The Fountain Hills High School swim team fared well in a large state qualifying meet this past Saturday, Oct. 22. Over 400 swimmers competed at the Phoenix Country Day meet, and it was the Falcons’ second to last chance to qualify for the state meet.

The Falcons have never had a boys relay team make the state meet in five years of program history, but two teams are in position to go this year. The 200 medley relay team automatically qualified and dropped three seconds from their previous best. The team includes juniors Keian Evans and Brendan Davies, and seniors Gunnar Wise and Space Kingphakorn.

The boys 200 free relay team is .03 seconds away from an automatic state time, but they also rank 10th in Division III. If they keep their standing, Evans, Wise, Kingphakorn and Davies can compete in two relay races.

Evans and Wise both placed high and qualified again in individual events. Evans beat his 200 IM time by nine seconds and came in second at the meet this weekend. His new best (2:02.76) is good enough to qualify and ranks him as the sixth fastest in the division.

Evans also beat his 100 backstroke record by four seconds (57.15) and qualified in the event. He placed fourth at the meet and ranks seventh in the division.

Wise dropped three seconds off his 200 freestyle time and came in second over the weekend. His time ranks eighth in the division, and he also qualified for the 100 breaststroke with a second place meet finish.

Freshman Natalie Owers also qualified for state. She shaved three seconds off her 200 free (2:08.58) and is ranked 17th in the division. She’s also 31st in the division for her 100 free time (59.41).

These three Falcons have already qualified in other events. However, swimmers are only allowed to compete in two individual events and two relay events at the state meet. The rest of the Falcons are close to making qualifying times.

Sophomore Landon Beatty cut three seconds off his 50 free, and senior Dylan Horsfall dropped a second off both his 50 free and 100 free and shaved five seconds off his 100 breast. Davies also bet his personal record on the 100 backstroke but is still .5 seconds away from the provisional state time.

Senior Alexis Sommerschield set new PR’s in both the 50 and 100 free, and junior Elizabeth Franzone took 1. 2 seconds off her best 50 free time.

“Swimmers are swimming fast and still haven't had rest,” head coach Patti Schultze said. “We have work to do on the little things- turns, starts and underwater off the walls. Those little things add up to big drops in the pool.”

The Falcons have one more state qualifying meet this weekend, the Green and Gold Invitational at McDowell Mountain Ranch Pool. Next Friday, Nov. 4, the Falcons compete in the preliminaries of the state swim meet, with the finals happening on Saturday, Nov. 5.