The BHS girls finished first in the Last Chance Invite at BHS.
News-Bulletin file photo
The Belen girls claimed a narrow victory at the Last Chance Invite on Saturday at the Eagle Natatorium with a team score of 282.5, beating out second-place Hope Christian, who finished with a score of 279.
Los Lunas finished in sixth place with a score of 144, while Valencia finished in 11th with a score of 28.
On the boys side, Volcano Vista took the crown with a score of 383, while the top finisher from Valencia County was Belen, who came in fourth with a score of 221.
Los Lunas was a distant fifth at 164 while Valencia came in seventh with a score of 116.
Belen achieved state qualification in the girls 200 freestyle relay, the second team event, along with the 400 freestyle relay, that the team has qualified for.
Haven Casillas has qualified individually in the 50 and 100 free as well, according to coach Andrea Montano.
On the boy’s side, the 400 free relay team narrowly missed qualifying for state, finishing off the qualifying time by just four 100ths of a second.
Montano said they are hopeful they can make up the difference this week at the district meet after cutting five seconds off of their entry time last weekend.
The BHS boys have also already qualified in the 400 medley relay.
Montano is hopeful that Cristofori Sanchez will be able to qualify in some individual events as well, as he is close in several races.
The Girls 200 IM was won by Iris Silva of Belen, followed by three Los Lunas swimmers- the only four to compete in the event.
Silva came in with a time of 2:36.91, while second place was claimed by Annebelle Zonotti with a time of 2:45.02.
Los Lunas came out on top in the Boys 4×50 free relay and qualified for state in the process with a time of 1:38.41, well under the state qualifying time of 1:39.29.
BHS and VHS finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the event with times of 1:42.63 and 1:45.73
Tigers Swimmer Joshua Jones won the Boys 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.81.
County swimmers also claimed victories in the Boys 4×100 relay, where Belen won with a time of 3:44.06.
It was a narrow victory for the Eagles over Valencia, who finished in second with a time of 4:06.89.
Samuel Casaus of Los Lunas won the Boys 50 yard freestyle and qualified for state in the process, finishing with a time of 22.76.
BHS’s Cristofori Sanchez won the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:17.40, followed by his teammate Luke Sanchez in second with a time of 2:21.09.
The district meet takes place this Saturday at Albuquerque Academy and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
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April 19, 2024
