Fallon junior Zachary Koenig is ranked No. 2 in four events but he can compete in only two individual events in this weekend’s Northern Region 3A Championship in Carson City.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
The next chapter of the swim season begins this weekend at the 3A Northern Region Championships in the capital.
Fielding a small team this season, the Greenwave will aim to qualify as many as possible to the second day of the meet as the trials kick things off on Friday at the Carson Aquatic Center.
Individual trials will be contested on Friday at 2 p.m., beginning with the 3A girls races followed by 5A girls, 3A boys and 5A boys. The order of events is 200-yard free, 200 individual medley, 50 free, 100 fly, 100 free, 500 free, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.
The top eight times from Friday’s trials advance to Saturday’s finals, which begin at 11:30 a.m. All relays will be contested on Saturday.
The top-four individuals in each event and the top four relay teams in each event advance to next week’s state championship in Carson.
Out of the five relays, Fallon has a good chance in one race: the boys 400 free.
The team of senior Gerik Wassmuth, junior Zachary Koenig and freshmen Kolby McFadden and Michael Liston rank third at 4:22.35. Three seconds separate them from fourth but the fifth spot is almost a full minute from Fallon’s mark.
Wassmuth, Koenig, Liston and freshman William McLean rank fifth in the 200 medley at 2:11.32, but they will need to trim about 10 seconds to catch up to the fourth-best time.
For the girls, the 200 free relay team of seniors Rebecca Smith and Evelyn O’Neil, junior Evelyn Lott and freshman Miranda Reeder rank seventh with a time of 2:12.12. The top-four times are at the 2-minute mark or less, which means Fallon needs to trim more than 10 seconds to be in the running for a state berth.
The same can be said about the 200 medley team, which also ranks seventh with a time of 2:25.90. The fourth-best time is 2:12.50. Joining O’Neil and Lott are junior Gracie Cosman and sophomore Jocylyn Miller.
Fallon’s 400 free team ranks eighth at 5:05.74, which is 35 seconds from fourth. The team includes Smith, Lott, Miller and junior Katelen Helton.
In the individual events, Koenig is having a strong junior campaign.
He’s ranked No. 2 in the 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast and 200 individual medley; No. 3 in the 100 free; No. 4 in the 50 free and No. 6 in the 100 fly. Swimmers can compete in no more than two individual events and two relays.
With Koenig in good position to advance not only to the regional finals but also the state meet, his teammates will need to shave time from their best times this season.
In the 50 free, Miles Henning is 2 seconds from the top eight while Wassmuth needs to trim about 5 seconds in the 100 free. Wassmuth, though, is ranked No. 8 in the 500 free but he would need to shave off almost 30 seconds to get into the top four. Miles Henning is 10 seconds from the top eight in the 100 back, while Brody Reynolds is 9 seconds from the top eight in the 100 breast.
To crack into the top eight, Wassmuth needs to improve on his best mark of 1:20.50 by 10 seconds in the 100 fly and by 15 seconds in the 200 individual medley.
For the girls, Reeder sits fifth in the 50 back and her best time is 0.28 seconds from fourth. Miller is also fifth in the 50 fly but 5 seconds from the next position, and Helena Pool sits in sixth in the 50 breast but will need to cut her time by 8 seconds to crack into the top four.
O’Neil and Cosman are on the outside looking in for advancing out of the trials in 100 back and 100 breast. O’Neil’s best time is 2 seconds away from the top eight and Cosman is 4 seconds away in the 100 back. In the 100 breast, Cosman’s 1:23.81 time is 10 seconds off from the top eight and O’Neil’s best mark is 1:25.51.