| Chris Eikenbary takes a turn at the wall during the championship meet. Eikenbary also swims for the Carbon team. |
The 2004 Barracuda season came to a close with the championship meet on July 30 and 31.
The team left the pool with a splash, however, taking top finishes from the seven-team event.
Caitlin Eikenbary came in second place in the 50 freestyle out of 39 girls and second in the 100 free out of 35 girls.
She also took fourth in the 50 yard backstroke. According to coach Heidi Miller, Eikenbary was wrongfully disqualified from the event. However, after a parent’s video proved the disqualification uneccesarry, she was awarded the ribbon.
Miller said Eikenbary met with more competition than usual at the meet, especially from a Cedar City athlete. The challange propelled her to drop time from her 50 free and 100 free.
A new addition to the team, Alicia Farmer, also participated in the championship. Farmer, who spent her summer practicing in Alaska on a vacation, joined the team just in time to place first in the 25 yard butterfly, first in the 100 yard individual medly and second in the 25 yard backstroke in the lower heats.
The times will now allow for Farmer to be seeded in faster heats.
Randy and Ryan Slane both competed in the 100 free. Ryan Slane finished in 13th place while his brother Randy Slane followed in 14th. The pair also contributed to fourth place finishes in the 200 free relay and the 200 medley relay. Ryan swam in the free while Randy swam in the medley.
Joel Garff took first in the 50y free by over 10 seconds and it was the first time he had ever done the event. He also finished first in the 100 IM. Garff also contributed to the 200 medley relay.
Megan Garff took sixth in the 100 breaststroke. She also competed in the 100 free, the 50 free and the 100 breaststroke.
Carbon High swimmer Chris Eikenbarry also joined the team for the meet.
According to Miller, Eikenbarry swims during the summer with the Barracudas to keep up his skill in the water.
“He had some serious competition this meet,” she indicated. “He was swimming against some former opponents that had competed at the 3A state championship last February.”
Eikenbarry took home third in the 50 fly, first in the breaststroke and fourth in the 100 free.
Vaughn Garff swam in the 50 free, the 25 breast, the 25 fly and the 100 free. He also made the transition from the 9-10 year old group to compete in the 15-18 200y free relay, helping the team to its fourth place finish.
Kate Johnson participated in the 50 fly, the 100 free, the 50 free and the 50 breaststroke. She place ninth in the breaststroke out of 42 girls but was disqualified from the 50 fly for not touching the wall with both hands.
Johnson also contributed to the girls 200y medley relay fourth place finish and the second place finish in the 100 yard free relay with teammates Caitlin Eikenbary, Megan Garff and Farmer.
Damian Miller took home a first place finish in the 100 IM, second place finish in the 50y fly, fifth place in the 100y breast and third in the 50y free.