By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LARAYO clinched no worse than a runner-up finish in the River Parish Swim League on Thursday night with a 448-106 victory over host Belle Terre.

The victory set up the Barracudas (5-0) for a battle of the last undefeated teams against Riverlands (5-0) to determine the league championship.

The meet was scheduled to happen last night, after rain washed out the teams on Monday.

LARAYO has captured the championship every year since 2000.

“I thought our younger girls did a great job, and swam some of their best times,” said LARAYO coach Michelle Jensen of the Belle Terre meet. “We also got to see some of our younger boys swim that don’t get that opportunity, with baseball making some of our others unavailable.”

Francesca Puglia, Paige Williams, Austin Matherne, and Maggie Trepagnier led the way for LARAYO with three first place finishes each.

James Krawczyk and Riley LeBlanc were the top guns for Belle Terre (1-4), each with two first place finishes. Rhett LeBlanc rounded out first place winners for Belle Terre.

LARAYO led 67-41 after the freestyle event, but a 81-27 advantage in the backstroke effectively established an insurmountable lead for the Barracudas.

Ben Schiff, Ashley Hymel, Zoe Zaidain, Kelsie Williams, Jacob Jensen, Maddie Murphy, Cody Schafer, Andrew Vicknair, Kaila Klibert, and Emily Brady took two first place finishes each for LARAYO.

Josh Tamplain, Kaile Levatino, Evan Brady, Alex East, Madison Roussel, Alexis Puisseguer, Emile Cupit, Will East, Kaitlyn Lowry, Ben East, and Meredith Keating rounded out first place winners for the Barracudas.