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Kayla Lambiotte (5) swam the maximum number of events and won all of them!
Jeanine Apuron | Sea Lions
Brian Mullens (9) competes in his first meet. Jeanine Apuron | Sea Lions
The San Manuel Sea Lions hosted a swim meet Saturday at the San Manuel Swimming Pool against the Globe Piranhas and San Tan Valley Barrcudas. The Sea Lions won the meet with 1076 points, while the Piranhas finished with 228 points and the Barracudas finished with 91 points. The Sea Lions made it look easy by winning 65 of the 88 events held at the meet.
The coaches were especially proud of the performance the 7-8 year old boys put on. In every event in that age group, there were three or four Sea Lions in the top places. The excitement came as teammates battled each other for the win in every race.
Four team records were broken on Saturday. Evan Apuron (10) broke a record in the 100 IM that teammate Riley Stewart held for one week. Darien Apuron (13) shaved a fraction of a second off of her 50 Backstroke record, as did Gianna Sweeney in both the 100 Freestyle and 50 Breaststroke.
Kayla Lambiotte (5), Tabitha Kellam (10) and Evan Apuron (10) each swam the maximum number of events and won all of them.
The following swimmers had first place finishes on Saturday:
Kayla Lambiotte, 5, (Fly, Back, Breast, Free);
Nevaeh Derrick, 8, (IM, Back):
Ethan Kellam, 8, (Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Rocky Andrade, 8, (Fly, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Joey Castellanos, 8, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Mason Stewart, 8, (IM, Back, 50 Free, Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay):
Desiree Galarza, 9, (Free Relay);
Briana Castellanos, 9, (Medley Relay);
Ben Fister, 9, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Tabitha Kellam, 10, (IM, Fly, Back, 100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Evan Apuron, 10, (IM, Fly, Back, 100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Riley Stewart, 10, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Hunter Hill, 10, (Medley Relay);
Genevieve Estrada, 10, (Free Relay);
Rianna Estrada, 10, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
AJ Lopez 10, (Free Relay);
Angelina Tilley, 11, (Free Relay);
Nate Fister, 11, (Fly, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
BaiLee Hill, 12, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Darien Apuron, 13, (Back, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Gianna Sweeney, 13, (IM, Breast, 100 Free, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Jayden Smith, 12, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Garry Dadow, 12, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Andres Valenzuela, 12, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Gillian Cole, 13, (IM, Fly, Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Jessi Rice, 13, (Back, 100 Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Annalisa Raneri, 13, (Medley Relay);
Jasmine Smith, 13, (Medley Relay);
Raya Woods, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Michael Primero, 14, (IM, 100 Free, Free);
Angela Navarro, 14, (Free, Medley Relay, Free, Relay);
Jacob Christian, 15, (Free Relay);
Colbey Stratton, 15, (Fly, Back, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Taylor Woods, 16, (IM, 100 Free, Medley Relay);
Megan Garcia, 17, (Back, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Timothy Mulholland, 17, (Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Amara Apuron, 18, (IM, 100 Free, Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay)
This was the first swim meet for several swimmers on the team. They swam very well and were key members of the relay events! Listed below are swimmers who competed in their first swim meet as a Sea Lion on Saturday: Brian Mullens (9), AJ Lopez (10), Destyni DeHerrera (11), Annalisa Raneri(13), and Angela Navarro (15).
Gillian Cole was named Sea Lions Beast of the Week. As a 13-year-old, she has shown that she is tough enough to handle the longer races and was ready to swim them all in a meet. Gillian achieved best times in every event, and won the Individual Medley, Butterfly and Breaststroke, and helped her teammates to win both relays.
The Sea Lions will travel to Parkside Florence on Saturday, June 14. Despite starting the season with two wins with large margins of victory, the meets are likely to get much closer. Coach Alex Gort remembers how close the meet in Parkside was last summer and expects another tight battle this weekend. “Parkside is very good team at home, and it will take our best effort to win there,” said Coach Gort.
There is still time to join the team. Contact Alex or Wendy Gort at 896-2190 or stop by the San Manuel Pool between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.) for more information.
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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