LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The combined swim team made up of swimmers from Kelseyville High School and Clear Lake High School traveled to Santa Rosa on Thursday to compete in their first double-dual swim meet against Calistoga High School and Piner High School.
The girls won both meets and achieved a first for the girls’ team: a first-place finish in every single race against both teams.
“This year’s girl’s team is incredibly effective,” said Head Coach Agustin Merodio. “They started the meet strong with a first place in the 200 Medley Relay – and never let up.”
The boys won their meet against Calistoga but lost the second meet to Piner by just 6 points.
“The boys swam strong but Piner had a few more swimmers and got us in the end,” according to Merodio. “However, the win over Calistoga, a bigger team, shows that we are swimming competitively and will only continue to improve.”
Merodio went on to say, “The deciding factor for our victories on this first road trip was the speed we got back into the water after the Lakeport Unified School District decided not to open Westshore Pool. If Quail Run hadn’t opened their doors to us as quickly as they did, we would not have been as competitive in the water in Santa Rosa. This first victory is dedicated to Quail Run.”
Allison Hanson, senior swimmer from Clear Lake High School mentioned another advantage of this first meet.
“Kelseyville High School was generous enough to provide the swim team with a school bus for all of our road trips this season,” she said. “This is the first time that the entire team was able to travel to our meet together as one unit. We were able to go over the lineup on the road, practice our pre-meet cheer, and get a last minute pep talk from our coach.”
Two new team records were recorded at the meet in relay events.
The first was in the girl’s 200 Medley Relay – swam by Liz Fricker, Lauren Rudnick, Sarah Merodio and Allison Hanson – winning first with a time of 2:21.06.
The second team record was in the 200 Free Relay – swam by Kim English, Sarah Merodio, Allison Hanson and Lauren Rudnick – winning first with a time of 2:11.24.
Other swimmers with first place finishes were Andres Tejeda, Owen Lawler, Connor Disney and Tim Peterson.
The newest relay team of Kaylie Williams, Shannon Fronsman, Tasia Jardstrom and Ciera Moreno also finished first in the 400 Free Relay.
Next up for the swim team is their meet against Healdsburg next Thursday.