Clovis West girls swim team narrowly defeats Clovis North for 23rd straight section title

The Clovis West girls swimming team and staff celebrate their CIF Division I title at home. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEAD COACH ADAM REID

Only a single point, 328-327, separated CIF Division I Champions Clovis West from second place Clovis North. In what was a close finish, the Golden Eagles continued their incredible run with their 23rd section title in a row.

During the two-day meet, held at the Clovis West Aquatics Center from Friday to Saturday,18 records were broken, including three Division I records.

Although the Golden Eagles swam away with the title, Clovis North’s Claire Tuggle turned heads all afternoon. The freshman broke Clovis West’s Abby Samansky’s Division I record after Tuggle swam a 1:46.19 in the 200 free, while her rival Samansky posted a 1:49.02.

Samansky went on to win the 100 free and was a decisive part of the Clovis West 200 free relay. The Broncos also won the 200 medley team relay with a 1:46.98.

Clovis High’s Averee Preble had a strong showing at the championship meet as well. Preble swam a 2:02.48 in the 200 IM, seven seconds faster than the next swimmer. But once again, Tuggle showed just how strong of a swimmer she was.

The Clovis North freshman swam the 500 free in 4:42.42, breaking another Division I record. Preble got second place with a 4:50.27 time.

On the boys side, Clovis North’s Ben Forbes swam the 200 free in 1:36.43, breaking the Division I record. The Broncos boys swim team as a whole won the Division I section title with a combined total score of 369 points.

In diving, Buchanan’s Ky Duong repeated as Division I Central Section Diving Champion with a score of 20 points, while Clovis East’s Avery Fong and Clovis’ Camree Conroy ranked sixth and eighth respectively.

Along with Duong’s achievement, the Buchanan Bears also had top performances from their boys and girls swimming team.

The girls 200 Free Relay is going to state after a 1:38:42 time, the boys 400 Free Relay won All-American honors after a 3:06:02 time and the boys 200 Free Relay were also given All-American honors after a 1:23:94 time.

As a whole, the Bears represented well and look to continue at the state meet coming up on May 10 and 11 for the CIF State Championship at Clovis West.

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