One quarter of the way through their summer meet schedule, the Cortez Leopard Sharks swim club continues to perform well.
Competing at the Grand Junction Invitational, June 12-15, the Leopard Sharks’ advanced group was paced by 11-year-old Trenton Bagge, who, competing against some of the state’s top swimmers, performed well.
In addition to placing seventh in the 100-meter backstroke (1:27.56), seventh in the 50-meter breaststroke (48.40) and seventh in the 400-meter freestyle (5:43.57), Bagge registered top-ten finishes in the 200-meter freestyle (2:37.94), 100 meter backstroke (1:27.56), 100-meter breaststroke (1:45.32), 50-meter freestyle (34.10), 200 meter individual medley (3:06.38) and 50-meter butterfly (42.60).
Joining Bagge near the top of the standings in several events, 12-year-old Tyler Cutrone placed third in the 200-meter breaststroke (3:36.49), fifth in the 50-meter breaststroke (44.25), sixth in the 50-meter butterfly (41.45) and eighth in the 100-meter backstroke (1:29.31).
Other top Leopard Sharks finishers in Grand Junction included 15-year-old Samantha Bagge, who finished eighth in the 1500-meter freestyle (21:31.51), 11-year-old Victoria Duran, who finished tenth in the 400-meter freestyle (5:48.12) and Bailey Duran, who finished 12th in the 400-meter individual medley (6:30.48) and 12th in the 200-meter breaststroke (3:21.4.7).
“I felt like (the meet) went really well,” said Victoria Duran. “I thought I did really good.”
“With all the Denver teams there, it was a lot more challenging,” added Bailey Duran. “It made me work harder and want to do better.”
In all, more than 20 teams took part in the four-day meet, which featured many of the state’s top club swimmers.
While the Leopard Sharks advanced swimmers competed in Grand Junction, the team’s less experienced swimmers travelled to Ouray on June 14 for Ouray Screaming Eels Invite on June 14.
Leading the way for the Leopard Sharks in Ouray, 8-year-old David Crumpacker placed first in the 50-meter backstroke (53.85), 8-year-old Delta Suckla finished first in the 50-meter butterfly (1:22.97) and 10-year old Cody Farias finished first in the 50-meter butterfly (55.10).
Assessing the Leopard Sharks overall performance in Ouray, head coach Kevin Ketterer expressed excitement in regards the team’s performance.
“Despite the freezing cold morning, our kids swam great. I was very proud of all of the swimmers who competed in the meet.”
Next up for the Leopard Sharks will be the Durango Summer Invite, which will take place in Durango, June 21-22.