Hilltopper Swim/Dive Team Finishes Magical Season

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on March 6, 2024
- 7:00 am

Anne Wetteland State Champion in the 200 Freestyle, repeating State Champion in the 100 Butterfly. Courtesy photo

Duncan Henderson State Champion in the 100 Butterfly, repeating as State Champion in the 100 Backstroke. Courtesy photo

SPORTS News:

Magical. That’s how Nora Johnson described the 23-24 Swim/Dive season. She joined the team this year as a senior, saying how she has never felt so included in a sport.

Fifth-year swimmer and team Captain Hayden Sutton had similar thoughts. “This season was probably one of the greatest our team has had in many years,” Sutton said.

Sutton went on to say “the team showed up and worked hard every day no matter how difficult the workout was. At the same time we kept smiles on our faces while doing it.”

According to Head Coach Chris Wetteland, that was exactly the plan.

“The most important measure of success for me is how much fun the team had,” Wetteland said. “We started the season with 47 kids on the team and we finished with 45,” adding, “I’m proud of the fact that so many kids found it worth their time to show up, work hard and contribute to a great year.”

Of those 45, 21 qualified for State this year, which is exceptional, with first place performances in five individual events and two relays. The depth of the team showed up during the preliminary events when most swimmers placed in the top 16, putting them in position to give the team points during the finals.

As a result, the boys finished a close second (301 points) behind powerhouse Eldorado (331 points). The girls placed fourth (230 points), behind La Cueva (250 points), Eldorado (259 points) and perennial State champions Albuquerque Academy (335 points). With this eighth championship in a row, Academy broke a record for consecutive championships, set by Los Alamos High School in 1984.

For the Toppers, two swimmers stood out with two top places each: Anna Wetteland placed first in the 200 Freestyle and repeated as State Champion in the 100 Butterfly. Duncan Henderson placed first in the 100 Butterfly and repeated as State champion in the 100 Backstroke. On his way to the Backstroke title, Henderson set a school record and earned an automatic All-American honor with a time of 0:49.09. He also broke a 37-year-old school record in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 0:49.62.

Sophia Pieck successfully defended her title from last year in the 100 Freestyle, while placing second in the 50 Freestyle.

In the relays, the girls claimed top spots and set school records in both the 200 Freestyle (Emily McLaughlin, Sophia Pieck, Michelle Lo, Anna Wetteland) as well as the 400 Freestyle (Catherine Price, Lo, Pieck, Wetteland).

The boys Freestyle relays earned second place in both the 200 (Zane Pederson, Hayden Sutton, Duncan Henderson, Takeshi Shiina) and 400 (Pederson, Sutton, Henderson, Nikolai Nelson).

As a team, the top 16 individual finishers all scored points.

Topper point scorers are as follows:

Neil Barber: 14th 100 Butterfly, 13th 100 Breaststroke
William Borovina: 8th in 100 Freestyle, 11th 500 Freestyle
Thomas Daligault: 5th in 200 Individual Medley, 7th in the 100 Breaststroke
Duncan Henderson: 1st 100 Butterfly, 1st 100 Backstroke
Michelle Lo: 4th in 100 Butterfly, 9th in the 50 Freestyle
Emily McLaughlin: 10th in 100 Breaststroke,
Nikolai Nelson: 8th in 200 Freestyle, 8th in 100 Butterfly
Zane Pederson: 8th in 500 Freestyle, 10th in the 200 Freestyle,
Sophia Pieck, 2nd 50 Freestyle, 1st 100 Freestyle
Catherine Price: 10th in the 500 Freestyle, 11th 200 Freestyle
Lena Ronning: 10th in 200 Freestyle
Takeshi Shiina: 8th in 200 Individual Medley, 10th in the 100 Breaststroke
Hayden Sutton: 6th in 50 Freestyle, 10th 100 Backstroke
Anna Wetteland: 1st 200 Freestyle, 1st 100 Buterfly
Girls 200 Medley relay (McLaughlin, Ronning, Allie Holland, Price): 8th
Boys 200 Medley relay (Borovina, Shiina, Nelson, Daligault), 4th

Divers Ian Corey, Asher Koh, Leland Parker and Elliott Beveridge contributed points placing sixth, ninth, tenth and eleventh respectively.

Siena Rolfe also placed in the diving competition and was honored with a “compete with class” scholarship from the New Mexico Activities association for her resolve to finish the competition after an injury.

In addition to the points, Assistant Coach Pat Brug noted two swims he considered remarkable.

One was eighth-grade swimmer Michelle Lo in the 50 Free.

“With a few coaching tips and a lot of heart, she went from 16th in the preliminary to 9th in the finals, the biggest place jump from prelims to finals that I saw in the entire weekend,” Coach Brug said.

Brug went on to describe how in the 500 Freestyle, almost every swimmers got best times by 5-10 seconds.

“It takes tremendous discipline to hold back on the first 100 and let the rest of the field go,” Coach Brug noted, adding “our swimmers were patient and had tremendous finishes.”

Head Coach Wetteland put the season in context by noting how Los Alamos High School Swim/Dive teams are always expected to compete well and this team met those high expectations, not just at the State Championship but throughout the year.

Assistant Coach Heath McLaughlin attributed the season’s success to having great team Captains and a great head coach.

Captains Anna Wetteland, Lena Ronning, Emily McLaughlin, Hayden Sutton, Takeshi Shiina, and Neil Barber contributed immensely to the positive team culture. During the season the Captains motivated the whole team. The captains also made the State meet special with their extra efforts leading up to the swim, gaining a well-deserved reputation as a team with the best spirit, which was especially clear in how swimmers support each other.

“We saw team members who didn’t swim at State show up to cheer their friends on,” Coach McLaughlin said. He also observed how the Los Alamos community had some of the loudest fans in the stands.

Another large success factor came from head coach Chris Wetteland, who McLaughlin emphasized fostered a fun but intense team culture.

Coach Brug agreed, pointing out how Coach Wetteland created a positive team culture by letting his assistant coaches use their diverse backgrounds to best effect, like practices that created a “swim camp” environment where the whole team prospered and improved.

Finally, McLaughlin pointed out a common misperception that swimming/diving is an individual sport: the team proved this idea wrong by the loud cheering on deck. He also pointed out how it’s a mark of a special season when the team didn’t want to get off the bus after their last ride home because that signified the end of the seniors’ swimming careers.

Senior Team Captain Neil Barber summed the season up for him.

“This year meant the world to me. Being able to see my teammates improve so much throughout the year,” he said. “We finished off with fantastic races at the district and State meets that were inspiring.”

“It was an honor and a privilege to see, and I could not be more proud of everyone on the team” Barber said.

Sophia Pieck repeating State Champion in the 100 Freestyle. Courtesy photo

Girls 200 Freestyle Relay defended as State Champions (left to right): Emily McLaughlin, Michelle Lo, Anna Wetteland, and Sophia Pieck. Courtesy photo