HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY DOMINATED BY PIRANHAS
High School and Club swimming are usually a point of contention in most parts of the country. Here in California the late timing of High School season falls during the club Long Course season, interrupting training to prepare for the summer. High School swimmng also isn't necessary in order to move on to College Swimming, College coaches do most recruiting out of club swimming. We will see 10 times as many College coaches at a Senior Meet than at CIF. But High School swimming can be fun and exciting. The racing experience and team aspect is valuable and something we enjoy suporting. Representing your school and being recognized by your peers as an athlete means a lot as well. When High School and Club programs support each other, the athletes get the best of both worlds. The Piranhas support High School swimming and have been supported by most High School programs, allowing their swimmers to train with us through the High School season. That teamwork has once again resulted in some of the best High School swimming the Valley has seen.
How important is that relationship? Its not a coincidence that the 2 DV Championship teams were also the two programs with the most Piranha trained athletes. Congratulations to the La Quinta Boys coached by Cal Lowell and the Palm Springs Girls Coached by Shawn Drennen, your DVL Champions. The DeAnza League had similar results as the boys champion with an undefeated league record also had more Piranhas than any team in the Valley and our own Coach Alicia as their leader.
League finals meets were dominated by Piranha trained swimmers. Every Piranha swimmer made the championship final of all events they competed in, earning all League honors. 6 out of 7 individual girls events and 14 events over all were won by a Piranha. Shelby Andrade, Xavier, was a double DVL winner while also setting two new DVL records in the the 100 fly and 100 breast. PSHS Seniors Kat Wickham and Faith Travis were double winners, each setting a DVL record as well. Kat in the 200 free and Faith in the 100 back. PSHS Alexa Wasserman was your winner in the 200 IM, and second in the 100 breast, both qualifying for CIF. La Quinta's Bryce Ramos was our men's double DVL event winner taking the 200 IM and 100 back in new school records while qualifying for CIF. Lexie Letellier, Xavier, and Richard Tomlin, Palm Desert High School, had second place finishes while Sam Turley La Quinta and Tiernan Kelly Xavier also finished with Championship finals. In the Deanza League, Shadow Hills Tyler Jarrett and Omar Seraj were double winners, while Josh Purifiacion won the 100 breast. Ramsie Haskell, Ryan Bikis, Angela Gonzales, Alondra Garcia, Derek Van Buskirk, Emelia Brady, and Eduardo Arce also had top 5 finishes.
CIF Division 2 gets harder to qualify for each year and you needed almost a Sectional cut to qualify. PSHS Senior Kat Wickham swam a lifetime best in the 200 free breaking 1:50 for the first time in prelims and finished second in finals while coming in rd in the 500 free, just a bit off her best time set at Club Champs. Shelby Andrade, Junior at Xavier, swam lifetime bests and finished third in the 100 fly and 5th in the 100 breast. Her time of 1:05 in the 100 breast is remarkable considering she started last short course season with a best time of 1:11. PSHS Senior Faith Travis had another great CIF 100 backstroke coming in third and a few tenths of a second off her best time . She did swim a lifetime best in the 100 fly and finished 7th in finals. Alexa Wasserman's 200 IM in prelims earned a trip to consolation finals then went a little faster but more importantly moving up in placing from her seed spot. Bryce Ramos, Senior from La Quinta, and Lexie Letellier, Junior from Xavier, had to swim lifetime bests at DVL to qualify for CIF in the 100 back and although they didn't make finals, both finished higher than seeded. Each of our Individual qualifiers also helped their schools team qualify for CIF relays where the PSHS girls had a 4th place finish in the 400 free relay and the La Quinta Boys with Bryce swimming an outstanding 50 free split of 22.8 finished 8th.
After having one Piranha swimmer qualify for CIF D 4 last year, 8 Piranha Swimmers qualified this year. Congrats to all of them as well as Coach Alicia and her Shadow Hills team that set several team records and had their best finish ever at CIF, proof of the benefits when clubs and High School programs work with each other. The results from this meet will speak for themselves and lots of lifetime bests were made. The most impressive statistic from the meet: Every Piranha swimmer that made finals finished higher then seeded in finals. At meets when points are on the line, that statistic can be more important than any other. SHHS Junior Tyler Jarrett finished 8th in the 200 Im and won the consolation final of the 100 fly, both lifetime bests. SHHS Sophomore Ramsie Haskell finished 7th in the consolation final of the 50 and 100 free, also lifetime bests. Josh Purificacion, Sophomore at SHHS made finals by finishing 18th ended up four spots in finals to finish 14th. His time of 1:07 from Thursday is his first JO and very remarkable considering just 6 months ago his best time in this event was 1:12.
Great job Coach Alicia and all Shadow Hills Knights on a great season. Great job by all Piranha swimmers that swim with us year around as well as in their off seasons. Piranha training once again proves to be an outstanding way to get you to the next level of High School Swimming.
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