Hilltopper Swim/Dive State Team: Front row from left, Samantha Clayton, Michelle Lo, Deb Brug, Emilie Daligault. Second row from left, Grace Nowell, Madalyn Baily, Sonya Pakin, Alma Hurlocker, Emma Reide, Grace Evans, Catherine Price, Anna Kerstiens. Back row from left, Austin Theye, Sam Nowell, Thomas Daligault, Peter Maginot, Ammon Lee, Gus Marchand. Not pictured: Steven Yeamans. Courtesy photo

Hilltopper Seniors from left, Catherine Price, Emma Reide, Deb Brug, Sam Nowell and Austin Theye. Courtesy photo

SPORTS News:

The Hilltopper Swim/Dive Team set out for the NMAA State Swim/Dive Championships Feb. 20 to 21, aiming to have every swimmer and diver do their best. As the events moved along, that’s what happened time after time. The girls placed fourth and the boys tenth.

Albuquerque Academy continued its rule of the pool with both the boys and girls taking first place titles.

Academy girls tallied 469 points ahead of Clovis (256 points), La Cueva (220 points) and Los Alamos (174 points). The Academy boys scored 246 points to claim their title. At tenth place, the Hilltopper boys scored 96 points.

“We graduated 15 seniors and the girls still improved from fifth place last year to fourth this year,” said Head Coach Pat Brug, adding “The boys did admirably with a very small team.” The boys team was so small it didn’t compete in four of the 24 swim events.

“To place that high with a small squad is a very respectable achievement,” coach Brug said. “They swam best times of the season, both as individuals and the relays.”

For the girls, Grace Nowell had personal bests in both her 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle. Michelle Lo dropped nearly 2 seconds off both her 100 Butterfly and 100 Breaststroke.

For the boys Thomas Daligault swam a personal best in his 100 Butterfly. Sam Nowell dropped nearly three seconds in his 100 Freestyle.

Four of the six relay squads qualified for the medal round (top 8):

• Girls 200 Freestyle relay: Samantha Clayton, Grace Nowell, Emma Reide, Michelle Lo (3)
• Girls 400 Freestyle relay: Sonya Pakin, Catherine Price, Grace Nowell, Anna Kersteins (5)
• Girls 200 Medley relay: Deb Brug, Grace Evans, Michelle Lo, Samantha Clayton (6)
• Boys 200 Freestyle relay: Sam Nowell, Thomas Daligault, Peter Maginot, Ammon Lee (6)

In individual events, second place finishes for Grace Nowell (500 Freestyle) and Michelle Lo (100 Butterfly) led the team, but those were followed by several top-eight places for medals:

• Grace Nowell: 200 Freestyle (6)
• Steven Yeamans placed sixth in the one-meter diving, a great achievement given this was his first year diving

• Michelle Lo: 100 Breaststroke (7)
• Catherine Price: 500 Freestyle (7)
• Thomas Daligault: 100 Breaststroke (8)

Along with the medal-round finishes, placing in the B Finals (ninth to sixteenth places) gained points for the team.

• Thomas Daligault 100 Butterfly (9)
• Ammon Lee 50 Freestyle (12)
• Sonya Pakin: 100 Backstroke (12)
• Samantha Clayton 50 Freestyle (13) and 100 Freestyle (15)
• Sam Nowell 100 Butterfly (13)
• Madalyn Baily: 500 Freestyle (14)
• Peter Maginot 200 freestyle (15)
• Catherine Price: 200 Freestyle (15)
• Grace Evans: 100 Breastroke (16)

In the relays the boys placed high in the B Finals:

• 200 Medley relay: Ammon Lee, Thomas Daligault, Sam Nowell, Austin Theye (10)
• 400 Freestyle relay: Ammon Lee, Sam Nowell, Peter Maginot, Austin Theye (11)

As important as the team points were, Coach Brug highlighted the way all swimmers showed up to compete. He noted every relay swam its best time. Ammon Lee broke 23 seconds in the 50 Freestyle for the first time. Sonya Pakin and Alma Hurlocker had their best times in their 200 Individual Medley and both just missed the top 16 (18th and 20th respectively). Anna Kerstiens dropped more than 0.7 seconds off her 100 Freestyle to finish 17th and 0.4 seconds off her 100 Breaststroke to finish 20th.

“Whether the athletes swam at Districts or State, everyone trained hard all season,” Coach Brug said. “Those who earned a top place at state didn’t get to that level alone. The whole team was their training partner.”

The Toppers state team:

• Madalyn Baily
• Teagan Brown
• Deb Brug
• Samantha Clayton
• Emilie Daligault
• Thomas Daligault
• Malin Eidenbenz
• Grace Evans
• Alma Hurlocker
• Anna Kerstiens
• Ammon Lee
• Michelle Lo
• Peter Maginot
• Gus Marchand
• Grace Nowell
• Sam Nowell
• Sonya Pakin
• Catherine Price
• Emma Reide
• Austin Theye
• Steven Yeamans