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Joey Castellanos swims the fly. Vince Apuron | Miner
Hannah Smallhouse competes in the fly.
Vince Apuron | Miner
Over the weekend of Dec. 5-7, the Sea Lions Swim Team competed in the Winter Lights Swim Meet in Oro Valley. Out of the 16 teams from Arizona and Mexico that participated, the Sea Lions finished fourth overall with 1166 points.
Preliminaries were held each morning and swimmers who qualified in the top 16 swam in finals each evening. Medals were awarded for top three finishes in each individual event. This meet format is similar to the format used at State Championship meets. With the 2015 Age Group State Championship Meet scheduled to be held in the Oro Valley pool in March, the meet was a great preview for many swimmers.
The distance events were held Friday afternoon to start the meet off. Despite most Sea Lions swimmers being at the bottom of their respective age groups (a 9-year-old in the 9-10 age group or an 11-year-old in the 11-12 age group), they had some great achievements. Ethan Kellam (8) and Ben Fister (9) both achieved a Regional Qualifying Time in the 500 freestyle on their way to top 10 finishes. Later in the evening, Riley Stewart (11) and Evan Apuron (11) both achieved State Qualification Times in the 1650 Freestyle on their way to top five finishes. Riley was the first Sea Lion to earn a medal with his third place finish in the 1650 Freestyle with a team best time of 21:37.48.
In the Saturday and Sunday Morning Preliminary Sessions, Sea Lions swam well. Many Swimmers advanced to the finals each evening and several achieved qualification standards for other meets. Briana Castellanos (10), Joey Castellanos (9), Mason Stewart (9), Ben Fister (9), Eli Tilley (9), and Ethan Kellam (8) all achieved new Regional Qualification Times in the 10 and under age group. Nate Fister (12) achieved his first State Qualification Time in the 50 Free style with a time of 28.91.
Some of the toughest events in swimming were competed as timed finals (meaning swimmers only swam the race one time – no preliminaries). In the 400 IM, Evan Apuron and Riley Stewart finished first and third both with State Qualification Times. In the 500 Free, Riley Stewart finished second to keep the medals coming.
Relays were held in the finals sessions, and the Sea Lions once again showed they have some powerful relays. All Sea Lion relays finished in the top five. Both the 200 Free Relay (Riley Stewart, Andres Valenzuela, Nate Fister, Evan Apuron) and 400 Medley Relay (Riley Stewart, Mayo Stewart, Evan Apuron, Andres Valenzuela) in the 12 and under Boys division placed first and earned the whole relay team medals (only first place in relays was awarded medals).
A summary of individual medal winning performances by Sea Lions included: Evan Apuron, first 200 IM, first 200 Breast, first 400 IM, third 200 Free, second 50 Fly; Ben Fister, second 200 Free, third 100 Back; Tabitha Kellam, third 200 Free, third 200 IM; Mayo Stewart, second 100 Breast, third 100 Back; Riley Stewart, first 200 Back, second 500 Free, third 1650 Free, third 400 IM; and Gianna Sweeney, third 100 Breast.
Angelina (11) and Eli Tilley competed in their first USA sanctioned swim meet. Both had a great meet and finished in the top eight in at least one event.
Coaches were very pleased at the how the team performed at the demanding three day meet. All 18 of the Sea Lion Swimmers achieved personal best swims. As the Sea Lions year round team continues to grow, it is steadily working its way up the rankings in the state.
The Sea Lions practice in the Oro Valley pool during the winter months and in the San Manuel Pool in the warmer months. Anyone wanting more information about the Sea Lions Swim Team can contact Alex Gort at 896-2190.
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