Sea Lions win against Coolidge at home meet

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
Mikael.jpg

Mikael Corona, 6, competes in Saturday’s meet against Coolidge. (Jeanine Apuron photo)

The San Manuel Sea Lions swim team hosted the Coolidge Dolphins at the San Manuel Swimming Pool on Saturday, winning the meet with 1,019 points to Coolidge’s 640 points.

Going into the meet, the coaches were concerned that this may be the meet that puts the Sea Lions Central Arizona Swimming League six year winning streak in jeopardy. However, the Sea Lions Swimmers showed a willingness to swim the tough events that put the meet out of reach early.

San Manuel swimmers took an early lead in the grueling Individual Medley events followed by evenly matched Medley Relays. However, the Butterfly events helped balloon the lead to over 100 points.

Head Coach Alex Gort commented that team depth was the key to winning the meet. “Many swimmers competed in tough events to earn points for the team,” he said.

(points are awarded for the top six places).

Two Sea Lion team records were broken on Saturday. Darien Apuron, 12, broke her own team record in the 11- and 12-year-old Girls 50-yard Backstroke, to hold off 12-year-old teammate Gianna Sweeney by a fraction of a second.

Will Newman, 13, broke the 100-yard Backstoke record with a time of 1:07.64. The previous record was held by Parker Gray since 2010.

Five swimmers swam the maximum number of allowed events and had personal best times in each: Mikael Corona (6), Desiree Galarza (8), Alicia Galarza (10), Jessi Rice (12) and Will Newman (13).

Six-year-old Mikael Corona, nine-year-old Evan Apuron and 13-year-old Will Newman won every race in their age group.

The following swimmers had first place finishes on Saturday:

Mikael Corona, 6, (Fly, Back, Breast, Free); Malayah Renteria, 7, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Nevaeh Derrick, 7, ( Fly, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Ethan Kellam, 7, (IM, Breast, Free); Ashlee Parker, 8, (Back, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Tabitha Kellam, 9, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, Free, 100 Free, Free Relay); Rianna Estrada, 9, (Free Relay); Genevieve Estrada, 9, (Free Relay); Evan Apuron, 9, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, Free, 50 Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Hunter Hill, 9, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Brian Mulholland, 9, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Alicia Galarza, 10, (Free Relay); Nate Fister, 10, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Kayla Parker, 11,(Medley Relay, Free Relay); Darien Apuron, 12, (Back, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Gianna Sweeney, 12, (IM, Fly, Breast, 100 Free, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Gillian Cole, 12, (Medley Relay); Jessi Rice, 12, (Free Relay); Will Newman, 13, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, 100 Free, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Michael Garcia, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Christian Ramirez, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Colbey Stratton, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Fernanda Vasquez, 15, (Medley Relay); Michael Sanchez, 15, (Fly, Back); Armanda Noriega, 15, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Taylor Woods, 15, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Timothy Mulholland, 16, (100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Megan Garcia, 16, (Medley Relay); Jazelle Sanchez, 16, (Fly, Medley Relay); Amara Apuron, 17, (Fly, Back 100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay); John Bribiescas, 17, (IM, Medley Relay).

This was the first swim meet for three swimmers on the team. Andres Valenzuela (11), Christian Ramirez (14), and Alisha Smith (15) all had top-three finishes during the meet and were valuable contributors to the team results.

Alicia Galarza was named Sea Lion Beast of the Week. She swam all the events at the meet and achieved best times in all with major time drops. Her beastly moment came when she swam the anchor leg of the 9- and 10-year-old Girls Freestyle Relay closing a huge deficit to pull ahead for the win in the final yards of the race.

The Sea Lions will travel to compete against the Parkside Piranhas at the Anthem Merrill Ranch Pool in Florence on Saturday, June 22.

There is still time to join the team. For more information, contact Jeanine Apuron @ 385-9854 or stop by the San Manuel Pool between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Race.JPG

A very close 100 breaststroke race between Timothy Mulholland (16), Armando Noriega (15), and John Bribriescas (17). (Maya Gort photo)


Taylor.JPG

Taylor Woods, 15, swims the 200 IM. (Maya Gort photo)


Alisha.jpg

Alisha Smith, 15, competes in Saturday’s meet against Coolidge. (Jeanine Apuron photo)

admin (8132 Posts)


Facebooktwitterby feather
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Comments are closed.

  • Additional Stories

    Fueling the Future 2022

    January 4th, 2023
    by

    By Edie Crall Oracle School Board   What a wonderful experience it is to witness people coming together for the […]


    Julia Cerda Crawford awarded Eperanza Teacher Award by CPLC

    April 10th, 2022
    by

        Julia Cerda Crawford, a resident of Kearny, was recently awarded the Chicanos por la Causa Esperanza Latino Teacher […]


    Health Care Leaders: Copper Basin Healthcare Foundation

    March 17th, 2022
    by

      There is no doubt that communities across the Copper Corridor are resilient.  When the mines closed or reduced their […]


    Time to Start Firewising!

    February 9th, 2022
    by

    By Catesby Suter MS Botany Late winter in Oracle often means unpredictable weather, but one thing is certain, this summer […]


  • Additional Stories

    Make a Resolution to Positively Impact the Life of a Child in Arizona; CASA of Gila County seeking volunteers as child advocates in the court system

    February 9th, 2022
    by

    Globe, AZ —January 25, 2022 – The start of a new year often comes with a list of resolutions. While […]


    U.S. Mines produced an estimated $90.4 Billion in nonfuel mineral commodities during 2021; Arizona ranks No. 1 in production

    February 8th, 2022
    by

      U.S. mines produced approximately $90.4 billion in mineral commodities in 2021—a $9.7 billion increase over the 2020 revised total […]


    San Manuel’s winning streak quashed at Homecoming

    September 6th, 2021
    by

    By Nathaniel A. Lopez   On October 1, the San Manuel football team held its annual homecoming game. The 5-0 […]


    Freedom of Speech Is Our Right

    October 29th, 2020
    by

    Freedom of Speech is not my choice to give or take.   Nor is it yours or any other persons.  It […]


  • Copperarea

  • Southeast Valley Ledger