The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Although Saturday morning started out cool and overcast, the heat was on at the Sidney Aquatic Center as the Sidney Stingray Swim Team hosted their annual meet that brought together the finest young swimmers in the Panhandle area and beyond. Teams from Alliance, Bridgeport, Hemingford, Torrington and a group of unaffiliated swimmers competed for the best times, and both the Sidney boy's and girl's teams held dominance during the competition.

At the end of the day, the Sidney girls team came out on top, with 1773.5 points to runner-up Alliance's 1704 points. The Sidney boys also earned top honors, with 1610 points against second-place Alliance's 1386.

Mike Motz

The seating area was packed with moms and dads, brothers and sisters and grandparents rooting on their favorite aquatic athletes.

Highlights included Sidney's Rowan Ogden's win in the Boys 8 and Under 200 Yard IM, Sidney's Aspyne Houser's win in the Girl's 11 and Under 200 Yard IM, Sidney's Trevor Booe's win in the Boy's 13 and Under 200 Yard IM, Sidney's Lucas Booe's win in the Men's 15-18 200 Yard IM and Sidney's Jayden Shoemaker's win in the Women's 15-18 200 Yard IM.

The event was capped off by a benefit relay to raise money for Kaleb Cerenil, who is going into eighth grade this fall and is an active athlete in wrestling and swimming. At the end of wrestling season, Cerenil was showing symptoms of a coronary condition, and the youngster had open-heart surgery on June 30. The surgery was a success, and Kaleb is expected to make a full recovery. The Stingray team decided to help out the family with expenses, and held a relay that had participants pay $10 to compete. If an individual was selected and did not want to swim, they needed to pay $10 and find a replacement. The event was so popular that a second heat was added. Over $1,100 was raised to help the Cerenil family.