison, claiming five of the eight individual events and two relays. The boys, who only had seven swimmers, finished 25 points behind first-place Madison and earned four individual victories. As a combined team, the Bulldogs edged out the Bobcats 171-157.5.

Despite winning the meet, it wasn’t the team’s best performance, head coach Greg Jackson said. The Bulldogs have been grinding hard in practice over the last handful of weeks in preparation for a taper for the state meet and the slower times are a result of that, Jackson said.

“It’s very nerve-racking to be in this position,” he said. “I feel the kids really aren’t performing the greatest, which in theory should be a good thing. It should mean that we’ve been successful in working them hard and breaking them down and setting them up for a good taper.”

Jackson said he keeps reminding his athletes to trust the process because in the end it should all work out, and, if it doesn’t, it’s his fault, not there’s.

“All of the kids have all worked so incredibly hard,” he said. “They’ve taken everything I’ve given them and done it all. My heart and soul is into making this go right for them … and I want to deliver for them, so they can reap the fruits of their labor.”

The Bulldogs began tapering for the state meet Monday and Jackson stopped letting the team do sprints last week.

“The flipside of this is I’m pretty excited,” he said. “What are these kids going to do when they get some rest under them?”

Sandpoint took this trip to Idaho Falls to get a feel for what the bus ride down to state will be like in just over a week. Jackson said the trip didn’t go quite according to plan, but that’s why they added it to their regular season schedule.

“It was a good lesson for all of us in keeping positivity at the forefront of our minds,” he said, “and taking obstacles with a grain of salt because sometimes the obstacle is going to be there and you just have to work with it.”

Junior Emily Ballard and freshman Ryleigh Bamer led the way for the girls, winning two events each. Ballard took first in the 200-yard freestyle and 500 free for the second consecutive meet and Bamer earned the top spot in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.

Freshman Ava de Leeuw secured first in the 100 backstroke and second in the 200 free.

In the 200 free relay, McKinley Jensen, Maren Davidson, de Leeuw and Ballard teamed up to bring home first, and Ayiana Prevost, Ballard, de Leeuw and Bamer swam legs on the first-place 400 free relay team. The Bulldogs also claimed second in the 200 medley relay.

Prevost, a junior captain, was second in the 500 free and third in the 200 free. Freshman Terra Converse placed third in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 100 fly, Davidson grabbed fourth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 back, and Jensen secured fifth in the 200 free and sixth in the 500 free.

“Terra Converse actually performed really well,” Jackson said. “I was really happy with her 200 IM performance. I think that put her in a position where she’s got a chance at qualifying for the state meet.”

In the 100 free, sophomore Emma Schmitt and senior Sophie Dignan finished seventh and eighth respectively. Schmitt recorded a personal best in the event and brought plenty of energy to the pool, Jackson said.

“She dropped two full seconds, which was pretty cool,” he said. “Last year, we traditionally used her for some of the distance events or the butterfly, and this year we’ve been giving her opportunities in some of these shorter sprint events and she’s really taking advantage of it.”

Sophomore Sadie Dignan was eighth in the 100 breaststroke.

Senior Hayden Leavitt and junior captain Caleb Norling kept tearing up their competition on the boys side. Leavitt won the 50 free and 100 free for the second straight meet and Norling captured first in the 100 back and 200 free.

Jack Grzincic secured second in the 100 fly and third in the 200 free, freshman Max Zuberbuhler brought home third in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 IM, and sophomore Lon LeBlanc was sixth in the 100 free and ninth in the 50 free.

Jackson said Zuberbuhler is selfless and always willing to do what’s best for the team.

“He just has a good attitude,” Jackson said. “He’s methodical about what he does, and he’s committed. There’s no opportunity that’s beneath him.”

Grzincic, Leavitt and Luc and Lon LeBlanc helped the boys place second in the 200 free relay. Zuberbuhler, Lon LeBlanc, Grzincic and Norling all swam legs on the runner-up 400 free relay team. The Bulldogs were also third in the 200 medley relay.

“Both Luc and Lon continue to do whatever they can to help support the team by being willing to swim the lesser favorite events,” Jackson said.

Freshman Calvin Williams dropped five seconds in the 50 free.

“That was really cool,” Jackson said. “He saw the competition and ran with it.”

The team was without sophomore Harrison Gedde.

Sandpoint will compete in the 4A District 1-2 championships at 11 a.m. Saturday at the University of Idaho pool. The top two finishers in each individual event at districts and the top relay will earn automatic berths to state. At-large berths will be awarded to the next four fastest individual times recorded across the state and the next two fastest relays.

At-large bids will be announced on Sunday following the conclusion of all the district meets around the state.

SANDPOINT RESULTS

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 104. 2, Madison 65.5. 3, Skyline 52. 4, Hillcrest 23. 5, Rigby 17. 6, Bonneville 12. 7, Shelley 8.5. 8, Idaho Falls 4.

200-yard medley relay — 2, Sandpoint (McKinley Jensen, Ayiana Prevost, Ryleigh Bamer, Maren Davidson), 2:12.75. 8, Sandpoint (Sophie Dignan, Sadie Dignan, Terra Converse, Cassidy Aitken), 2:36.33.

200 freestyle — 1, Emily Ballard, 2:11.85. 2, Ava de Leeuw, 2:14.43. 3, Ayiana Prevost, 2:14.82. 5, McKinley Jensen, 2:29.89.

200 individual medley — 3, Terra Converse, 3:00.41. 4, Maren Davidson, 3:00.96.

50 freestyle — 1, Ryleigh Bamer, 26.93. 11, Sadie Dignan, 33.27. 12, Cassidy Aitken, 33.42. 13, April Davis, 33.85.

100 butterfly — 1, Ryleigh Bamer, 1:10.25. 4, Terra Converse, 1:24.95.

100 freestyle — 7, Emma Schmitt, 1:12.98. 8, Sophie Dignan, 1:17.86.

500 freestyle — 1, Emily Ballard, 5:54.47. 2, Ayiana Prevost, 6:09.71. 6, McKinley Jensen, 6:35.26.

200 freestyle relay — 1, Sandpoint (McKinley Jensen, Maren Davidson, Ava de Leeuw, Emily Ballard), 1:57.80. 7, Sandpoint (Emma Schmitt, April Davis, Cassidy Aitken, Sophie Dignan), 2:16.59.

100 backstroke — 1, Ava de Leeuw, 1:11.22. 5, Maren Davidson, 1:18.82. 12, Cassidy Aitken, 1:27.64. 15, Sophie Dignan, 1:34.25.

100 breaststroke — 8, Sadie Dignan, 1:36.36.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Sandpoint (Emily Ballard, Ava de Leeuw, Ayiana Prevost, Ryleigh Bamer), 4:07.61.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Madison 92. 2, Sandpoint 67. 3, Idaho Falls 59. 4, Hillcrest 35. 5, Shelley 10. 6, Thunder Ridge & Bonneville 9. 8, Rigby 4. 9, Skyline 1.

200-yard medley relay — 3, Sandpoint (Max Zuberbuhler, Luc LeBlanc, Caleb Norling, Hayden Leavitt), 2:14.74.

200 freestyle — 1, Caleb Norling, 1:58.03. 3, Jack Grzincic, 2:05.01.

200 individual medley — 4, Max Zuberbuhler, 2:42.98.

50 freestyle — 1, Hayden Leavitt, 23.49. 9, Lon LeBlanc, 27.90. 11, Luc LeBlanc, 29.73. 27, Calvin Williams, 49.57.

100 butterfly — 2, Jack Grzincic, 1:01.92.

100 freestyle — 1, Hayden Leavitt, 51.95. 6, Lon LeBlanc, 1:02.01. 23, Calvin Williams, 2:22.67.

500 freestyle — 3, Max Zuberbuhler, 6:39.93. 15, Luc LeBlanc, 8:09.02.

200 freestyle relay — 2, Sandpoint (Lon LeBlanc, Luc LeBlanc, Jack Grzincic, Hayden Leavitt), 1:44:36.

100 backstroke — 1, Caleb Norling, 1:00.85.

400 freestyle relay — 2, Sandpoint (Max Zuberbuhler, Lon LeBlanc, Jack Grzincic, Caleb Norling), 3:52.01.