Lobo Swimmers to Close Season in Abilene
    By Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, December 15, 2006

The Monahans Loboes swim team will close out the 2006 portion of their schedule this Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Abilene to compete at the Wylie Invitational.

Most of the Loboes' District 4-4A rivals will be at the meet, and all were at last weekend's Seminole Invitational, though coach Jay Thomas was short some of his swimmers on both the boys and girls' sides.  Monahans' boys placed eighth overall at the meet, scoring 22 points, while the girls finished with 23 points and were ninth in their division.

The girls were minus Catherine Cutbirth and Candance Cutbirth, who were in Abilene last weekend for the Catclaw Classic baskerball Tournament, while the boys were without Reed Bowman in Seminole.  Bowman and Catherine Cutbirth have Monahans' best individual finishes so far in the 2006-07 season.

The girls did pick up a third place medal in the first event of the day, the 200 meter medley relay, with Lyndsay Chowning, Brittaney White, Abbi Meek and Alex Dycus swimming for the Loboes.  The boys just missed a medal in the that event, as Justin Dominguez, John Ray, Cyle Lynch and Brandon Spinks placed fourth.

Individually for the girls, Meek had a sixth place finish in the 200 meter freestyle; Aimee McBride was 11th in the 200 and 500 free; Dycus was 12th in the 200 free and 16th in the 100 free; Chowning was seventh in the 100 meter backstroke and ninth in the 200 medley; Rebekah Oyerbides was 21st in the 50 free; Tatsor Garcia was 22nd in the 100 free and 26th in the 50 free; Estefana Galindo was 19th in the 100 meter breaststroke and 28th in the 50 free; and White was ninth in the 100 breaststroke.

In the 200 free relay, White, Oyerbides, Galindo and Garcia placed 11th, while Dycus,  Meek were 10th in the 400 meter relay, and the 'B' team of White, Oyerbides, Glaindo and Gatcia finished in 13th place.

Oyerbides also was entered for the first time in the 1-meter diving competition last Friday, and ended up fifth overall.

For the boys, Spinks was sixth in the 200 free and seventh in the 100 fly; Ray was fifth in the 200 medley; Dominguez was sixth in the 100 backstroke and 14th in the 50 free; and Lynch, Dominguez and Spinks also placed ninth in the 400 meter freestyle relay.

This weekend's meet in Abilene is the next-to-last before District 4-4A competition in Monahans on Jan. 19-20.  The Loboes will go to Lubbock for their invitational, which is set for Jan. 5-6.

Keyed by Raymond Briseno