By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

Chalk up another clean sweep for LARAYO.

The resident powerhouse of the River Parish Swim League already had an undefeated regular season championship to its credit in 2009, and added another title to its trophy case this past weekend — the Barracudas captured victory in the annual River Parish Swim League Invitational at Hill Heights.

LARAYO defeated a field that included all six of its regular season league competitors, including second place Riverlands and third place Hill Heights. (Riverlands details can be found on page 7A)

“The Invitational is a very big deal to (our swimmers),” said LARAYO coach Michelle Jensen. “Its one of those meets that they just look forward to competing at their best in. We had a very good turn out for it.”

For the second consecutive year, LARAYO’s Brandon Klibert put forward a record-breaking performance. He first set a new mark in the 13 & 14 year-old individual medley with a time of 1:00.03, topping Mark Madere’s mark of 1:00.53 set in 2002. Then he completed the backstroke in 27.78, besting Kevin Braud’s record of 27.91 set in 2000.

“The impressive thing is that a lot of those records have stood for a long time,” said Jensen. “These aren’t marks that were set two years ago. He’s 13 and at the bottom of that age group, so next year we may see him break his own records.”

LaVacherie’s Brent Labat also put his name in the record book, as his time of 24.03 in the boys 13 & 14 year-old freestyle event broke a record that stood for 15 years, Seth Talbot’s time of 24.07 in 1994.

As usual, Barracudas littered the list of high point winners — swimmers that are among their age group’s top four overall scorers — at the meet. They included: Kaila Klibert, Maggie Trepagnier, Meredith Keating, Brandon Klibert, Luke Jackson, Austin Matherne, Cody Schafer, Will East, Paige Williams, Jacob Jensen, Zoe Zaidan, Hannah Lowry, Luke Brouwer, Kaile Levatino, Francesca Puglia, Josh Tamplain and Jackson Jensen.

Schafer, Williams, Trepagnier and Kaila Klibert each took three first place finishes for LARAYO. Jacob Jensen, Brandon Klibert, and Meredith Keating each took two, while Luke Jackson and Emily Brady round out first place winners for the Barracudas.

LARAYO won 12 relay events to cap off its win.