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Sports Cook, La Grande scorch competition
Cook, La Grande scorch competition
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 SWIMMING SENSATION: 14-year-old Allie Godfrey won her 200-yard breaststroke race with a finishing time of 3:00.98. The Observer/Bruce Mason Forget the air conditioners, wet towels, ice cubes and water. Those are secondary. Just step inside the Veterans Memorial Pool building, absorb its sticky, stuffy, humid conditions, and suddenly, La Grande will not feel as scorching. Then again, maybe it will, because the La Grande Swim Club scorched its opposition at this facility Saturday and Sunday, winning the La Grande Invitational. “It’s a great start to the season,” Swim Club coach Katie Fitzgerald said. “They’ve been working really hard.” From the 7-year-olds to the 18-year-olds, La Grande finished with 2,263 points — far ahead of second-place Baker. La Grande did have a larger number of participants — 50 to Baker’s 22 — but the lower race times across the group was a positive. Standing out was 13-year-old Matt Cook, who won every individual event he raced both days. Freestyle. Backstroke. Breaststroke. Butterfly. Name the event, he was leaving opposing swimmers in his wake. “He goes out there and races,” La Grande High swim coach Darren Dutto said. “It’s the, ‘I-Don’t-Want-To-Be-Beaten Mentality.’ “It’s that willingness to get up and do what he has to do in a race.” Logan Gomez and Allie Godfrey stood out, too, as did the rest of their 13-14 year old teammates who posted lower times. “That’s a positive,” Dutto said, “especially when it’s your first meet of the season.” Next for La Grande is the Pendleton Dual Meet on July 8. Complete results will run in Tuesday’s edition.
Team Rankings 1. La Grande Swim Club, 2,263 2. Baker Swim Team, 846 3. Pendleton Swim Assoc., 675 4. Hermiston Swim Club, 476 5. Lebanon Community Swim Club, 210
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