Advertisement

Swimming: Bulldogs open league with 3 straight wins

Share

Ramona High School’s boys must defeat Fallbrook at home Thursday to conclude dual meet competition with the primary standings position and must also finish ahead of the Warriors at the league meet to wrap up the Valley League title.

Comparative scores against the same opponent have no weight in the standings, but Ramona’s 108-60 victory April 7 against Escondido Charter in Escondido and Fallbrook’s 98-70 triumph April 5 at home against the White Tigers indicate that Thursday’s meet won’t necessarily give Fallbrook its second consecutive undefeated league dual meet season.

In 2015 Fallbrook’s boys were 5-0 in dual meets and won the league meet, Classical Academy finished 4-1, and Ramona was 3-2. Ramona’s April 7 victory against Classical Academy guaranteed that the 2016 results will be different from last year’s.

This year’s meets against Escondido Charter and Classical Academy were at the Baker Boys and Girls Club pool. Ramona won seven of the 11 races against Escondido Charter while also utilizing position points for the Bulldogs’ margin of victory.

“It was nice to have them get a win,” said coach Jolyn Yanez.

Ramona swept the top three 200-yard freestyle positions with Trevor White finishing in 1:58.14, Josh Pradels posting a time of 2:08.34, and Jacob Powers completing his laps in 2:30.92. Ramona’s 400 freestyle relay teams took first and second places in that event with Spencer Schwegler, Powers, Josh Ferry and Brandon Powell swimming the race in 3:42.95, and White, Dawson Webster, Vinny Thompson and Ethan Blackburn taking second place at 3:43.81.

White also took first place in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:22.94. Powell also had two individual victories, completing the 100 butterfly in 53.71 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 53.08. A time of 23.44 gave Blackburn the 50 freestyle win, and although Schwegler finished third in that race, his time of 23.81 gave him CIF meet consideration status in that event.

Kyle McLoughlin won the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.14. Ramona’s other win against Escondido Charter was in the 200 freestyle relay, which took White, McLoughlin, Pradels and Blackburn 1:37.12 to complete.

“Escondido Charter’s on the rise,” said Yanez. “They keep getting better and better every season.”

Each school may enter up to three swimmers in each of the eight individual races and up to two quartets in each of the three relay races, but a swimmer is limited to two individual races and two relay races for a meet. That necessitates at least 12 swimmers for maximum point opportunities, and since Ramona’s girls varsity only has nine members the Bulldogs were 1-2 in league competition following their loss to Classical Academy. The short-handed Bulldogs were still able to defeat Escondido Charter by a 93-72 score in part due to first-place points in eight events including the three relay races.

Trinity Stewart, Megan McLoughlin, Shenen Utech and Maddie Schwegler won the April 7 200 medley relay race in 2:16.70. Stewart, Carney Flinn, Sophia Mittman and Katie Szakara had a winning time of 1:57.79 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Schwegler, Flinn, McLoughlin, and Szakara finished the 400 relay race in 4:18.82. Szakara won the 50 freestyle in 28.04 and the 100 freestyle in 101.48. Stewart took first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:13.97 and also won the 100 backstroke 1:18.73, and Katelynn Dodd had a time of 1:23.74 to give Ramona second-place points in the backstroke. Schwegler posted a winning time of 6:01.62 in the 500 freestyle.

Fallbrook High School hosted the Fallbrook April Dive Invitational meet April 9, and two Ramona girls finished among the top five in the girls six-dive event. Kelsey Sherman was second with 133.55 points and Julie Vorce placed fourth with a score of 101.5.

“They’re still really eager to learn,” Yanez said.

Classical Academy took first place in all 11 girls events April 14 and defeated the Bulldogs, 125-38 margin.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Yanez said.

Ramona’s boys took a 92-79 victory over the Caimans. Ramona took the top two positions in both freestyle sprints. Blackburn won the 50 freestyle in 23.39 with Powell taking 23.48, and Blackburn’s winning time of 53.50 in the 100 freestyle was complemented by Webster’s second-place time of 53.91. The Bulldogs also finished first and second in the 100 breaststroke with Kyle McLoughlin winning in 1:10.43 and Pradels finishing in 1:13.97. White won the 200 freestyle in 1:55.61. Powell took first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.50. The 200 freestyle relay winning time of 1:36.36 was posted by Powell, McLoughlin, Pradels and Blackburn.

Advertisement

At a time when local news is more important than ever, support from our readers is essential. If you are able to, please support the Ramona Sentinel today.