Raiders swim to the top in local quad meet

Cibola, Kofa, San Luis and Somerton show hard work put in the pool is starting to pay off

YUMA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - The Cibola Raiders boys and girls swim teams may have won the local swim meet on Thursday but there was plenty of high praise for all the athletes and coaches at the event.

 "It’s great to see the Somerton and San Luis swim teams increase in numbers," Cibola head coach Mark Dusek said. "Coach Van Voorst (Somerton) and Coach Aranda (San Luis) are doing great things for their programs."

"Hard work is starting to pay off," Kofa head coach Bill Packham said. "The kids are learning how to work on and improve the finer details for swim strokes."

Packham also touched on the improvement he's seeing with his Kofa swim teams after last week's first competition at Lake Havasu.

"The kids took what they learned from their first meet last week and did really well today," Packham said.  "Lots of personal bests."

Key performances for the Kings came from senior David Nye and freshman Will Rouff on the boys side and for the girls, junior Elena Packham led to the winning times in the Breaststroke. 

Senior Jacob Rouff led the Kings boys team in the sprint race while freshman Veronica Packham led the girl's team in sprints. 

Unified swimmer Alex Aguirre swam in his first swim meet and not only competed in the 50 freestyle but also swam well in the 100 freestyle. 

The boys 200 meter freestyle relay team compiled of senior David Nye, senior Jacob Rouff, freshman Will Rouff and freshman Roman Jacobo led their team to the top Kofa boys relay finish to win the event.

The girls 200 meter medley team of junior Elena Packham, freshman Veronica Packham, freshman Lya Villegas and senior Aleah Hassan led their team to the top Kofa girls time and relay finish of the meet. 

The boys 400 freestyle relay team of freshman Austin Porter, junior Ray Followell, sophomore Nate Hudson and senior Dominic Gutierrez led Kofa in the distance relay.

Ultimately the meet would belong to Cibola with the Raiders boys and girls teams swimming to the top spots.

"Coach Packham from Kofa is always fun to be on deck with," Dusek said. "He and Coach Renee are great coaches but greater people, but it’s still nice to beat them."

Dusek said he was very pleased with not only how his teams performed, but the attitude they displayed poolside.

"Our teams swam very well today," Dusek said. "We moved the lineup around quite a bit, and there were some kids who swam events they had never swum before. There was no complaining and the kids just went out and did what they were supposed to do."

Dusek also pointed out the importance of getting together for local meets,

"These local meets are fun because a lot of the kids know each other from Club swimming it’s nice to see the friendly, but competitive sides of them come out," Dusek said. "There was a noticeable camaraderie with our kids and it was very nice to see that. Everyone was cheering everyone else on to include swimmers of the other teams. We’re very proud of the way the kids swam tonight, but probably more proud of the way they acted as a team."

Multiple winners for Cibola included Nick Acero in the medley relay, the 200 individual medley, the 100 backstroke and the 400 freestyle relay.

Ethan Jantzi won the 50 and 100 yard freestyle , as well as being part of the winning medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Ryan Dusek won the 100 yard butterfly and the 200 yard freestyle and was also part of the winning medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Rene Herrera won the 500 yard freestyle and was on the medley relay and 400 freestyle relay as well.

On the girls side, Eleanor Hauck won the 50 and 100 yard freestyle and was part of the medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams that won. Lilly Nguyen won the 100 yard butterfly and the 200 yard individual medley and was also part of the winning medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Dalyn Dusek won the 200 freestyle and was part of the 200 freestyle relay winning team and the 400 freestyle relay winning team. Emma Jantzi won the 500 Freestyle and was part of the winning Medley and 400 Freestyle relay teams. Hephziba Lopez won the 100 yard backstroke.