BOISE — Six points, that’s how close the Sandpoint girls swim team was to bringing home a state title last year, as they ultimately settled for third place behind Skyview and Bishop Kelly. This year, the girls have another great opportunity to bring home that first-place trophy.

Out of last week’s 11 events at the district championship meet, Sandpoint’s girls dominated by placing first in six of them. Ryleigh Bamer took home medals in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly; freshman Reina Montecchi won the 100 freestyle; Sara Hogue won the 100 backstroke; and the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay were both won by Sandpoint as well. The 400 freestyle relay, which consisted of Bamer, Montecchi, Ava de Leeuw, and Mia Driggs shattered the district record with a time of 3:54.22. The original record, set by Sandpoint in 2021, was 4:01.06.

As for the 200-yard medley relay, which consisted of Georgia Gedde, Lila Gedde, Adasyn Anderson, and Halle Wyman, they will also be a force to be reckoned with at the state meet. Last week, they only were behind Lakeland by .29 seconds and only three seconds behind the district record.

The girls have been able to dominate most of their competition this year. When the team competed at invitationals at Skyline and ThunderRidge earlier this season, they were the top 4A team by a solid margin. If all goes well, the team will surely be bringing home another trophy to Sandpoint.

As for the boys, they finished in fifth place last year at the state meet and will look to improve upon that this year. Sandpoint picked up two first-place finishes at the district meet, an individual win in the 100 freestyle by Lon LeBlanc and a 200 freestyle relay win, in which Sandpoint broke the district record with a time of 1:35.37. The original record, set by Sandpoint in 2020, was 1:35.92. Sandpoint’s Lon LeBlanc, Ikaika Leavitt, Kale Wright, and McCoy Jensen were responsible for setting the record last Friday.

Despite only picking up two wins, Sandpoint's boys had five second-place finishes last week, which proves their still very much among the top half of teams in the state. Typically, 20 full teams compete at the state meet on both the boys and girls side.

The 4A state meet is being held today and Saturday at the West Valley YMCA in Boise.