Local swimmers represent well at state swim meet

Cibola boys had two individual qualifiers as well as two relays qualify for the consolation finals

MESA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - Local swimmers represented the Yuma area very well at the state DI swimming finals at the Skyline Aquatic Center on November 4th and 5th.

Cibola boys had two individual qualifiers as well as two relays qualify for the consolation finals.

A week prior at the Colorado River Swim and Dive Champions, Cibola’s 4x50 freestyle relay made up of Jacob Pasquinelli, Nicolas Acero, Lincoln McCall and Oren Sutphin, broke the previous school record with a time of 1:35:32.

At the state meet, the foursome placed 20th with a time of 1:35.83. 

Gavin Logan placed 15th in the 200 Individual Medley (2:00.78) and 12th in the 500 Freestyle (4:53.00). 

Ethan Jantzi placed 11th in the 100 Breaststroke (1:01.46). 

Ryan Dusek, Jantzi, Jacob Pasquinelli, and Logan placed 10th in the 200 medley relay (1:41.15) and Nicolas Acero, Dusek, Pasquinelli, and Logan placed 12th in the 400 Freestyle relay (3:24.50). 

The Cibola girls qualified Miah Duarte Olivas in the 100 Breaststroke where she placed 8th with a time of 1:08.89. 

Also in Division I, Gila Ridge's Analiese Hancock placed 13th in the Breaststroke

"As we finished the season we were happy with how the kids swam today," Cibola head coach Mark Dusek said. "We obviously want to qualify as many kids as we can for the second day, but any individual and any relay team that gets to Saturday is considered a success! Ethan and Gavin are hard workers and great kids so it’s no surprise they qualified for Saturday’s swim. Miah has great technique and just swims fast!"

Dusek added that the future looks bright.

"We are graduating a handful of seniors, so we are looking for swimmers to step up and lead our team next year," Dusek said. "We have great potential as well as an extremely talented core of swimmers returning. Many of the kids swim year round and we’re hoping others from the team can join a club team during the off season."

Dusek reflected on the year and although the state meet wasn't how many local swimmers wanted the season to end, overall it was a very successful season 

"We were undefeated in the regular season and had great finishes at the invites we went to (even placing first for boys and girls at the Crim Swim)," Dusek said. "We’re looking to improve on that next year by qualifying more kids for state and seeing massive time drops during the season."