MOSCOW — There was no stopping Sandpoint freshman Joshua Jackson, who lifted his team to a second-place finish at the Inland Empire League Icebreaker in Moscow at the University of Idaho Swim Center last Saturday. 

Jackson took home two individual gold medals at the meet, winning the 100-yard (0:53.01) and 200-yard freestyle (1:53.29) in his first event as a Bulldog. Greg Jackson, Sandpoint’s head coach and father of Joshua Jackson, said the freshman’s performance was awesome and a proud moment for him.  

“We were a team, we were a presence,” Greg Jackson said of his team. “It was a really good meet.” 

The Sandpoint boys’ relay team, made up of juniors Bodi Demmons, Maximus Brown, Lou Foust and sophomore Andrew Ford, claimed the 200-yard medley relay victory by over three seconds.  

Foust posted the fastest time of any swimmer in the 200-yard relay and grabbed two second-place finishes, in the 50-yard freestyle (0:24.35) and the 100-yard backstroke (0:59.23), to cap off an impressive day. Found right behind Foust in the 100-yard backstroke was Demmons, who finished only 0.42 seconds off his teammate in addition to a second-place finish in the 500-meter freestyle (5.25.66). 

Ford also posted two second-place finishes for the Bulldogs in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.64) and the 200-yard medley individual (2:11.06). 

Sandpoint’s boys team totaled 141 points, falling just shy of Coeur d’Alene High’s 148 points for a second-place finish. 

On the girls side, Sandpoint was led by sophomore Alvia Storms, who grabbed their lone individual podium finish in the 200-yard IM with a 2:28:51 final time. Storms also finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a final time of 1:17:47. 

The Bulldogs found success in the 200-yard relays, finishing third in the medley and the freestyle events. Senior Halle Wyman and sophomores Athena de Leeuw, Claire Ballard and Storms cobbled together a strong 2:07.85 in the medley relay. Ballard, Wyman and Storms were joined by freshman Fiona Naples in the freestyle relay, finishing with a 1:57.32 time. 

Sandpoint’s girls team scored 57 points, good enough for a fifth-place finish out of the seven attending teams. 

“We’ll recognize what can be improved. We’re still trying to figure out where our strengths are,” Jackson said. “Once we get closer to districts, I’m very analytical, so we’ll find what works, build on our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses.” 

Both swimming teams will be back in action this Saturday. The girls will head to the Mid-Columbia Invite in the Tri-Cities, while the boys will make the trip back to Moscow for the Vikings/Miners Duel. 

BOYS 

TEAM SCORES — 1. Coeur d’Alene 148, 2. Sandpoint 141, T-3 Moscow 69.5, T-3 Lake City 69.5, 5. Lakeland 36, 6. Post Falls 28, 7. Lewiston 25. 

GIRLS 

TEAM SCORES — 1. Coeur d’Alene 189, 2. Lake City 133, 3. Lewiston 68, 4. Moscow 66, 5. Sandpoint 57, 6. Post Falls 30, 7. Lakeland 15.