By 0.31 of a second, Caleb Furey broke the Mingus Union High School record in the 100-yard breaststroke to go out on a high note for the Marauders at the Division II state swimming championships Saturday, Nov. 7.
“Last race of my high school career was my best, so yeah, I think it was pretty big,” said Furey. “Day one, I didn’t perform how I wanted to.”
With fellow senior Sean Williams — who overcame a partially-torn labrum for two top 20 finishes — Furey was the only Marauders swimmer to make it to the finals on the second day of State.
“It was excruciating to swim with,” said Williams, who still finished 12th and 17th in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, respectively. “I tried to change it up so it wouldn’t hurt as bad, which I guess probably wasn’t a very good idea. It would’ve hurt if I swam normally.”
While Williams “might pursue a different direction” despite letters of interest from 15 colleges, Furey is still keeping his options open for next season, in which he hopes to continue swimming competitively.
Williams also anchored relay teams in the 200-yard freestyle and individual medley that, with the help of freshmen Fletch Fangman and Dallin Gordon, achieved their best times of the season at State, according to Furey.
“Dallin stepped up, and is showing some very fast times,” he said. “With this group of guys, we dropped some time and swam best times in both of the events, as a group.”
Gordon, who is aiming for an individual qualifying time next season in the 500-yard freestyle, felt as late as two weeks ago that he wasn’t going to compete in the postseason.
Gordon stepped into the role vacated by sophomore Gunner Tillemans, who hurt his back in September and couldn’t make it back to compete by the end of the season.
“I didn’t expect so many people there,” added Fangman, whose goal next season is to qualify in the 200-yard individual medley. “It was kind of overwhelming. It was really big.”
The only State girls event to involve Marauders swimmers was the 200-yard freestyle relay. Senior Emily Dorris anchored a four-person team that improved substantially on its qualifying time.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 18, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
