Cyprus swimmers can take pride in season

Shortly after the 4A state swim championships concluded, Cyprus coach William Koppelman felt disappointed with the Pirates' performance.

Then he realized how much they accomplished.

All told, Cyprus' girls finished fifth at the state meet, while the boys exceeded most expectations heading into the championships, finishing seventh.

"At first, I was expecting more," said Koppelman, "but after reviewing last year's meet, all our swimmers had best times. They all swam well."

Senior Annie VanLeeuwen anchored the Pirates' girls squad and turned in solid swims. She finished second to East's Shelby Bull in the 100-yard free and 200-yard free.

VanLeeuwen defeated Bull in the 200-yard free the previous year, but Koppelman wasn't disappointed with her second-place finish.

"She was beaten by Shelby Bull," he said, "but it was a pretty good race for Annie, still."

VanLeeuwen also helped Cyprus to two solid relay finishes. Because they only had five girls' swimmers, the Pirates decided to focus on having two good relays instead of three average ones.

The move paid off as Cyprus finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay and third in the 200-yard medley relay.

"That was the highlight for our girls," said Koppelman.

VanLeeuwen was a key part of both relays, in addition to freshman Lisa Pereira, Aubrey Christensen and Megan Nicholes.

Each of them had solid individual finishes, too. Pereira went third in the 50-yard free and sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Christensen finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley race. Nicholes was eighth in the 100-yard back.

On the other hand, the boys team, led by Colin McLellan, finished seventh at state.

"(They boys) just had a great mental approach to the meet without much pressure," said Koppelman.

McLellan had the boys' top individual finish as he placed third in the 100-yard back.

Meanwhile, Nathan Honeycutt (sixth in the 50 free) and Nick Broderick (10th in the 200-yard IM) also swam well.

All of that bodes well for the Pirates next year.

None of the individual point-scorers on the boys side will graduate, and the team inherits a pair of talented incoming freshman (Michael Jensen and Dyllan Wayman).

The girls' squad will have to replace VanLeeuwen and Nicholes. Hopes are high, though, for the team. Like the boys, they've got high expectations for two incoming freshman. Those two are Darla Black and Hailee Christensen.

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E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com