Amy Stanciu competes during Manitou’s Dec. 6 triangular meet against St. Mary’s Academy and Widefield.
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the fight in the dog. That’s the attitude that the Manitou Springs girls swim team took into the Hornet Invite at Pueblo County on Jan. 14.
And it was a mentality that allowed the Mustangs to come away with very encouraging results, considering they had just six swimmers at the meet — especially with the state swim meet less than a month away.
The Mustangs finished fifth as a team at the meet and got there on the strength of good finishes in the relay races. They finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay, third in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 400 freestyle.
“That first relay set a standard for the rest of the meet,” coach Whitney Nuci said. “It put it in perspective for them that they can do this and if they work together, they can do it collectively.”
Although the relay results were certainly the highlights of the day, the Mustangs stood out in other individual races.
Aidan Coté finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and Summer Tenpas finished sixth in the 100 butterfly. Coté, Tenpas, Theron Heim, Selah Combs and Sophia Hyman all made it back to various B finals, which helped contribute to the overall team score.
These are the best meet results the Mustangs have had this season and, when facing teams such as Cheyenne Mountain and Pueblo County, it was a good way to leave the weekend encouraged with the overall outcome.
“The Hornet is a great meet and it’s my favorite meet of the season,” Coté said. “But for the girls, I think showed they have a lot more in them than they know. We were up against Cheyenne Mountain quite a bit, so for them to compete against those girls was huge.”
The Mustangs have a series of tri and dual meets through the remainder of the regular season, then head to the Tri-Peaks league meet at Fountain-Fort Carson starting Feb. 4.