Bulldog boys outswim Knights, fourth in Ironman relays
Ramona High School’s boys swim team defeated San Marcos in a Valley League meet April 20 at home and then participated in the Ironman Relays meet April 24 at Del Norte High School, where the Bulldogs’ highlights included fourth place among 18 schools in the two-man relay division and third place in the co-ed division.
Ramona won 10 of the 11 events in the dual meet against San Marcos. In a dual meet, schools enter up to three swimmers for each of the eight individual events, although Ramona does not have enough varsity swimmers to enter three boys in all eight events.
“I’ve got some really good second and third swimmers,” said Ramona coach Frank Yturralde.
Ramona had the top three scoring positions in the 100-yard breaststroke, which also saw junior Chris Casteen earn his first-ever varsity win. The Bulldogs also swept the top three 100-yard backstroke positions, led by first-place finisher Alan Williams.
Williams also won the 200-yard individual medley, in which the Bulldogs only entered two swimmers and had the two fastest swims.
The 200-yard individual freestyle race was the only event won by San Marcos, but Ramona had the second, third and fourth finishes in that race.
Collin Torsak won both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle races in the meet against the Knights. Dominic Scottolini won the 100-yard butterfly, and Kari Gonter took first in the 500-yard freestyle. The Bulldogs won all three relay races.
The win over the Knights gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 record in Valley League dual meets.
Because the Ironman Relays includes co-ed events, the overall score covers both boys and girls events and the Bulldogs placed seventh. Divisions are based on gender, number of swimmers in each race, and distance in each race.
“The varsity boys swam very fast in their events. We were always in the hunt to win,” said Yturralde. “And the JV boys, they got a learning experience.”
The Ironman Relays is officially a varsity meet and did not have a JV division.
“I brought everybody, even the JV,” Yturralde said. “They have so many events I decided to bring my junior varsity to get them the experience.”
Ramona was third in the co-ed division.
“That’s where I stacked all my top swimmers,” Yturralde said.
Torsak teamed with Ellie Carrano to win the co-ed 200-yard freestyle relay.
In the four-man relay division Ramona was third overall in the 200-yard medley relay race. Ramona not only took fourth overall in the two-man relay division but also finished fourth in each of that division’s four races.