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Evan Apuron, 9, swims the 50 butterfly. (Maya Gort photo)
The San Manuel Sea Lions swim team traveled to Florence to face the Parkside Piranhas and the Eloy Otters. The Sea Lions won the meet with 781 points while Parkside finished with 689 points and Eloy with 103 points.
Head Coach Alex Gort was proud of how the team depth delivered the win for the Sea Lions. He likes to point out that it is the team with the most points that wins, not the team with the most first place finishes. In fact, the Piranhas won 8 more events than the Sea Lions during the meet, but it was the 2nd to 6th place finishes that tipped the score in the Sea Lions favor at the end of the day.
The 11-12 Girls Relay Team broke team records in both the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Free Relay. Darien Apuron, Gianna Sweeney, Kayla Parker and Raquel Ortiz teamed up to go faster than any Sea Lions relays have gone before.
Evan Apuron, Gianna Sweeney, and Will Newman won every race in their age group.
The following swimmers had first place finishes on Saturday: Mikael Corona, 6, (Breast):
Ethan Kellam, 7, (IM, Fly); Tabitha Kellam, 9, (IM, Fly, Back, Free, 100 Free); Riley Stewart, 9, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Evan Apuron, 10, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, Free, 100 Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Hunter Hill, 10, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Brian Mulholland, 10, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Kayla Parker, 11, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Darien Apuron, 12, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Gianna Sweeney, 12, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, 100 Free, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay); Raquel Ortiz ,12, (Medley Relay, 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); Armanda Noriega, 15, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Taylor Woods, 15, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Timothy Mulholland, 16, (Medley Relay, Free Relay); Amara Apuron, 17, (IM, Breast);
Wayne Newman, 18, (IM, Fly, Back, Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
This was the first swim meet for Nikki Porras (10). Nikki had a great first meet against tough opponents and earned a ribbon.
Taylor Woods was named Sea Lion Beast of the Week. Taylor constantly puts his full effort into practice and does not shy away from any events at the meet. His willingness to swim every event and score points was representative of the way the Sea Lions won on Saturday.
The Sea Lions will travel to Coolidge to compete against the Dolphins on Saturday June 29.
There is still time to join the team. Contact Jeanine Apuron at 385-9854 or stop by the San Manuel Pool between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information.
Kayla Parker, 11, swims the 50 freestyle. (Maya Gort photo)
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