DIVISION I SWIMMING: Palo Verde wins boys, girls titles

Palo Verde swimming coach Brent Gonzalez is a numbers guy. He did a great deal of math prior to Saturday’s Division I state meet at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium in an attempt to predict how his teams would fare.

He checked and rechecked the numbers, which showed his girls team barely winning a championship and his boys narrowly finishing second.

Perhaps he made a few miscalculations.

The Panthers took control early, with both teams cruising to victories. It was the second consecutive state title for the girls and the fourth straight for the boys.

“Coming into the meet, I had our girls beating Green Valley by only four points,” Gonzalez said. “Coronado’s boys were scheduled to beat us by two.”

Instead, Palo Verde’s girls put 133 points on the board, 19 points ahead of Green Valley. And that margin did not indicate the Panthers’ disqualification in the day’s opening event.

“They said one of our girls left early in the 200-yard medley relay,” Gonzalez said. “I just said, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’”

But any scare was short-lived.

“After the DQ, we knew we would have to step up our individual races,” the coach said. “And that’s what we did.”

Izzy Goldsmith led Palo Verde with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle (23.11 seconds) and a state-meet-record win in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.59).

Another key moment came when Allie Emery, the Panthers swimmer who caused the early disqualification, battled back to win the 100 freestyle.

“We needed her to come back and win, and she did,” Gonzalez said.

Erica Sullivan was another Palo Verde champion, as she claimed the 500 freestyle title in 4:47.44. The Panthers also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.94.

Green Valley’s Abby Richter also was a double-winner, earning titles in the 200 freestyle (1:48.05) and 100 backstroke (54.34). Other individual winners were Douglas’ Shelby Koontz in the 200 individual and 100 butterfly, and Coronado’s Amanda Baird in diving

Green Valley, which won the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay, finished with 114 points. Coronado placed third with 54 points, Bishop Gorman followed with 44 points, and Reno was fifth with 43 points.

Palo Verde’s boys scored 115 points to beat second-place Coronado by 33.

“We made some relay adjustments after the regional meet,” Gonzalez said. “We won the 200 (medley) relay, and I thought we’d get second. After that, we just started to roll.”

Dylan Sweikert was the only Panther to win an individual event, as he finished the 100 free in 47.35 to edge Coronado’s Parker Evans. But Palo Verde also won all three relays while placing at least one athlete in every event but diving.

Other individual winners were Durango’s Nichol McDowell (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle), Carson’s Dagen Kipling (200 individual medle, 100 breaststroke), Coronado’s Evans (50 freestyle), Centennial’s Carter Grimes (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke) and Coronado’s Timothy Newton (diving).

Foothill finished the meet third with 58 points. Legacy was fourth with 49 points, and Douglas was fifth with 44 points.