MHS wins home swim meet, another school record falls

The Maricopa High School swim team defeated Benjamin Franklin Thursday in a home meet.

The boys won 104-43 and the girls won 82-78.

Junior Olivia Byers and freshman Katelyn Owens again led the girls’ team. Byers won the 50-meter freestyle in 27.8 and the 100 free in 1:06.3. Owens won the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.3. Also taking first place was the 200 free relay team of Owens, Aubree Wittemann, Eva Zavala and Byers in 2:04.2.

Second-place finishers for the Rams were Wittemann in the 200 free and the 100 free, Owens in the 200 individual medley, Zavala in the 50 free, Lexie Nordhoff in the 100 butterfly, Shelbee Beecroft in the 100 backstroke, the 200 medley relay team of Beecroft, Owens, Byers and Zavala, and the 400 free relay team of Emily Hollingsworth, Wittemann, Genevieve Pierce and Kaitlyn Crean.

In third place for Maricopa were Emily Fauth in the 200 free, Katelyn James in the 100 fly, Hollingsworth in the 500 free, Zavala in the 100 breast, the 200 medley relay team of Emma Carr, Nordhoff, James and Crean, the 200 free relay team of Crean, Hollingsworth, Shelby Eisenacher and Fauth, and the 400 free relay team of Nordhoff, Eisenacher, Izzy Piwowar and James.

The boys piled up on BF, winning seven of the events. Sophomore Connor Schrader bested his own school record in the 100 breast in 1:11.46, his fourth school record this season, according to head coach Laura Logan. He also won the 200 free in 1:57.6.

Rafe Scoresby won the 200 IM in 2:47.3. Abel Rodriguez won the 100 fly in 1:17.2, and Andy Varga won the 100 free. The 200 medley relay team of Schrader, Joseph Lambert, Rodriguez and Varga won in 2:06.9. The 200 free relay team of Varga, Rodriguez, Tony Nelson and Schrader won in 1:47.6. The 400 free relay team of Rodriguez, Jayden Call, Bryan Perez and Scoresby won in 4:24.5.

Second-place finishers for MHS were Call in the 200 free, Nelson in the 500 free and 100 back, Victor Moreno in the 100 fly, Perez in the 500 free, Lambert in the 100 breast, the 200 free relay team of Call, Jose Perez-Barraza, Fermin Valenzuela and Moreno, and the 400 free relay team of Perez-Barraza, Saul Rodriguez, Alex Borunda and Valenzuela.

Placing third were Varga in the 50 free, Scoresby in the 100 free, Call in the 500, Perez in the 100 back and the 200 medley relay team of Perez, Scoresby, Moreno and Nelson.

So far, three Maricopa swimmers have posted official times that put them in the top 50 in the state’s 5A division. That includes Schrader in three events – the 200 IM, 50 free and 100 back. Byers is top 50 in the 50 free, and Owens in the 100 breast.