DIVISION I-A SWIMMING: Boulder City’s boys, girls cruise by competition in state meet

It was almost ridiculous.

Boulder City entered Saturday’s Division I-A state championship swimming meet as heavy favorites on both the girls and boys sides, but no one predicted just how dominant the Eagles would be.

Competing at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium, the girls compiled 220 points to eclipse second-place Truckee (78) and third-place South Tahoe (65). The boys finished with 157 points, 83 points ahead of second-place Truckee and 96 points ahead of third-place Sage Ridge.

It was the second consecutive state title for the Eagles’ girls and the fourth straight for the boys.

Boulder City coach Sara Carroll said she didn’t expect the championships to come so easily.

“In a couple of races, I was very impressed with the North,” said Carroll, whose top swimmers placed no lower than second in any event. “They came ready to swim. We knew we’d have our hands full in a couple of races, but we were also confident because of all our depth.”

Carroll declined to take credit for her program’s impressive record of success.

“We’ve just been very fortunate,” she said. “We’ve got a good group of really competitive kids. There’s no drama, and everyone wants to make our team the best.”

The Eagles girls started the day with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, winning in 1 minute, 48.46 seconds. They continued with wins by Cori Molisee in the 200 freestyle (1:54.25) and the 500 freestyle (5:06.74), Alex Hubel in the 50 freestyle (23.48) and the 100 freestyle (50.43), Rachael Grothe in the 100 butterfly (56.94) and Montana Lloyd in the 100 backstroke (57.75). They also won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

Truckee’s Brittney Straw broke up the Eagles’ sweep with victories in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Boulder City’s boys also opened with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:36.62), followed by individual victories by Jared Smith in the 200 freestyle (1:40.93) and Joseph Gebhart in the 100 butterfly (50.79) and the 100 backstroke (51.50). The Eagles also won all three relay events.

The only other Southern Nevada individual champion was Faith Lutheran’s Bowen Becker in the 50 freestyle (21.37) and the 100 freestyle (47.14). Truckee and Sage Ridge also claimed individual victories.

Though Carroll said her team’s strong performance was just another victory, she admitted her swimmers were carefully keeping track of their state titles.

“The kids get into it,” she said. “This is our first four-peat by the boys, and the girls had never won prior to last year. So it’s important to them.”