Los Alamos punctuated its boys state swimming championship in grand style.
The lone state record established Wednesday afternoon at the Albuquerque Academy Natatorium occurred in the program’s final event, when the Hilltoppers basked in what was essentially a victory lap for them, breaking the state record in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Orion Henderson – a double individual state champ – plus his younger brother Duncan, along with Ming Lo and Matias Rougier, touched the wall in 3 minutes, 9.26 seconds to end the competition.
It set off a celebration near the finish and in the stands, as Los Alamos, which was already guaranteed the blue trophy long before the last race, capped an outstanding one-day meet.
The Hilltoppers scored 338 points, 101 ahead of runner-up Eldorado. The host Chargers scored 227 points for third place.
Orion Henderson, who will be swimming collegiately at the University of Arizona, was dominant in his two wins, the 200-yard individual medley and later the 500-yard freestyle final.
Henderson made a run at La Cueva’s Jack Hoagland’s state record in the 200 IM (1:48.01), but settled for a personal best of 1:48.97 and a victory margin of more than seven seconds.
“The goal was the state record,” he said, “but I really wanted to go under 1:50,” Henderson said, adding, “it’s finishing it with a bang.”
He won the 200 IM by about half the length of the pool. He won the 500 free by an entire length of the pool, with a mark of 4 minutes, 34.23 seconds. He won by a dozen seconds.
Los Alamos swept the three relays. The Hilltoppers opened the program by winning the 200-yard medley, and also won the 200-yard free relay with Orion Henderson, Wayne Williams, Andy Corliss and Rougier.
Corliss, Williams, Duncan Henderson and Lo swam to victory in the opening medley.
Cibola’s Jamin Harlan, whose next stop is the University of West Virginia, was first in the 200-yard free, finishing in 1:41.94, and Eldorado sophomore Nolan Arnholt won comfortably in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 46.51 seconds. Arnholt was a close second to Harlan in the 200.
“Honestly, I couldn’t see Nolan because my goggles filled up with water,” Harlan said.
“All I could see was a blue suit. Every single time I flipped and touched the wall, I saw him right next to me, so I knew I’d have to give it all at the very end to try and beat him.”
For Arnholt, the 100 was his first individual state title.
He said the best part of the race was that his Eagles teammate, junior Gage Sheldahl, finished second.
“We wanted to go 1-2,” Arnholt said. “It was very satisfying and you could probably hear it in our yells after we finished.”
The most exciting finish was in the 50-yard freestyle, when Santa Fe High sophomore Daschel Bonners Turner touched in 21.94 seconds, a scant 0.03 in front of Los Alamos’ Lo.
St. Pius’ Leo Kim was yet another senior who closed his career with a state title. His celebration was among the most animated, as he slapped repeatedly, and with authority, at the water after he saw his victory posted on the scoreboard.
Kim won the 100-yard breaststroke, the penultimate event of the day, in exactly 59 seconds.
“I really didn’t care about having a new personal best or anything. I just wanted that satisfaction of winning my senior year,” Kim said. “It’s so nice.”
St. Michael’s was crowned the small-school state champion, and Horsemen senior Ethan Manske had a spectacular final day to his career.
Before leaving for Kenyon College in Ohio, Manske was the only boy other than Orion Henderson to win two individual events Wednesday.
“It was so satisfying,” Manske said.
“Honestly, coming into (Wednesday’s competition) I was terribly nervous and terrified, so coming out of it with two individual wins was just amazing.”
Manske captured first in the 100-yard backstroke, to go with his somewhat surprising victory in the 100-meter butterfly earlier in the day.
“The fly, I really have struggled with recently,” Manske said.
“I haven’t swum it at a huge meet in two or three years, and it was my first time going for it in a long time, so it was a great feeling to do that.”
The state diving champion was Farmington’s Mosiah Sevey, whose 531.75 points were 58 more than second-place Gabriel Palomino of Hobbs.
There were no prelims in the swimming finals this year.
The girls state meet is Saturday afternoon, also at Albuquerque Academy, with finals beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Both state meets this year have fans. Last year’s meets did not due to the pandemic.
2022 BoysSwim Results
