craigdailypress.com

If momentum is a factor, the Moffat County High School girls swim team swam well at the right time.

The Bulldogs swam "great," coach Jennifer Zimmerman said, in their quadrangular meet against Fruita-Monument, Palisade /Grand Junction Central and Montezuma-Cortez on Saturday in Grand Junction. The effort comes one week before the Western Slope Championships.

"They worked great as a team," Zimmerman said. "I couldn't have asked for a better weekend."

When it came to swimming as a team, the Bulldogs were nearly perfect. The three relay teams finished with two firsts and a second place.

The 200-meter medley team of freshmen Caitlin and Kelsey Conci, sophomore Vanessa Murray and senior Katie Gainor finished second.

Both freestyle relays had the same lineup of the Conci sisters, Gainor and senior Sari Maneotis. They took home first place in each race. The short free relay is now 2.18 seconds shy of qualifying for state.

Notable time improvements were swum by Caitlin Conci in the 100 backstroke -- a two-second personal best and a first-place finish -- and junior Ashley McDonald in the 100 breaststroke, a three-second improvement and a second-place finish.

Other champions for the Bulldogs were Kelsey Conci in the 50 freestyle and Maneotis in the 200 freestyle.

Top three finishes were turned in by the following: Maneotis, third in 50 free; Gainor, second in 100 butterfly; Jodi Thompson, third in 100 butterfly and second in 100 backstroke.

The Bulldogs finished tied for second with Palisade/Grand Junction. Fruita won the meet with 174 points, and the two second-place teams had 140 points. All four will be at the Western Slope Championships on Friday and Saturday.

"I was impressed to see how they came back (after a tough weekend before)," Zimmerman said. "It was a great meet to lead up to regionals."

The team will back off its workload this week to be fresh for the meet in Montrose.

"When they come into practice they have a lot of energy right now," Zimmerman said.