5A STATE SWIM: Bulldogs "relay" message, sweep titles in convincing fashion

BOISE — Sandpoint broke three school records, took home a combined four gold medals in the relays, and both the Bulldog boys and girls swim teams captured 5A state titles in what was a historic performance on Saturday at the West Ada YMCA.

"We're very excited about that," Sandpoint High head coach Greg Jackson said of having four winning relays. "Usually we have at least one or two relays that have good standings. The boys and girls both grabbed two golds... that's a good indicator that you have a really solid team. On both sides, our third relays cracked the top six as well — that's a big reason why we were able to pull away."

The girls, which have now won titles in back-to-back years, were led by senior Ava de Leeuw, who finished second in the 200 free (2:01.71), second in the 500 free with a new school record (5:23.81), and anchored the Lady Bulldogs' winning 200 and 400 free relays. In the 200 free relay, de Leeuw held on for a .37-second victory over runner-up Idaho Falls, which Sandpoint ended up beating by 44 points.

"She's been amazing; she's been so reliable," coach Jackson said of de Leeuw. "She brings it every time and it always shows, especially in the relays. She's not a sprinter, but she's always been our strongest person to anchor those relays — she embodies strength and brought that to the end of every swim. It was clutch."

Individually, a handful of Sandpoint girls swimmers picked up top five finishes. Sophomore Reina Montecchi finished third in the 50 free (25.81), fourth in the 100 free (56.84), and anchored the third-place 200 medley relay. Junior Mia Driggs was also a part of multiple relays and swam to second in the 50 free (25.63) and fifth in the 100 free (57.02). Senior Ryleigh Bamer led off the winning relays and placed third in the 100 butterfly (1:02.03) and fourth in the 50 free (26.00).

For the boys, they won the 200 medley and 200 free relays, breaking school records in both events. Senior Max Zuberbuhler, and juniors McCoy Jensen, Kai Leavitt and Kale Wright broke the 200 medley record from 2006 with a time of 1:43.98 while Leavitt, Jensen, Wright and freshman Lou Foust broke the 200 free record with a time of 1:31.19, just .11 seconds from the 5A state record.

"They smashed their 200 free record from yesterday, taking it down almost an entire second... that's huge," coach Jackson said. "We've been building for a number of years on the boys side. To get that success from them is really important. It's awesome to be able to come home and say we are a championship program."

Individually, Leavitt picked up fourth in 200 free (1:55.99), Jensen fourth in the 100 free (50.53) and Foust fourth in the 500 free (5:11.62). Wright, who has been solid all year, was third in both the 50 free (22.47) and 100 free (49.25) to lift the Bulldogs, which scored 178 points compared to second-place Idaho Falls' 149, to victory. 

"Kale has been an all-around leader for this boys team," coach Jackson said. "He knows how to come in and have fun, but also get serious and down to business. To have that balance, purpose, ability to manifest success — that's what he did. Getting underneath that 50-second barrier in the 100 free is a big deal. He's methodical in everything he does. I don't think he's taken a day off of swimming since the middle of August."

Jackson said when both his teams were crowned champions at the end of the day, he couldn't have been more proud.

"It's not always about getting first and second, it's about being a part of a team," coach Jackson said. "That's what's nice about what we've done. Every single person that was here contributed in one way or another. These kids envisioned this being a team thing, and the energy they put towards that was incredible... many, many different sacrifices were made throughout the year for the good of the team. That's why we succeeded."

Jackson added that over the last couple of weeks, his teams remained focused and made the right decisions to stay healthy, which paid off in a big way.

"They didn't just come to practice and work hard, they did everything right," coach Jackson said. "That's how we were able to make this happen."

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 192. 2, Idaho Falls 148. 3, Wood River 144. 4, Cole Valley Christian 124. 5, Skyline 105. 6, Moscow 85. 7, Lewiston 67. 8, Minico 48. 9, Hillcrest 46. 10, Pocatello 45. 11, Century 37. t-12, Cascade, Skyview 36. 14, Parma 28; 15, Jerome 20. 16, Kimberly 17. 17, Vallivue 16. t-18, Twin Falls, Middleton 14. 20, Oakley 13. 21, Mountain Home 11. 22, Columbia 8. 23, Nampa Christian 4. 24, Shelley 3. 25, Burley, 2. 26, Declo 1. 

Winner, locals

200-yard medley relay — 1, Idaho Falls (Mahealani Grimes, Ann Hunsicker, Abigail Balsmeier, Katelyn Nichols), 1:55.76; 3, Sandpoint (Bria Rocke, Summer Loutzenhiser, Mia Driggs, Reina Montecchi), 1:59.80. 

200 free — 1, Julia Hill, Cole Valley Christian, 1:56.80; 2, Ava de Leeuw, Sandpoint, 2:01.71.

200 IM — 1, Sadie Schaffer, Skyview, 2:09.64.

50 free — 1, Rylan Holcomb, Parma, 24.96; 2, Mia Driggs, Sandpoint, 25.63; 3, Reina Montecchi, Sandpoint, 25.81; 4, Ryleigh Bamer, Sandpoint, 26.00.

100 butterfly — 1, Mahealani Grimes, Idaho Falls, 1:00.52; 3, Ryleigh Bamer, Sandpoint, 1:02.03. 

100 freestyle — 1, Sadie Schaffer, Skyview, 52.81 (new state record); 4, Reina Montecchi, Sandpoint, 56.84; 5, Mia Driggs, Sandpoint, 57.02. 

500 freestyle — 1, Julia Hill, Cole Valley Christian, 5:17.75;  2, Ava de Leeuw, Sandpoint, 5:23.81; 9, Bria Rocke, Sandpoint, 6:09.38. 

200 free relay — 1, Sandpoint (Ryleigh Bamer, Halle Wyman, Mia Driggs, Ava de Leeuw), 1:46.28.

100 backstroke — 1, Mahealani Grimes, Idaho Falls, 59.15; 8, Bria Rocke, Sandpoint,1:09.41. 

100 breast — 1, Isabella Tognoni, Wood River, 1:06.71. 

400 free relay — 1, Sandpoint (Ryleigh Bamer, Bria Rocke, Reina Montecchi, Ava de Leeuw), 3:51.00. 

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1 Sandpoint 178. 2, Idaho Falls 149. 3, Skyline 114. 4, Pocatello 112. 5, Twin Falls 109. 6, Minico 91. 7, Columbia 87. 8, Hillcrest 76. 9, Lewiston 56. 10, Burley 44. 11, Middleton 43. 12, Century 41. 13, Kimberly 36. 14, Moscow 32. 15, Bonneville 29. 16, Riverstone International 28. 17, Wood River 16. 18, Gooding 9. 19, Lakeland 7. 20, Skyview 6. 21, Filer 2. 22, Cole Valley Christian 1. 

200-yard medley relay — 1, Sandpoint (Max Zuberbuhler, McCoy Jensen, Kai Leavitt, Kale Wright), 1:43.98.

200 free — 1, Elias Couch, Skyline, 1:45.76; 4, Kai Leavitt, Sandpoint, 1:55.99.

200 IM — 1, Thomas Clark, Minico, 2:04.59; 11, Max Brown, Sandpoint, 2:21.93. 

50 free — 1, Rangi Grimes, Idaho Falls 21.65 (new state record); 3, Kale Wright, Sandpoint, 22.47; 6, McCoy Jensen 23.17.

100 butterfly — 1, Noah Crossler, Moscow 51.64 (new state record); 6, Kai Leavitt, Sandpoint, 57.78. 

100 freestyle — 1, Rangi Grimes, Idaho Falls 47.87 (new state record), 47.87; 3 Kale Wright, Sandpoint, 49.25; 4, McCoy Jensen, Sandpoint, 50.53. 

500 freestyle — 1, Elias Couch, Skyline, 4:56.88; 4, Lou Foust Sandpoint, 5:11.62; 9, Bodi Demmons, Sandpoint, 5:36.38. 

200 free relay — 1, Sandpoint (Kai Leavitt, Lou Foust, McCoy Jensen, Kale Wright), 1:31.19.

100 backstroke — 1, Noah Crossler, Moscow, 54.98; 5, Lou Foust, Sandpoint, 1:00.65; 9, Bodi Demmons, Sandpoint, 1:02.14. 

100 breast — 1, Vaughn Geffros, Riverstone International, 1:02.23; 12, Maximus Brown, Sandpoint, 1:12.84. 

400 free relay — 1, Idaho Falls (Jax Durtschi, Jackson Balsmeier, Hiro Quan, Rangi Grimes), 3:28.56; 6, Sandpoint (Max Brown, Bodi Demmons, Max Zuberbuhler, Lou Foust), 3:48.84.