Boys swim team falls in league opener

In what was both the Valley League opener and the home opener for Ramona High School’s boys swim team, the Bulldogs ended the meet against Mount Carmel on the short end of a 113-73 score.

“It went as well as can be expected,” said Coach Frank Yturralde. “I’m very proud of my guys. They swam hard.”

Illness and injuries deprived Ramona of four swimmers, and two others competed at less than full strength.

“We had an uphill battle even at that point,” Yturralde said.

The Bulldogs won four of the 12 events. Josh Sammons accumulated 207 points on six dives, not only winning the event for the Bulldogs but also posting an automatic qualifying score for the CIF meet. Albert Valentin finished first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.8 seconds, Alan Williams won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.35, and James Oneto prevailed in the 100-yard breaststroke while completing the race in 1:06.73.

While each team is allowed up to three swimmers in each individual event, the Bulldogs only fielded two swimmers in some events due to their lack of healthy team members. Yturralde chose to examine the performances of those who were in the pool.

“They did a pretty good job,” he said. “Our times are coming down, so I was pleased with where we’re at.”

Ramona has a league meet tomorrow at Valley Center. The swimmers will travel to the Mission Viejo Invitational on Saturday while Sammons will spend Saturday at a diving invitational at Fallbrook High School.