Prep notes: La Cueva sweeps metro swimming; Carlsbad LB has five D1 offers

La Cueva’s boys and girls are this year’s Albuquerque Metro Swimming and Diving team champions.

The boys scored a robust 515 points, far in front of runner-up Eldorado (299) and third-place Volcano Vista (251).

There were a pair of double individual champions at the meet. Ivan Beutler of Volcano Vista won the 50-yard freestyle, and also added a dominant victory in the 100 free where he won by 2½ seconds.

Tristan Dons of Eldorado was the winner in the 200 freestyle, which he dominated with a victory by about six seconds, and also the 100 backstroke where he had a three-second triumph.

La Cueva was in control of the rest of the individual events.

Tyler Sinsabaugh was first in the 200 IM (and also runner-up in the 500 free), Ryan Meek was the champion in the 500 free, Tucker Blair was the 1-meter diving winner, Zak Braswell beat the field in the 100 butterfly and Brayden Bundy the was metro champ in the 100 breaststroke.

La Cueva swept all three relays: the 200 medley, plus the 200 and 400 freestyle.

The girls had a closer battle, outpointing runner-up Eldorado 503-410. Rio Rancho (231) was a distant third.

The Bears had two double champions.

Mackenzie Rivera was perhaps the most dominant swimmer at the meet. She captured first place in the 200 IM by 8½ seconds, and also added the 100 breaststroke title, with a huge nine-second margin of victory.

Margaret Meek had a close victory in the 100 freestyle, and she also was the metro champion in the 100 backstroke.

Other individual event winners were Ava Schlosser of Cleveland (50 free), Chloe Ashe of La Cueva (1-meter diving), Chloe Shaw of Eldorado (500 free), Matilda Nethery of Albuquerque High (200 free) and Elena Busani of Eldorado (100 butterfly).

La Cueva won the 200 medley and 400 free relays; Eldorado was the winner in the 200 free relay.

Both meets were held at the West Mesa Aquatic Center.

ATTRACTING ATTENTION: Fresh off the signing of three La Cueva football players to power conference programs, the next major recruit has popped up in a big way on the national radar just in the last week.

Carlsbad High School sophomore linebacker Colton McKibben has accumulated five Division I offers just since last Thursday, and two of his offers will sound familiar.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound McKibben has offers from Arizona State, Iowa State, Wisconsin, New Mexico State and, most recently, Nebraska.

Arizona State and Wisconsin both just signed high-profile players from La Cueva; quarterback/wide receiver Cam Dyer signed with ASU, while LB Mason Posa signed with Wisconsin.

EATON: The Chris Eaton Foundation is taking applications from graduating Albuquerque high school student-athletes through March 31 for the Coach Chris Eaton Memorial Scholarship awards.

The foundation expects to pay out $17,500 this year, and said that because of terrific input from donors, it is going to expand from one $10,000 recipient last year to three this year, for $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500.

Applicants are to be evaluated on community involvement, teamwork and leadership, academic achievements, and athletic performance. They must be seniors who played at least one varsity sport, and have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and who will attend a college or trade school next fall.

This year’s winners are expected to be revealed in May. For information, and to apply, visit chriseatonfoundation.org.

DUNN MILESTONE: Corona’s 6-6 Harper Dunn is New Mexico’s top girls basketball recruit in the Class of 2027, already with over two dozen Division I offers under her belt.

Last week, she reached 1,000 career points. Following a 32-point effort against Logan, Dunn stands at 1,002 points. She also had 27 rebounds in that game.