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Valentino Montegrande of Henderson, Nevada, has announced his commitment to further his education and swimming career at Rollins College. Montegrande is a recent graduate of Bishop Gorman High School, and will arrive in Winter Park this upcoming fall for the 2024-2025 season.
“I am incredibly grateful to announce my commitment to pursue my athletic and academic future at Rollins College! This opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support of my parents and Prada and Chanel. I also would like to thank Coach Michael and Coach Bob for always pushing me past my limits. As well as, Coach Walker for making all of this a reality. Above all, I thank God for blessing me with talent, perseverance, and opportunities that have led me to this chapter in my life! Go Tars!!”
Montegrande, a butterfly specialist, trains and competes year-round with the Sandpipers of Nevada under coach Michael Kinross. He’s a Futures qualifier in both the 100 and 200 fly, and currently owns best times of 50.20 and 1:51.40 which he set at Speedo Sectionals this past December.
Last summer Montegrande capped off his long course season at the Western Zone Senior Championships, where he advanced to finals in both fly events. In the 100m, he notched a personal best time of 58.43 en route to a 20th place finish, while in the 200m he stopped the clock at 2:11.87 for 21st overall. He also earned a second swim in the 100m back, where he clocked a personal best of 1:01.98 to take 41st.
More recently, Montegrande represented his high school at the Nevada High School State Championship (5A). He took home the state title in the 100 fly, where he logged a 50.36 to clear the field by nearly two seconds. He was also 4th in the 100 back (52.47) and delivered lead-off splits of 24.17 and 21.92 in the 200 medley & 200 freestyle relays, respectively.
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Rollins College, currently led by head coach Walker Thaning, is a Division II program in the Sunshine State Conference. Thaning is new to the position, as he recently took over after former head coach Julianne Lehner stepped away mid-season. This season, the men’s team took 4th at the 2024 Sunshine State Conference Championship with a total of 428 points.
Montegrande’s current best time in the 200 fly would have earned him a spot in the B-final at this year’s meet, putting him in position to be an immediate scorer. Rollins’ Luke Dinges took home the title in the 200 fly, as he clocked a 1:44.92 to win the event by over a second.
Montegrande joins Sam Pugh and Corbin Songer in Rollins’ incoming class next fall.
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A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
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Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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