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All six kids above are 5 time gold medalists (champions in all events swam): Evan Apuron, Darien Apuron, Johnny Smallhouse, Brianna Castellanos, Ben Fister and Tabitha Kellam. Photo by Vince Apuron | Apuron Photography

  The Central Arizona League Championship Swim Meet was held at the Florence Aquatic Center on Saturday, July 22^rd.  The overall team scores were as follows:

1^st place – Sea Lions with 1004 points

2^nd place – Parkside Piranhas with 960 points

3^rd place – Coolidge Dolphins with 708 points

4^th place – San Tan Valley Barracudas with 457 points

5^th place – Globe Piranhas with 138 points

6^th place – Eloy Otters with 49 points

7^th place – Florence Sharks with 47 points

  This is the eleventh consecutive year that the Sea Lions have won the League Championship Meet. 

  The meet was very close throughout the whole day.  After several lead changes in the early events, Parkside had a 16 point lead (490-506) after the Backstroke events (the midway point of the meet).  During the long Freestyle events, the Sea Lions managed to get within 2 points of Parkside (597-599) with some great wins by Julie Ramirez (9-10 Girls) and Briana Castellanos (11-12 Girls), followed by Ben Fister (11-12 boys), Tabitha Kellam (13-14 Girls), and Riley Stewart (13-14 Boys) who each won the 100 Free for their age group in meet record time. 

  During the Breaststroke events is when the Sea Lions shined the brightest.  Anya Zovko swam to rare tie for first place in the 9-10 girls age group. In the 9-10 boys age group Martin Madrid and Cooper Dale finished 1^st and 2^nd  which essentially wiped out any lead Parkside had left.  The 2^nd and 4^th place finish in the 11-12 Girls Breaststroke by Mia Dale and Ashlee Parker earned enough points (12) to put the Sea Lions back in first place as a team. A win by Mason Stewart (11-12 Boys), along with the 1-2 finish by Evan Apuron and Riley Stewart (both faster than the previous 13-14 Boys Meet Record), a win by Darien Apuron (15-18 Girls) and an exciting razor close win by Andres Valenzuela (15-18 Boys) were enough to the give the Sea Lions the lead by 38 points (725-687) after the Breaststroke events. 

  Sea Lions managed to hang on to the lead during the sprint Freestyle events (828-796).  Relays are worth double points in the Championship Meet, and the Sea Lions sealed the victory by winning 6 of the 10 Freestyle Relays at the end of the meet to expand the margin of victory to 44 points. 

  In the championship meet format, each swimmer is limited to 3 individual events and 2 relays.   The following Sea Lion Swimmers won all five of the races that they swam:   Johnny Smallhouse, Briana Castellanos, Ben Fister, Tabitha Kellam, Evan Apuron, and Darien Apuron.

  Sea Lion Swimmers broke 15 League Championship Meet Records. Since the championship brings the best swimmers from all the teams in the league, it is a tremendous achievement to break a Championship Meet Record.  Sea Lion Swimmers who set new Championship Meet Records include:  Ben Fister, Rianna Estrada, Star Chavez, Tabitha Kellam, AJ Lopez, Evan Apuron, Riley Stewart, Nate Fister, and Darien Apuron.

  Eleven Sea Lion Team records were broken at the meet.  Rianna Estrada, Star Chavez, Tabitha Kellam, AJ Lopez, Evan Apuron, Riley Stewart, Nate Fister, and Darien Apuron all set new team records at the Championship Meet.

  With seven teams and more than 240 swimmers, any finish in the top 8 places is an impressive achievement.  The Sea Lions with top 8 finishes in their age groups at the Championship were:

Sakura Andrade, 5, (3^rd Breast, 5^th Free);

Annie Nemans, 6, (3^rd Fly, 3^rd Back, 2^nd Breast, 3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Jocelyn Hudson, 7, (2^nd IM, 2^nd 50 Free, 2^nd Free, 3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Anya Zovko, 9, (1^st Back, 1^st Breast, 3^rd 50 Free, 3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Jessica Rouse, 9, (6^th IM, 7^th Breast, 3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Arianna Ervin, 9, (3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Cooper Dale, 9, (5^th 100 Free, 2^nd Breast, 6^th Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Julie Ramirez, 10, (1^st IM, 2^nd Fly, 1^st 100 Free, 3^rd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Martin Madrid, 10, (5^th Back, 3^rd 100 Free, 1^st Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Pedro Young, 10, (1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

John Smallhouse, 10, (1^st IM, 1^st Fly, 1^st Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st  Free Relay);

Joey Castellanos, 11, (1^st Back, 3^rd 100 Free, 4^th Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 2^nd Free Relay);

Vicente Curry, 11, (5^th Medley Relay, 4^th Free Relay);

Adrian Garcia, 11, (8^th Back, 8^th Free, 3^rd Medley Relay, 4^th Free Relay);

Ethan Kellam, 11, (2^nd IM, 4^th Fly, 4^th 100 Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Mason Stewart, 11, (1^st IM, 3^rd Fly, 1^st Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Briana Castellanos, 12, (1^st Fly, 1^st 100 Free, 1^st Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 2^nd Free Relay);

Mia Dale, 12, (2^nd IM, 2^nd Back, 2^nd Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Ashlee Parker, 12, (4^th IM, 3^rd Back, 4^th Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Rocky Andrade, 12, (3^rd Medley Relay, 5^th Free Relay);

Emerik Zovoko, 12, (6^th IM, 4^th Breast, 3^rd Medley Relay, 4^th Free Relay);

Ben Fister, 12, (1^st Fly, 1^st 100 Free, 1^st 50 Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Robert Sanz-Anton, 12, (8^th Fly, 6^th Breast, 3^rd Medley Relay, 4^th Free Relay);

D’ Andre Silva, 12, (5^th Medley Relay, 5^th Free Relay);

Rianna Estrada, 13, (3^rd Fly, 2^nd Back, 2^nd Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Tabitha Kellam, 13, (1^st IM, 1^st 100 Free, 1^st Free, 1^st Free Relay, 1^st Medley Relay);

Karyme Young, 13, (7^th Back, 4^th Medley Relay, 5^th Free Relay);

AJ Lopez, 13, (2^nd IM, 2^nd 100 Free, 2^nd 50 Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Riley Stewart, 13, (1^st Back, 1^st 100 Free, 2^nd Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Hunter Hill, 13, (7^th Back, 7^th 100 Free, 5^th Free, 5^th Medley Relay, 5^th Free Relay);

Evan Apuron, 14, (1^st IM, 1^st Fly, 1^st Breast, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Aubrey Bridges, 14, (5^th 100 Fly, 4^th Medley Relay, 5^th Free Relay);

Star Chavez, 14, (3^rd IM, 4^th Breast, 5^th Free, 4^th Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Nate Fister, 15, (2^nd Fly, 2^nd Back, 1^st Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

BaiLee Hill, 15, (2^nd IM, 4^th Back, 6^th Medley Relay, 6^th Free Relay);

Zara Allmendinger, 15, (6^th Back, 6^th Medley Relay, 6^th Free Relay);

Kayla Parker, 15, (4^th Fly, 6^th 100 Free, 7^th Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Jayden Smith, 15, (4^th Back, 7^th 100 Free, 4^th Breast, 2^nd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Andres Valenzuela, 15, (2^nd IM, 4^th Fly, 1^st Breast, 2^nd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Daniel Garcia, 16, (4^th Back, 5^th 100 Free, 5^th Free, 2^nd Medley Relay, 3^rd Free Relay);

Darien Apuron, 16, (1^st Fly, 1^st Back, 1^st Breast, 1^st Free Relay, 1^st Medley Relay);

Bonnie Bridges, 16, (3^rd IM, 6^th Fly, 6^th Breast, 6^th Medley Relay, 6^th Free Relay);

Jessi Rice, 17, (3^rd Back, 5^th 100 Free, 5^th Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay);

Raya Woods, 17, (2^nd 100 Free, 3^rd Breast, 3^rd Free, 1^st Medley Relay, 1^st Free Relay).

  Every swimmer on the team gave it everything they had to earn the Championship.  When Nevaeh Derrick (11) fractured her ankle earlier in the week, it looked like she would not be able to participate.  When her doctor gave her permission to swim, Nevaeh would not be denied.  She could be seen on crutches getting to the start of each of her races.  The determination she showed to compete and swim all of her races was a motivation to everyone.  For this, she earned the title of Sea Lion Beast of the Week. 

  The Sea Lions Swim Team is finished with competition in the Central Arizona Swim League for the summer season, but will compete in several open meets over the next few months.  There is still time to join the team – contact Alex or Wendy Gort at 896-2190, stop by the Mammoth Pool between 4 and 5:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday), or check sealionsswimteam.com for more information.

Staff (5795 Posts)

There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.

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