Douglas swimmers shine at Northern Region meet

The Douglas boys' swimming team featured only seven athletes on Saturday at the Northern Region championships at UNR, but that didn't stop the Tigers from posting an impressive third-place finish in the 16-team event.

Carson won the boys' title with 264 points, Fallon finished second at 254 and Douglas was third with 212 points.

The Tigers clinched third place with a victory in the final event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Scott Cronk, Sean Tinnel, Andrew Sturgess and David Shih finished in 3 minutes, 24.29 seconds, and more than half a pool length ahead of the second-place Bishop Manogue Miners, who ended up one point behind the Tigers in the team standings.

Cronk, Tinnel, Sturgess and Shih also had a second-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:33.09)

The top five individuals and five relay teams at the Northern Region championships will advance to the NIAA/U.S. Bank State championships this weekend at Buchanan Natatorium on the campus of UNLV. The diving competition will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The swimming competition will have its trials on Friday starting at 9 a.m. Finals will start Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

The Douglas girls finished sixth among 17 teams at the Northern Region championships.

Konnie Seamons, Sarah Lillegard, Janet Lillegard and Jessica Ward wrapped up a good day with a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:52.75). The four Tigers also were fourth in the 200 free relay (1:45.96).

Cronk finished third in the 200 free (1:51.67) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (57.05), while Sturgess took third place in the 100 free (50.09) and was fourth in the 50 free (22.99).

Shih was fifth in the 100 free (51.73) and was eighth in the 100 backstroke (1:06.12).

Tinnel finished fifth in the 200 individual medley (2:15.55, a personal best by six seconds).

Seamons, the Tigers' senior captain, had strong showing in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races. She finished second in the 50 free (25.17) and was sixth in the 100 free (55.42).

Sarah Lillegard touched the wall sixth in the 100 backstroke and won the consolation finals in the 100 butterfly (1:04.17).

Ward won the consolation finals in both the 100 free (58.96) and the 50 free (26.83).

Jessica Bunch won the consolation finals in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.75).

Desirae Weyland, Whitney Higgins, Stephanie Denson and Bunch also earned points for the Douglas girls with an 11th-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

The Douglas diving team was led by a fifth-place finish by Nick Lazzarino, who is the Tigers' first State qualifier in diving in more than five years. Mark Kanow just missed the State cut with his sixth-place finish.

"This was the best meet performance of the year for these young athletes," Douglas diving coach Heidi Phillips said. "Both boys did a wonderful job and were very happy."

Andrea Chaney took 10th place in the girls' diving competition.

"I think one of the things that the team members learned is that good performances in diving and swimming don't come from two or three months of workouts. There needs to be a level of dedication to year-round practicing and competing, five to six days a week, if they are to achieve a higher level of performance," Douglas head coach Don Luikart said. "Probably one of the biggest hurdles is being able to fit the rigorous demands of aquatic practice around family, school, and other important extra curricular activities."

The coach added that he was very pleased with the group of student-athletes he worked with this year.

"Everyone gelled together as a team and were very supportive of each other," Luikart said. "The swimming athletes were especially pleased with the effort and contribution that the divers provided."