The battle for the New Mexico boys high school state title was tied going into the 400 free relay, with La Cueva winning a thriller by just four points. Albuquerque Academy won on the girls side.
Girls Meet
Albuquerque Academy sophomore Allison Bernier led the way to a girls team title, winning two events individually by huge margins. Bernier took the 200 IM title in 2:05.61, with no one else within two seconds of her. She returned to win the 500 free by almost eight seconds, going 4:59.30.
She came off the latter win to anchor Albuquerque Academy’s winning 200 free relay in 23.54. Her relay team went 1:38.93, with Bernier running down Las Cruces to win by a tenth.
La Cueva was second by about 70 points, getting four wins apiece from Chrysten Pacheco and Natalie Jones. The senior Pacheco won the first two events, swimming butterfly on the 200 medley relay before coming back to win the 200 free in 1:52.09. The 200 free win was by three and a half seconds. She returned after diving to win the 100 fly in 56.11.
Meanwhile Jones, a senior, won the 50 free in 23.71 and the 100 free in 52.46. Jones filled in on breaststroke on La Cueva’s winning 200 medley relay (1:47.79 and winning by a full second) and the two put up key 52-second splits to help La Cueva win the 400 free relay. Pacheco was 52.10 and Jones anchored in 52.20 to help the team blow out the field in 3:31.78.
Other event winners:
- Jessica Albanna won diving for Albuquerque (not to be confused with Albuquerque Academy). She scored 469.05 points.
- Sandia’s Fiona Trotz-Chavez won the 100 back in 57.90.
- Eldorado won the 100 breast with a 1:05.07 from Grace Gehlert.
Top 5 Teams:
- Albuquerque Academy – 383
- La Cueva – 314
- Clovis – 225
- Las Cruces – 186
- Albuquerque – 181
Boys Meet
La Cueva and Los Alamos entered the 400 free relay tied at 246 points apiece, and Alburquerque Academy was just 1.5 points back in a thrilling three-team battle. It was none of the three who won the event (Cibola took the win in 3:11.85), but La Cueva finished second to claim the team title. Los Alamos was 4th in the relay and finished four points back of La Cueva, while Albuquerque Academy finished fifth in the relay and 7.5 points back of first place.
La Cueva won the meet on an individual double and a state record from Jack Hoagland. The senior went 1:48.01 to break the New Mexico state record in the 200 IM, and he also won the 500 free in 4:37.92. Hoagland beat the field by almost 12 seconds to win that event.
Cibola’s Keelan Hart powered that final relay win, and also swept the sprints individually. He was 20.68 in the 50 free and 44.72 in the 100 free, tying the state record in the latter. His Cibola 200 free relay won a state title in 1:27.81, with Hart splitting 20.53 on the end. He anchored the winning 400 free relay in 44.98.
Other event winners:
- Sandia’s Joseph Cecco went 1:42.39 to win the 200 free.
- His teammate Maxwell Hawton won the 100 back in 49.57.
- Eldorado’s Isaac Newman won diving, scoring 567.60 points for a new pool record. He was just eight points off the state record.
- Eldorado’s Darien O’Donnell took the 100 fly in 49.42.
- Albuquerque’s Piece Holler took the 100 breast, going 56.56.
Top 5 Teams:
- La Cueva – 280
- Los Alamos – 276
- Albuquerque Academy – 272.5
- Cibola – 256
- Cleveland – 228.5
Nice article. There is some fast swimming going on in New Mexico. We work with quite a few of the swimmers and their parents with recruiting. Just a clarification on Chrysten Pacheco, she is s senior who signed with Houston. Hoagland is headed to Notre Dame.