PIRANHAS PERFORM WELL AT CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS
During the last four weeks of our Summer Season the Piranha Swim Team and Piranha Masters Swim Team competed in seven different Championship meets all with exciting results. Our second place finish at Sectionals previously reported got the ball rolling for the Piranhas July 17th. Then we kept on going......
JUNIOR OLYMPICS
18 Piranha swimmers competed in the Southern California Swimming Junior Olympics in Riverside. Our relays were the most successful point producers and single handedly helped our team move up six spots to finish 13th place in the combined team scoring out of 45 teams and 7th in the girls division. The 15-18 girls A relay won four events while coming in their other. The 200 and 400 medley relay teams of Faith Travis, Alexa Wasserman, Shelby Andrade, and Kat WIckham were gold medal winners and Indira Ceranic joined the group to win the 400 and 800 free relays. The 15-18 girls B relays also produced points with their 800 free team of Alissah Koochaki, Lexie Letellier, Lindsey Letellier, and Shelby Andrade finishing 8th then joined by Sophie McEwen in the 200 and 400 free relays for top 16 finishes. The 11-12 girls team of Kelli Andrade, Desiree Lewis, Sarah Parks, and Emma Johansen earned a 4th place finish in the 400 free relay and also finished top 8 in three other events.
Individually the Piranhas were lead by the Shelby Andrade, Kelli Andrade, and Alexa Wasserman. Shelby was our high point scorer with four finals and 2 consol finals swims that included a second place finish in the 100 breast and third in the 100 fly. Kelli Andrade and Alexa Wasserman were just a few points behind Shelby. Alexa was second in the 400 IM and 200 breast with top 8 finishes in two other events. Kelli brought home gold in the 50 breast, bronze in the 100 breast, and had four other second swims. Although they skipped most of the meet to prepare for Junior Nationals, Kat Wickham took gold in the 800 free and Silver in the 200 fly while Faith Travis was 5th in the 800 free. Lindsey Letellier, Desiree Lewis, Lexie Letellier, and Alissah Koochaki contributed with consolation finals. Devin Richardson, Bryce Ramos, and Matt Dore swam outstanding meets with 100% best times leading the boys side of our team.
After the pool portion of JO's, the Piranhas were represented by Emma Johansen at the first ever Southern California Swimming Open Water Junior Olympics. Emma finished 19th in the 11-12 2K competition held at Castaic Lake and an event we hope to see more Piranhas involved with next year.
US OPEN
UCSD Senior Nick Korth finished his outstanding summer while representing the Piranha Swim Team at the US Open. The 21 year old's time of 1:02.8 in the 100 breast placed second in the consolation finals. Good luck to Nick and his UCSD teammates this coming season.
EASTERN COMMITTEE JO MAX CHAMPS
Our 11-12 girls were the Piranha leaders in points scored at the Eastern Committee JO Max Championships where over 50 Piranhas swam. Emma Johansen was the Piranha individual points leader with seven top 8 finishes that included a gold medal in the 200 backstroke. Sara Parks had 8 individual scoring swims with division wins in the 100 free, 100 IM, and 50 free. Emma and Sara teamed with Naomi Asencio, Alyssa Woody, and Francesca Crevoiserat in the 200 free and 200 medley relays to earn top five finishes. Alissah Koochaki won the 200 breast, 400 IM, 100 back and finished second in the 1650 free. Erin Fleet swam seven out of seven best times with top three finishes in the100 fly and 100 back. Other Girls with individual division top 8 finishes: Naomi Asencio, Alyssa Woody, Carmen Rodriguez, Jordan Nadler, Zoe Mendoza, Maya Murillo, Mari Chavez, and Francesca Crevoiserat.
Bryce Ramos was the Piranha boy's leading point scorer. He went seven for seven in best times with five top 8 finishes. Matt Dore was right behind Bryce in points scored with victories in the 50 breast and 100 back while earning a new JO cut and also placing top 8 in six other events. Josh Purificacion finished top 8 in seven events including over 20 second time improvements in the 200 free, 200 IM, and the 200 Breast where he took 4th. Richard Tomlin, our top 13-14 swimmer, had five top 8 finishes including a division win the in the 50 free and also swam seven for seven best times. Michael O'Neill made several new Blue times, swam all best times, and finished with division top three spots in six events. 7 year old Brody Nejedly-Krall was a Gold medal winner in the 25 free, Devin Richardson won the 100 free and was second in the 50 back making a new JO cut, Cody Meyer swam five best times and won the 50 fly, Nate Parks earned three third place finishes, and Jonathan Escoto had five top 8 division finishes. Others boys ending the meet with division top 8 finishes: Liam Keene, Colin Gilhuly, Christian Meyer, and Brenden Gilhuly while Chris Crevoiserat helped the 11-12 boys relays score points for the Piranhas. The Piranha Swim Team finished 11th out of 21 teams in our Eastern Committee.
JUNIOR NATIONALS
Kat Wickham and Faith Travis competed in their first Junior Nationals the week of Aug 5th in Irvine. Kat swam best times in the 800 free and 400 free while earning new Junior National time standards in both. Faith also made a new Junior National time standard in the 200 back while dropping almost 2 seconds. Overall a great performance for their first Junior Nationals. With these swims they have now already qualified for the next two Junior Nationals this coming December and August.
US MASTERS NATIONALS
Five Piranha Masters Swimmers competed Aug 9 and 10 at the US Masters Long Course National Championships. Karla Anderson finished 5th in the 400 IM, 6th in the 100 fly, and 12th in the 50 fly of her division. Ian James finished 37th in his division of the 50 free and Cat Moe was 39th. Cat and Ian were joined by Andrew McCauley and Chris Vargo to swim the 200 free relay and finished 17th in their age division. Very inspiring to watch this group set the goal of swimming at Nationals with only 2 previous meets experience and then follow through.
NORTH AMERICAN CHALLENGE CUP
Shelby and Kelli Andrade were selected as members of the Southern California Swimming NACC Team. The group of Socal All Stars traveled to Washington and competed against other All Star teams from Mexico, Pacific Swimming, and Pacific Northwest Swimming. Shelby Andrade once again stepped up big for her team by winning the 100 fly and also made finals in four other events. In addition to the individual swims Shelby was a part of three SCS girls relays. Two of those relays earned second place finishes. 11 year olds don't typically make 11-12 All Star teams but Kelli is not your typical 11 year old. Kelli had top 8 finishes in both the 100 breast and 200 breast while helping the SCS B relay team finish 6th in the 400 medley relay.
Great Summer Season Piranhas! The coaches are very proud of you all and the results we have worked together to achieve. Goals were set and many of were reached while others are not too far off. Meet participation is a major area we are going to work on improving next year. There are several Piranhas not on this list that should be simply because they didn't swim enough meets. Enjoy your break and start thinking about how you as an individual can improve the most and contribute to the team reaching even higher levels next year.
