Malta takes third in Lewistown

Only a few weeks away from divisionals, the Malta Swim team did well at the Lewistown Meet last weekend.

"For the most part, we all dropped time," said Brooke Leader assistant coach of the Malta Swim Team. "We got some high places overall."

At a meet of 200, the team brought 20 swimmers on Saturday and nearly all swimmers who swam on Sunday Morning qualified for each of their event on Sunday afternoon.

Malta placed third as a team in individual events and third in relays.

Shay Garfield (senior women's 15-19), Connor Tuss (Junior boys 11-12) and Carly Garfield (Junior Girls 11-12) each placed in the top three among their respective age groups.

Shay took first place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:19.19.95. She took second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:22.61 and third in the 200 IM with a time of 3:00.39.

Tuss took first place in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 46.23. He took second in the 200 IM with a time of 3:24.10 and third in the 50 back with a time of 42.97.

Carly took second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 32.95 and second in the 50 back with a time of 40.68. She placed sixth in the 100 free with a time of 1:20.61.

As the divisional meet inches closer, Coaches Donnie Lynn and Leader know how to keep their swimmers improving.

"Donnie and I are talking about it and we are going to do more interval training, but when we do that it'll be harder to keep form," Leader said.

Being an All-American swimmer at the collegiate level, Leader knows that keeping proper form and technique is an absolute.

"We need to make sure they're swimming with the right form, not just trying to make the time," Leader said. "We need to work on our turns too, being quicker in and off the walls."