Record day for Idaho Falls’ Grimes as Tigers pick up pair of second-place trophies
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BOISE – The Idaho Falls swim teams brought home a pair of second-place team trophies from this weekend’s state meet, and set some individual records along the way.
The Tiger girls finished second behind Sandpoint in 5A with 148 points. Skyline just missed the podium in fifth place.
The Tiger boys also placed second behind Sandpoint, with Skyline and Pocatello finishing third and fourth, respectively.
The medal haul for area teams was impressive.
The Idaho Falls team of Mahealani Grimes, Ann Hunsicker, Abigail Balsmeier and Katelyn Nichols won the girls 200 medley relay.
Skyline’s Elias Couch clocked 1:45.76 to hold off Idaho Falls’ Jackson Balsmeier and Pocatello’s Kaiden Irwin in the 200 freestyle final.
It was Couch and Balsmeier again in the 500 freestyle, with Couch taking first and Balsmeier second, while Irwin picked up another third-place medal.
Century’s Deacon Major was edged out in the 200 IM by Minico’s Thomas Clark 2:04.59 to 2:04.73. Major added a third-place medal in the 100 back.
Idaho Falls’ Grimes siblings added more hardware as freshman Rangi Grimes set a 5A state record in the boys 50 freestyle with a time 21.65, easily beating the previous record of 21.95 set in 2021.
Grimes also set a 5A state record in the 100 free, clocking 47.87, with Hillcrest’s Adam Allred finishing second in 48.66.
Allred also captured second place in the 100 breaststroke.
Rangi Grimes and Balsmeier, along with Jax Durtschi and Hiro Quan, won the 400 free relay with Pocatello placing second.
Mahealani Grimes earned two individual state titles, winning the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke for the Tigers.
6A
Emily Meyer of Madison clocked 2:14.63 to finish third in the 200 IM and placed sixth in the 100 backstroke.
Madison’s Taylor Poulsen was third in the 200 IM and was third in the 100 backstroke.
The Bobcats’ Courtney Anderson finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
Addisyn Fenstermaker of Highland placed fourth in the 100 free and was sixth in the 500 free.
The Madison girls finished eighth in the team standings. Highland was ninth and Rigby was 15th.
On the boys side, Madison placed 10th, with Highland 16th, Rigby 17th, and Thunder Ridge in 18th place.