Sandpoint Sharks swim in first long course meet of season
Press Release/Sandpoint Sharks | Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
From left, Charley-Rain Olpin, Vienne LaFountain and coach Emily Renzini are all smiles at this past weekend's meet at the Orchards Pool in Lewiston.
(Courtesy Photo)
LEWISTON — Thirteen Sandpoint Sharks swam at the Chris Engledow Memorial Meet held this past Friday, May 16, through Sunday, May 18, at Orchards Pool.
Engledow, a former swimmer at Northern Arizona University and 17-year coach of the Lewis Clark Neptune Swim Team, sadly passed away in March of this year at the age of 48 years old.
“It was an emotional meet,” coach Emily Renzini said of Engledow, who graduated from Kamiah High in 1994. “This brought a lot of happy tears to people's eyes. He was an inspiration to so many people and meant so much to me as a fellow coach and as a friend.”
With Engledow in mind, the Sharks gave it their all in what was their first long course meet of the season — a meet that included a mix of hail, wind, rain and sunshine.
Joshua Jackson, 13 years old, not only swam some personal best times in his 50-meter races, but swam in all three distance events — the 400-meter individual medley, the 800-meter free (11:21.19) and the 1500-meter freestyle (21:26.36).
Bodi Demmons, 14, scored in every event in the 13-14 age division, a testament to this hard work and dedication. Some of Demmons' highlights include his 1500-meter free (20:22.97), the 50-meter fly (33.91) and the 200-meter free (2:23.96) in which he placed fourth overall.
Carter Hutchens, 10, had a determined look on his face as he went up behind the block before each one of his events. He swam to a time of 2:03.56 in the 100-meter back and a 1:01.83 in the 50-meter breast, in which he placed fifth overall.
Penelope Gall, 12, swam in her first meet as a Shark, even winning some of her heats over the weekend. Kate Bracht, 8, placed first in all of her events and was the high point winner for the 8-and-under age group. Most notably, she swam to a time of 2:18.21 in the 100-meter fly, a new team record in the 8-and-under age division for the Sharks.
The Sharks' swimmer of the meet was Brylee Garvin, 13. She stepped up by swimming the 800-meter free, the 400-meter individual medley, and the 400-meter free for the first time — all with a smile on her face.
“I am so proud to be able to be apart of this team," Renzini said. "This meet just reminded me of how much I love these kids and love watching them work towards bringing their goals to fruition.”