Swimmers finish in the middle at Castle Dale, Tooele meets
by Jeff Richards
contributing writer
Dec 20, 2012 | 444 views | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Freshman Katie Winget competes for Grand at a three-way swim meet in Castle Dale on Dec. 12. Photo by John Knowles
Freshman Katie Winget competes for Grand at a three-way swim meet in Castle Dale on Dec. 12. Photo by John Knowles
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The Grand County High School swim team racked up several strong finishes during two meets last week.

The first was a three-way meet held at Castle Dale, Utah, on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Grand joined host school Emery High at the meet, along with Uintah High School of Vernal, Utah.

Among the highlights for Grand, junior Jackson Knowles placed first overall in the 100-yard butterfly event with a personal-best time of 1:05.65, according to GCHS head coach Brian Pierce.

Knowles and teammates Drake Hackney, C.J. Hren, and Duncan Reidhead placed second in the 200-yard medley relay, posting a time of 2 minutes, 10.98 seconds. The Red Devils also took third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with senior James Martin joining Reidhead, Hackney, and Knowles in that event. They swam the race in under two minutes, recording a time of 1:59. 13.

Individually, Reidhead also placed fourth out of 16 swimmers in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 1:04:41.

For the GCHS girls, freshman Kayla Weston placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 32.25, while teammate Sierra Indergard, a junior, placed fifth in the same event with a time of 32.75. Weston also placed sixth in the 100-yard freestyle, Pierce said.  

GCHS senior Gaby Meyer placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle, which is the longest race in Utah high school swimming.      

  The GCHS girls relay team took fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with Robin Willscheidt, Indergard, Meyer, and Brianna Ballard posting a time of 2:24.70. The Lady Devils also placed fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with Weston, Meyer, Ballard, and Indergard posting a time of 5:33.18. Individually, Willscheidt took second place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:26.97

Later in the week, the Red Devils traveled to Tooele to take part in the two-day Tooele Invitational on Dec. 14 and 15.

“It was a huge meet, with 13 schools, and most of the events had anywhere from 15 to 80 swimmers competing,” said coach Pierce. “It was a great experience for our team, giving us the chance to swim against some of the best swimmers in the state.”

According to Pierce, several Grand swimmers cut time off their previous bests, including senior Zarena Rigby, who shaved 7.21 seconds off her previous best in the 100-yard freestyle. Teammate Katie Winget also improved her best 100-yard freestyle time by 6.5 seconds, and Gabriel Martineau cut 3.5 seconds from her best time in that same race, Pierce said.

Weston placed 30th out of 77 in the 50-yard freestyle with a time 32.39 and 43rd out of 75 in the 100-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:14.73.   

For the Red Devil boys, Hackney shaved 6.62 seconds off his previous best 100-yard freestyle time, Pierce said. Knowles placed 14 of 27 in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:06.77, and also finished 17th out of 34 in the 200-yard freestyle.  

“Overall our swimmers did well, finishing in the middle of the pack in most of their events, which isn’t too bad considering the number of swimmers at the meet,” Pierce said.

This week, the Red Devils are scheduled to compete in yet another three-way region swim meet at Castle Dale. Grand will join Emery and Spanish Fork high schools for the contest on Thursday, Dec. 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m.
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