Tigersharks take second in swim meet

MINDEN -- The Carson Tigersharks got stronger as the weekend progressed and their reward was a second place finish at the Zone 4 Swimming Championships.

During the three-day meet, the Tigersharks were chasing Lakeridge of Reno for second and on Sunday, overtook Lakeridge for second in the meet held at the Carson Valley Swim Center. The Tigersharks beat Lakeridge by 19 points in finishing second to Reno Aquatics in the meet that featured teams from Northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe and Bishop, Calif. areas.

"They didn't even tire out at the end of three days," Tigershark assistant coach Jackie Boudreau said. "They were still swimming strong until the end."

In addition for the Tigersharks, Andrew Willett was the overall individual champion for 13-14 boys and Abby Niehoff placed second in 11-12 girls. Sam Ballard was the overall champion for the 11-12 B boys division while Paul Chang took second. Zac White won the 8 and under boys B division and Caroline Suh took third in the 11-12 girls B division.

On Sunday in her first swim in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Niehoff qualified for the Pacific Age Group Championships. The Pacific region covers 109 teams from Nevada and Northern Nevada, including the Bay Area. She won in 12 minutes, 9.40 seconds.

Willett won the 13-14 boys 1,000 free in 11:14.92. In the 13-14 girls 1,000 free, Rebekah Niehoff placed third (11:49.93) and Barbara Perkins took fourth (12:01.61). Adrian Zeh won the 1,000 15 and over boys (11:20.88) and Jeff Stroup took second (11:32.77).

Garrett Clayton, who had already qualified for the Far Western Championships in the 100 breaststroke, again went well under the Far Western qualifying standard, finishing in 1:14.94.

Nick Schlager had an outstanding day for 9-10 boys, winning the 100 individual medley (1:21.11), the 50 breaststroke (43.66), the 100 backstroke (1:21.70) and placing second in the 100 free (1:13.04).

"He had a great day," Boudreau said. "He just got better and better as the weekend went along."

The 13-14 boys 200 medley relay of Sean McKenna, Todd Stroup and Andrew and Matthew Willett won in 2:06.19. The 11-12 girls 200 medley relay of Niehoff, Tatum Boehnke, Suh and Bethany White placed second (2:36.21).

In 8 and under girls, Alexandra Schlager won the 25 free (18.9) and Erin Chang won the 25 breaststroke (23.8). The 8 and under girls 100 medley relay of Chang, Schlager, Samantha McCarty and Jessica Fahrenbruch placed second.

Ashton McIntosh also had outstanding swims in the in the 25 free and 25 butterfly and had a 30 second drop in the 50 breaststroke for 9-10 boys. Scott Johnson had a 20 second drop in the 100 individual medley for 8 and under boys.

In addition, Jessica Goddard and McKenna broke one minute in the 100 free for the first time, with Goddard finishing in 59.89 and McKenna finishing in 59.74. Goddard also had an outstanding swin in the 200 I.M. (2:34.48) for 13-14 girls.

Other outstanding swims were turned in by Willett (2:23.60 in the 200 I.M.), Ian Murdock (1:21.91 in the 11-12 boys 100 I.M.), Chang (1:29.11 in the 100 I.M.) and Lauren Metcalf (1:19.97 in the 13-14 100 breastroke).

For the Douglas Dolphins, among the top swimmers was Sean Tinnell in 15 and over boys. Other swimmers who had outstanding meets for Douglas included Rebecca Chappell, Paul Von, Jarryd, Jason and Jessica Herwell, David Dragen, Cassandra Howard, Josh, Jeremy and Sarah Tigh and Sara and Michael Mangiaracina.

"I think they did really awesome," said Douglas coach Sarah Govan about her team. "All of our younger swimmers just really excelled."