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Moffat County swimmers have career days at state

Nate Waggenspack
Brenden Carta swims the third leg of the boys 200-yard freestyle relay Friday at the Edora Pool Ice Center in Fort Collins. Moffat County qualified for the consolation finals Saturday in the event, while Dalton Kendall also will swim in the 50-yard freestyle.
Nate Waggenspack

At the final meet of the season, some Moffat County swimmers made sure they had one more day to swim.

Entering the state swim meet as low seeds in the 200-yard free relay, the team of Dalton Kendall, Chris Kling, Brenden Carta and Jesse Kurz came on strong at the right time and earned themselves a spot in the consolation heat Saturday at the Edora Ice Pool Center in Fort Collins.

The top 16 teams or individuals in each event get to swim again Saturday, and the Bulldogs entered the meet with the 20th-best 200 free relay time, meaning they would need to beat some teams better than them in order to advance.



Swimming in the third heat, Moffat County was up against some tough competition and finished seventh of the eight teams in the heat. But they stuck with those faster relays well enough to beat teams in the other heats and sneak in with the 16th-best time Friday.

“We were not seeded to get there,” coach Meghan Francone said. “So we’re very excited that they did so well.”



The other Bulldogs’ relay didn’t qualify but had a day to remember, as well. The 200-yard medley relay of Kendall, Cody McDermott, Carta and Kurz swam its fastest time of the season.

“It was an awesome day,” Francone said. “They did phenomenal today. They met their expectations, came together as a team and did well.”

The theme of swimming the best time of the season carried over into the individual events for Kendall, as well. His 51.81 was the fastest he’s swam the 100-yard freestyle all year, and he cut another tenth of a second off his best 50 free earlier in the day, swimming 22.48 to qualify ninth.

“I just wanted a good race,” Kendall said about the 50 free, his best race all season. “I kept my head in the race and tried to keep up with the kid next to me. He had a faster time than me going in, so I knew if I stayed near him, it would be a good time.”

Kurz also swam in the 50 free, recording a 24.43 after he narrowly qualified for the event the week before at the Western Slope Championships.

The state meet resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday at EPIC.

Contact Nate Waggenspack at 970-875-1795 or nwaggenspack@CraigDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CDP_Sports.


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