CARSON CITY, Nev. ” Cara Silvas knew exactly what she was doing cruising along in second place for more than half the race.

Competing in the 500-yard freestyle at the Northern 4A Regional Championships this past weekend, the Truckee sophomore spotted Reno swimmer Mary Short the lead for about the first 300 yards. Then she made her move.

“She was obviously very comfortable,” said Dan Ingalls, Truckee’s co-head coach. “… She had her own strategy, and she played it out to a ‘T.'”

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Silvas powered out the final 200 yards of the race, touching the wall with a winning time of 5 minutes, 14.12 seconds. Short took second in 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

The win earned Silvas the North’s No. 1 seed entering the 4A State Championship, scheduled for Friday at the Lombardi Recreation Center at the University of Neveda, Reno. She’s the only Truckee swimmer who qualified.

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“Cara has been dominant in the 500 free in league, and she certainly carried that over to regionals,” said Ingalls, whose sophomore swimmer captured first place in both the 500 free and 200 free at the previous week’s Sierra League Championship.

While Silvas finished fifth in the 200 free, two spots away from a state championship berth in the event, Ingalls expects her to contend for a state title in the 500 free.

“She’s very likely to be highly competitive, no matter who shows up,” he said.

Last year Silvas was the only female and one of only two swimmers total to represent the Wolverines at state, where she placed sixth in the 500 free with a time of 5:16.07. The state champ in the event, Addie Oswald of Silverado, swam it in a blazing 5:06.26.

Ingalls was pleased with this year’s showing in league, as 14 Truckee swimmers qualified to compete in regionals based on their performances at the Sierra League Championship. And as Ingalls pointed out, many swimmers on the young team narrowly missed out on qualifying.

At regionals, Truckee’s girls 200-yard medley relay team made up of Braighlee Silvera, Molly Ingalls, Silvas and Michelle Hoehn finished fifth with a time of 2:01.45, and Justin Ondry placed sixth in the boys 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.90.

For complete results from regionals visit NIAA.com.