Ponies swim at PVC finals

Both the Foxcroft Academy girls and boys swim teams were in action at the Penobscot Valley Conference championships over the weekend. The Pony girls placed 10th of 12 teams with a score of 57.5 points on Feb. 11 at Husson University in Bangor. The boys were 14th of 15 schools with nine points during the competition at the University of Maine on Feb. 10 in Orono.
Jenna Clukey led the Foxcroft girls with a pair of first-place swims in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
The Pony junior outsprinted Ellsworth High School’s Ellie Clarke over the final 25 yards to capture the 50 freestyle in a time of 25.72 seconds to best Clarke by .23 seconds.
Clukey earned her second individual victory moments later, again coming on strong during the second half of the race to win the 100 butterfly in 1:02.34. Washington Academy’s Ava Emery was second in 1:03.92.
“Both of the girls I swam against are good competitors of mine,” Clukey said. “So I took the races out with them and I knew if I could keep something in the tank I could go by them in the end.
“I’m pretty competitive so I use that as motivation. I like having someone swimming right next to me. It makes me go faster.”
Clukey was also a part of two eighth-place relays. Chole Waugh, Abby Henderson, Clukey and Emily Curtis combined for a time of 2:14.76 in the 200 medley relay. In the 400 freestyle relay Waugh, Henderson, Curtis and Clukey together swam a time of 4:20.85.
Curtis had a pair of 12th-place swims. She came in 12th in both the 50 and 100 freestyles with respective times of 29.97 seconds and 1:04.42.
The Foxcroft 200 freestyle relay finished 11th. Hannah Sprecher, Kilee Hutchinson, Emily Sprecher and Erika Chadbourne combined for a time of 2:14.61.
In the boys’ meet, the Pony 200 freestyle relay recorded a ninth-place swim. David Salley, Nathaniel Skomars, Noah Contreras and Owen Booker had a time of 1:53.82.
Booker also was 12th in the 100 breaststroke at 1:18.25.
Ernie Clark of the Bangor Daily News contributed to this story.