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The Las Cruces Aquatic Team (LCAT) sent a squad of 23 swimmers to compete in the 2020 New Mexico Swimming Short Course State Championships at the West Mesa Aquatic Center in Albuquerque earlier this month.
Coached by Daniel France, the team placed fourth among 14 teams competing.
One event’s first day, the relay team of Sean Greene-Cockriel and Nye Hanan, both 14 and Stephen Ewing and Asa Mynatt, both 17, won gold in the boys 11-and-over 800-yard freestyle relay, with a time of 7:20.11, out-swimming their closest competitors by more than four seconds.
On the second day, LCAT scored eight first-place finishes: Dara Ayala, 10, won the 10-and-under girls 50-yard backstroke with a time of 34.16. She also won the 50-yard freestyle in her age bracket with a time of 27.49.
Ellie Krizek, 12, won the 11-12 girls 50-yard backstroke with a time of 32.02, while Olivia Pratt, 13, won the 13-14 girls 50-yard freestyle at 25.34 and the 100-yard butterfly, coming in at 1:00.76
On the boys’ side, Greene-Cockriel took the 13-14 boys 200-yard individual medley at 2:02.64 and the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:01.85. Not to be left out, Mynatt claimed the 15-and-over boys 50-yard freestyle at 21.50.
Before the competition came to a close, LCAT posted six additional gold-medal times. Ayala hauled in three, with the 10-and-under 200-yard freestyle at 2:18:80, the 100-yard individual medley at 1:12:88 and the 100-yard freestyle, when she posted a time of 1:00.35.
Mynatt took the 15-and-over boys 100-yard freestyle at 47.52 and the 200-yard freestyle at 1:44.68, while Maggi Martinez, 10, won the 10-and-under girls 100-yard butterfly at 1:21.19.
Nearly 90 percent of LCAT’s competitors posted between one and seven personal-best swims, with five swimmers having achieved 100 percent best times in their individual races. Additionally, of the 22 relay teams fielded by LCAT during the four-day meet, 19 finished in the top eight, and 10 of those finished in the top three.
The collective performances of the team catapulted LCAT up the leaderboard, trailing only three teams, each with more than 90 swimmers competing.
Two LCAT swimmers got into the record books at the meet. Greene-Cockriel broke the 13-14 boys team records in both the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:01.11, and 200-yard breaststroke at 2:14.84.
Ayala broke the 9-10 girls team records in the 50-yard freestyle at 27.49, the 100-yard freestyle at 1:00.35 and the 200-yard freestyle at 2:18.80. Her 50-yard freestyle performance also earned her the title of New Mexico Swimming’s 10-and-under girls state record-holder, besting a 20-year-old record by 0.25 seconds.
The team’s next scheduled competition was set to be the 2020 Suntan Classic, May 1-3, at the NMSU Aquatic Center.
