Zoe Porteous and her Verde Valley High Performance teammate, little sister Renae, are going to make the most of March.
Zoe Porteous, 14, won her age group in three events, while 10-year-old Renae Porteous swam to victory twice at short course regionals Feb. 19 in Scottsdale to advance to the state championships.
While Zoe Porteous swam the state 1,650-yard freestyle Thursday, March 10, after winning the event in 19:26.46, she and Renae Porteous will compete in their other events Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12, in Oro Valley.
“The team is starting to become a state-level force, and they proved that at the regional meet,” said Sean Emery, head coach of Verde Valley High Performance, which finished fifth out of eight teams Feb. 19. “I am not the easiest coach to swim under [so] I feel very happy and lucky that I am a part of their swimming process. I am very grateful to be their coach and have tremendous respect for what they are doing.”
In addition to her winning time of 1:15.08 in the 100-yard backstroke, Renae Porteous has qualified to swim in five other events in her third year at State — the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly and individual medley as well as the 50-yard breaststroke.
“I think we all did really well,” Zoe Porteous said. “I’m proud of us and our personal bests.”
She hopes to follow her sister Thursday, March 31, to the Far Western National swim meet in Pleasanton, Calif.
“She’s swimming in all of the events that she’s supposed to,” he said. “[Zoe]’s swimming in some, too, that she’s close to [for] Western Nationals, if she can qualify for them.”
Renae Porteous has already qualified for Nationals in the 100-yard breaststroke and 50-yard butterfly, Emery added.
“I feel like I’ve progressed a lot through the years I’ve been with him,” Renae Porteous said. “He’s helped us a lot with our swimming. I feel very happy that I made it to Nationals.”
Zoe Porteous followed up her little sister’s winning time of 2:27.13 in the 200-yard freestyle with wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle, in 11:28.06, and the 400-yard individual medley, in 4:55.10.
While it did not punch her ticket to the postseason, 11-year-old Kasey Ingram swam a mixed 500-yard freestyle in 6:55.42, nearly 45 seconds faster than Dominic Colligan of Scottsdale to take a time trial.
But Ingram finished out of the top 25 swimmers in her two other regional events.
Emery’s final competitive swimmer, 12-year-old Josie Williams, finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:24 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:58 at regionals but could not quite convert those times into wins or qualifying times for State.
“To me, qualifying times are more important so I can get to State,” Williams said. “Even though I’m turning 13 next month — which will bump me up an age group — I’m not going to stop trying to get that State qualifying time.”
For more photos and full High Performance results from regionals, please see the Friday, March 11, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
