Golden Eagle girls shine at Clovis West Invitational Swim Meet

Contributed Photo – Clovis West’s Abby Samansky (right) with Redwood’s Megan Ridenour both had a great Clovis West Invite on April 22. Samansky, only a sophomore, won four events including the 50 free, 100 free and was a part of the 200 and 400 free relays. Ridenour won the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke.

It wasn’t the Abby Samansky Show at the Clovis West Invitational, but the sophomore sure did stand out in capturing first place finishes in four different events under perfect skies and textbook temperatures held at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex on April 22.

Samansky and her Clovis West teammates won the girls title by a wide margin – 642 total points to Clovis North’s second place total of 335.

Samansky started her remarkable day when she broke the meet record in the 50 free, besting Mariah Thorpe’s seven-year record of 23.84 with a blistering 23.69. Teammate Caitlyn Snyder placed second with a 23.83, which also bested the old meet record.

“I was expecting to go fast at the invite, but I was a little surprised that I went as fast as I did off no rest,” Samansky said. “The competition was the best I’ve seen this high school season, and it’s definitely easier to go fast when there are so many people to race.”

Samansky then won the 100 free with a time of 50.70 while fellow sophomore Averee Preble from Clovis clocked a second place finish (52.05). Samansky also was a part of Clovis West’s 200 and 400 free relay teams.

Clovis West coach Adam Reid is impressed with not only Samansky’s performance but progress in the water.

“Abby amazes me because she just keeps getting better every time she swims,” said Clovis West coach Adam Reid. “She is very eager to learn and improve on the little things to get her faster. High school season is a so important for swimmers like Abby because they learn to relax and have fun which results in really fast times.”

And, subsequently, Samansky was more than pleased with her performance.

“The 50s are so exciting and that was the first time I went under 24, which was a goal of mine last season,” said Samansky, who also played on the Clovis West Valley championship water polo team. “After I swam the 50, it was definitely a confidence booster for my 100, so I took my race out a little faster and ended up beating my best time by almost a second, which was as surprising as exciting.”

Clovis West’s Hannah Lambert won the 100 fly (1:00.99) as did the 200 free relay team of Samansky, Jordan Gruce, Allyson Clague and Snyder (1:37.75) and the same four in the 400 (3:38.83).

The Clovis West girls have won 20 straight Central Section team titles.

“The girls had a great meet and we had several personal bests on the season,” said Reid. “This type of meet shows the depth we have on our girls team this year.”

Buchanan senior Stephanie Bartel won the 500 free (5:07.63) and Clovis sophomore Averee Preble won the 200 free (1:52.30). The Clovis 200 medley team of Abby Mammen, Shelby Vidmar, Averee Preble and Jessica Burson won with a time of 1:51.94.

In the boys department, Clovis North (471) had the top TRAC team score with a second place finish to Bellarmine (656). Clovis West finished third (358), followed by Buchanan (268) and Clovis (206.5).

Individual swimmers and relays from the TRAC won seven gold medals: Clovis’ Graham Hauss 200 free (1:41.79) and 100 free (46.32), Clovis West’s Hunter Lane in the 200 IM (1:56.84) and 100 breast (1:00.11) and Tom Schab in the 500 free (4:38.93),

Clovis North’s Michael Jia 50 free (21.22) and the Broncos 200 free relay team of Jia, Cole Fleming, Ethan DePry, Ben Forbes took first (1:27.78) as well the 400 free team of Jia, Fleming, Forbes and Thoe Tuggle.

Paul Meadors is a man of many talents. He is a elementary school teacher, Junior High athletic director, and basketball coach in Traver, CA, in addition to serving as the Sports Editor for the Clovis Roundup. He is also the author of the humorous book “Letters to eBay,” and he has recorded a piano album of his own compositions titled “Surviving the Storm.” He lives in Fresno with wife Lori and daughters Georgie, Alex and Ruthie.