Swimming between new black and green lane lines under a mostly sunny sky, several local athletes scored victories at the Cortez Leopard Sharks Open Swim Meet, which was held at the Cortez Municipal Pool, June 2-4.
Leading the way for local athletes was Mesa Verde Aquatics Club team member Sawyer Mahonen, who finished 1st in the 100-meter backstroke (2:21.54), 50-meter freestyle (59.64) and 50-meter breaststroke (1:10.42) for the boys’ 10 and under age division.
Also scoring individual victories for the Montezuma Valley Aquatics Team were Tessa Jackson, who finished 1st in the girls’ 10 and under 100-meter backstroke (2:25.51), Erin Lawrence, who won the girls’ 10 and under 50-meter backstroke (46.76) and 50-meter breaststroke (54.88) and Caroline Podgornoff, who finished 1st in the 50-meter butterfly (34.17).
Cortez Leopard Sharks team member Cody Farias finished 1st in the boys’ 13-14 division of the 400-meter freestyle (5:44.10) and 200-meter freestyle (2:38.94).
Other Leopard Sharks scoring individual victories included Bailey Duran, who placed 1st in the girls’ 15 and over 50-meter butterfly (35.05), Caisey Duran, who won the girls’ 15 and over 50-meter backstroke (37.18), and Ryan Cutrone, who finished 1st in the boys’ 15 and over 50-meter breaststroke (37.12).
Also scoring several notable finishes was 14-year-old Leopard Shark team member Victoria Duran, who placed 2nd in the 400-meter freestyle (5:11.23), 2nd in the 100-meter freestyle (1:09.45), 2nd in the 100-meter backstroke (1:19.93) and 2nd in the 200-meter backstroke (2:50.06).
“It was really nice swimming at our own pool,” Duran said. “I felt really good and I was really proud of my performance. Since it was the first long-course meet of the season, I was really happy with how I did.”
As a team, the Cortez Leopard Sharks finished 4th overall with 998.5 points and Mesa Verde Aquatics Club finished 5th overall with 691.5 points. Montrose finished 1st with 1797 points, followed by Durango Swim Club with 1767.5 points, and Four Corners Aquatics Team with 1677 points.