SPORTS News:

Fast, faster and fastest are the watchwords that applied to the competition at Albuquerque Academy Jan. 28, for the Fifteenth Annual Tom Casey Memorial Challenge.

“This was a good meet to get us ready for Districts,” Coach Chris Wetteland said. “It was very competitive, but we held our own with everyone contributing.”

At a meet where many of the best high school swimmers in the state competed, the boys swimmers and divers finished second, with the girls coming in at fifth.  

In swimming, Anne Wetteland brought home the team’s lone first place finish in the 100 Breast event.  Second place finishes came in with Lena Ronning and Ming Lo in the 200 Freestyle along with Nikolai Nelson in the 200 Individual Medley.

The team also had a fourth place finish by Daniel Borovina in the 100 Free, with his brother William following in at fifth,  a fraction of a second behind.

Diver Marian Strandling improved her score by more than 30 points to place 5th. Asher Koh and Aiden Manzaneres placed fourth and fifth respectively in the boys diving competition.

“In a meet like this, every point counts for the team, and when everyone makes an effort like this, we do well,” Coach Wetteland said. “What matters is everyone doing their best.”

The team saw swimmers make state qualifying times. Catherine Price took more than three seconds off her time in the 200 Freestyle to make the state cut. William Borovina also made a state qualifying time in the 100 Back.

As in previous competitions, the team continued strong showings in the relays, with a first place finish for the Girls 400 Freestyle relay and a third in the 200 Free. The boys placed second in each of their three relays: 400 Freestyle, 200 Free and 200 medley.

The District competition comes up next Feb. 4 at the Genoveva Chavez Center in Santa Fe, followed by State High School competition back at Academy Feb. 18.