Before the Thanksgiving Break, La Porte High School Swim Team headed down to Texas City to compete in the 2025 Turkey Bowl Invitational. This is a regular event for the Bulldogs, they go every year and always do pretty well. Usually, about 20-25 teams show up.
 
In the first race, the 200-yard Medley Relay, both the girls and boys teams did great and improved their times. The girls relay team, made up of Swim Captain Isabella Huerta (Backstroke), Natalie Chavez (Breaststroke), Julina Michel (Butterfly), and Nellie Ortiz (Freestyle), finished 6th out of 26 teams. The boys relay, with Ean Lopez (Backstroke), Jaime Reyes (Breaststroke), Lucas Prigmore (Butterfly), and Cole Bailey (Freestyle), came in 18th. In the 200-yard Freestyle, Alexandra Pilkerton swam a 3:15.66, just 6.39 seconds off her season best, and Swim Captain Jake Gazaw finished in 2:22.46, about 2.7 seconds from his season best. The 200-yard Individual Medley had two La Porte swimmers. This race has the swimmer doing all four strokes in 50-yard segments. Julian Michel finished 5th and knocked over 5.5 seconds off her personal record, stopping the clock at 2:39.60. Jaime Reyes also raced this event, ending up 16th with a time of 3:20.49. Next up was the 50-yard Freestyle, which is always exciting, La Porte had seven swimmers in this one. Natalie Chavez, Isabella Huerta, and Nellie Ortiz all came within 0.3 seconds of their personal bests. On the guys' side, Cole Bailey and Jacob Smith each improved their times by a full second, earning new personal records. Lucas Prigmore and Ean Lopez were less than a second from their best times ever. Isabella Huerta was the only girl in the 100-yard Freestyle. She finished 21st with a time of 1:14.35, about 2 seconds shy of her personal record. On the boys' side, Cole Bailey, Lucas Prigmore, and Jacob Smith all scored personal bests, while Trey Acklen swam a 1:04.36, less than two seconds off his best time.
 
La Porte had four swimmers in the longest race of the meet, the 500-yard Freestyle, which is a tough 10-lap endurance test (that's 20 lengths). Everyone finished in the top 15! Alexandra Pilkerton swam an 8:56.38 for 12th place, and Nellie Ortiz finished just behind her in 13th with an 8:58.36. There were two La Porte swimmers in the 100-yard Backstroke. For the girls, Julina Michel took 1st overall with a personal best of 1:07.14, about 3 seconds away from the school record. Jaime Reyes also swam in this event, finishing 15th with a time of 1:19.62, just seconds off his personal best. In the 100-yard Breaststroke, Natalie Chavez finished 2nd and set a new school record with her time of 1:17.75, over 3 seconds faster than the old record from 2014! Trey Acklen also competed, finishing 25th and just a few seconds from his personal best.There was only one 400-yard Freestyle Relay team from La Porte. It's a four-person team, each swimmer doing 100 yards. The La Porte boys team, Jacob Smith, Jaime Reyes, Ean Lopez, and Jake Gazaw, ended up in 9th place overall.
 
All-Time Personal Best Times
Julina Michel – 200 Individual Medley and 100 yard Backstroke
Cole Bailey – 50 yard and 100 yard Freestyle
Jacob Smith – 50 yard and 100 yard Freestyle
Lucas Prigmore – 100 yard Freestyle
Ean Lopez – 500 yard Freestyle
Natalie Chavez – 100 yard Breaststroke (School Record)

Team Results
1. Dickinson - 493                            
2. Lake Creek - 477
3. West Brook - 360
4. Cy-Springs - 345
5. Cy-Park - 291
6. Galveston Ball - 252
7. Neederland - 228
8. East Chambers - 208
9. Barbers Hill - 203
10. Pasadena Memorial - 202
11. Stafford - 199.50
12. Caney Creek - 195
13. La Porte - 192
14. Pasadena - 112
15. Crosby - 103
16. PNG - 100.50
17. Baytown Sterling - 96
18. Dobie - 87
19. Texas City - 81
20. Sout Houston - 40
21. Silsbee - 29
22. Dekaney - 25
23. Rayburn - 9
24. Westfield - 3
25. Beaumont United - 4

Next Swim Meet
Sleight in the Bay at Baytown Sterling on Saturday, December 13^th at 9:00am