Burnet swimming earns medals, great finishes at first ever Class 4A state meet

CAPTION: The Burnet Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs pumpe each other up before the start of the final day at the Class 4A state meet. Courtesy photo

The Burnet High School swimming and diving squads finished in the top 11 of the Class 4A state meet Feb. 8-9.

The Lady Dawgs finished eighth overall paced by Isabel Lunsford, who earned two silver medals at the meet in the 200-meter freestyle in 1 minute and seconds and the 100-meter butterfly in 1:00.14.

“They were only three points away from seventh place and 18 points ahead of ninth place,” head coach Elizabeth Zamagni said.

Graciela Lara Dura had an outstanding meet, Zamagni said, and set personal bests in every event she swam.  

The 200-meter freestyle relay team of Graciela Lara Duran, Elyzabeth Musiak, Caroline Lunsford and Isabel Lunsford finished fifth in 1:48.49, which moved them up one spot.

The 400-meter freestyle relay team of Musiak, Duran, Caroline Lunsford and Isabel Lunsford finished fifth in 4:00.76, which held their placements from prelims to finals. 

Zamagni pointed out the Lady Dawgs also earned some valuable points from swimmers Julia Jenkins, who finished fourth overall in the event with 264.75 points, and Julia Kratwell, who was seventh overall out of nine female divers with 236 points.

Jenkins improved from her preliminary diving scores by 79.50 points, and Kratwell improved from her preliminary diving scores by 68.85 points

“Diving is the only event in the high school (scoring) where one individual can earn and add the greatest point value to the team’s overall scores,” the coach said.

The Bulldogs finished 11th out of 40 squads in the team standings, beating Fredericksburg by a single point and Georgetown Gateway by two points.

“Two teams we always have fun racing,” Zamagni said. “Congratulations to these seven amazing athletes.” 

Hayden Brown was sixth in his 200-meter freestyle in 1:54.38, dropping two seconds from his best time, which he swam during the preliminaries. He also competed in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing 10th in 52.49 seconds.

Lucuiz Griego was 10th in the 100-meter backstroke in 1:02.91. 

Aidan Zollitsch came in 11th in his 50-meter freestyle swin in 23.39 seconds “with an excellent performance,” the coach said. 

The 400-meter freestyle relay of Aidan Zollitsch, Grant Roberts, Hayden Hamner and Hayden Brown moved up one place to finish sixth, clocking 3:33.30.

“Incredibly, all four athletes swam their fastest 100 (meter) splits, which resulted in a three-second relay time drop,” Zamagni said.

The 200-meter medley relay team of Lucuiz Griego, Mason Hughes, Stelllan Zollitsch and Hayden Hamner finished 11th overall in 1:54.20, clocking its fastest finish of the season to move up three places from the preliminaries.

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