Eyes on a new prize

RENO — A hard fought meet turned victorious for the Fallon boys swim team on Saturday.

The Greenwave nipped Wooster, 88-87, to nab their second win of the season, while the Lady Wave fell, 163-64, at Northwest Pool.

The girls team, though, was a shell of itself due to most of the upperclassmen attending prom. Nevertheless, Fallon coach Ken Grimes said the holes left by the seniors gave other swimmers an opportunity to take on new events.

As for the boys, Grimes said the meet was close, and even without a 400-yard freestyle relay team, the Wave had enough to hold on.

“We had a couple of best times out of it, and some of our new kids keep dropping time,” he added.

Now, the swim teams prepare for Saturday’s Zephyr League Championships at 10 a.m. at Northwest Pool. The meet is the final opportunity for the swimmers to qualify for the regional meet.

Thanks to the southern realignment by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, the I-A schools now have a regional and state meet.

A strong showing at the Northern Division I-A regional meet and the DI-A state meet has become a possibility. Fallon’s disadvantage in the past has been low numbers, which translated to fewer regional qualifiers, regional meet points and state berths.

Now, Grimes said he must calculate which events to place his swimmers at regionals while attempting to guess which events Fallon’s opponents will swim. The hope is to land as many swimmers in favorable events to qualify for the state meet May 17 in Carson City.

“That’s what I’m trying to work out,” Grimes said. “I’m excited about it, but the grade situation has hurt us.”

Despite the possible ineligibilities, Grimes said several swimmers are close to reaching the regional cut. Garrett Snooks is a about 1 second off a regional berth in the 200 individual medley, Tina Anderson in the 100 breaststroke is also close and Josie Bekiares, Sierra Bivens and Kyle Grimes in the 50 free.

Fallon has numerous regional qualifiers already such as Keith Grimes, Sam Martin, Alex Lynch and Lyndsey Thurston.

One issue Ken Grimes must navigate, though, is placing swimmers in their strongest events with a restricted count. Swimmers are allowed to compete in two individual events and two relays, so juggling the individual events to ensure success is paramount.

“You try to figure out which ones are swimming a certain event,” Grimes said. “They have all been very eager and willing to swim what we need them to swim.”

Wave split with Wooster

Despite a depleted roster due to prom, the Fallon boys held off the Colts.

Keith Grimes won the 200 free (2:11.38) and 50 free (24.93), while Kyle Grimes added wins in the 200 IM (2:37.91) and 100 free (58.10). Nathan Hamry took first in the 100 butterfly (1:18.26) as did David Sandvig in the 100 backstroke (1:41.55).

The Lady Wave were led by Bivens, who took second in the 50 free (30.01), while Addyson Harmon (3:04.18) and Josey Moore (3:13.22) placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 IM. Moore also took third in the 100 fly (1:43.45).

Lea Brown (1:15.93) and Bekiares (1:17.05) went 3-4, respectively, in the 100 free.

The 200 free relay team of Bivens, Bekiares, Harmon and Moore placed first with a time of 2:14.59.