Boulder City dominantes boys, girls swim meets

With 22 percent of the entries heading into the Class 3A Southern Region swimming meet Thursday at UNLV, there was no question Boulder City was the overwhelming favorite.

And led by the twin brother-sister duo of Rose and A.J. Pouch, the Eagles didn’t disappoint.

The Pouches combined for eight wins, as the Eagles rolled to a pair of regional titles.

On the girls side, Boulder City won 10 of the 11 events as the Eagles took the crown by scoring 623 points. Adelson was a distant second with 259½ points, and Virgin Valley nabbed third with 194.

A.J. Pouch won four boys events as Boulder City crushed a 12-team field with 540 points, 238 more than second-place Tech. Cheyenne finished third with 232.

“It went just about the way I expected,” Boulder City coach Sara Carroll said. “I knew there were events we would score high, and there were events we wouldn’t win. But overall, it went just like we thought.’

Rose Pouch got the Eagles off on the right foot as she swam the first leg of the 200-yard medley relay with a 26.53 split. Aimee Garcia, Annika Freiburger and Quinci Thomas swam the other three legs as Boulder City cruised to the win in a time of 1:52.34.

Pouch would win three other events Thursday: the 200 individual medley (2:05.43), the 100 butterfly (56.17) and she anchored the 400 freestyle medley with Garcia, Daphne Thompson, and Thomas (3:41.95).

“Words simply can’t describe what the Pouches have meant to our program,” Carroll said. “Not only are they both great swimmers, but they are fun to be around. This entire group is loads of fun to be around.”

The only non-Boulder City girls winner was Brynn Sproul of Del Sol, who won the 100 backstroke in a region-record time 55.54.

Garcia won two events for the Eagles, winning the 200 freestyle (1:57.03) and the 500 freestyle (5:10.06). Other Boulder City regional wins came from Ashleigh Wood in the 50 freestyle (27.40), Thomas in the 100 freestyle (55.57), and Freiburger in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.59). The Eagles also won the 200 freestyle relay, as the foursome of Freiburger, Wood, Tegan Pappos and Thompson hit the wall in 1:48.10.

The Eagles also dominated the boys side, led by A.J. Pouch, who has been invited to the Olympic Traning Center in Colorado later this summer.

“I’m just having fun,” Pouch said. “It’s fun swimming with this team, especially with my sister. She has much more heart than I do, and she deserves her success.”

Pouch set the region record in the 200 individual medley (1:50.94) and the 100 breaststroke (56.40). He also won as a member of two relay teams: the 200 medley relay with Chandler Larson, Clayton Pendleton and Andre Pappas (1:39.69) and the 200 freestyle relay with Pappas, Alejandro Garcia and Joseph Purdy (1:35.24).

Chapparal’s Daniel Alvarez won the 200 freestyle (1:47.63) and the 100 butterfly (54.72).

In the diving competition, Tech’s Elie Renner won the girls title, and Cheyenne’s Aaron Reed captured the boys crown.