By Laurel Merrick and Starly Richards,
Editor-in-Chief and Media Editor.
As one of the many Santa Rosa High School spring sports teams, the swim team is ready for another great season. With only four dual meets in the year, our Panthers are eager to make a splash.
The team got off to a rocky start with a loss against Cardinal Newman for both girls and boys, although there were some standout performances. Senior and three-year varsity captain Olivia Beck took the win in the 50-yard freestyle with an impressive time of 27.64 seconds. Junior and first-year captain Laurel Merrick won the 100-yard freestyle with a 56.6 and also qualified for NCS in both the 200 and 100 freestyle. The girls 200-yard freestyle relay, consisting of senior Beck and juniors Jace Sullivan, Starly Richards and Merrick also placed second with a 2:01.13. On the boys side, sophomore and first-year captain Grayson Chase placed second in the 500-yard freestyle with a 6:37.66, an astounding 17-second drop from his previous personal best. The Panthers also faced a loss against Maria Carillo in both boys and girls divisions the following week.
After a rough start to the season, the boys demolished their rivals, Montgomery High School, on April 8, winning 79 to 35 while the girls came down to the wire but pulled through, winning 83 to 81. Despite the boys side being a complete blowout, the meet was electric. Three races came down to a push in the final yards; the hoots and hollers from the swimmers could be heard across Santa Rosa. In the 100 freestyle, freshman Zinnia Brulard beat her Viking opponent and earned silver by just a half a second, giving her a time of 1:22.68 and allowing SRHS to come in both first and second places. Surprisingly, one of the most nail-biting races came from an unconventional place: the 500 — the longest high school event — with a rabid fight for second place. Junior Jace Sullivan was half a lap behind a Viking when from three lanes away, he began hunting her down. In the final stretch of the race, Sullivan beat his opponent and earned a personal best of 7:08.12. The 500 cannot be dismissed without also mentioning three other personal bests from Richards (7:24.67), Chase (6:27.38) and senior and first-year captain Issac Hawks (6:37.86). Additionally, senior Gaspar Mahe and freshman Nate Bourde both had personal bests in the 200 individual medley, 2:29.20 and 3:07.79 respectively.
The true MVP of the meet was Beck. She had a standout performance in the 100-yard backstroke, beating her opponent by just one second and having a season-best swim of 1:08.27. Understandably, Beck was exhausted after such a feat, but when it came down to the end, with only the 400-yard freestyle in the way of beating our rivals or going home crying, Beck stepped up. The race started off well, with the Panthers earning half a lap of a lead, but the Vikings fought hard and going into the last leg had a body length advantage. But that lead was easily demolished by the anchor, Beck, and the relay earned a personal best of 4:29.15. “My favorite part of [beating] Monty was the team spirit and the last race,” Beck explained.
The Panthers wrapped up their season with a double win against Ukiah at home, a final score of 88 to 82 for girls and 75 to 68 for boys. On the girls side the most standout performance was Sullivan’s 500 with a time of 6:55.32, a 13-second drop. On the boys side, junior Caleb Johnson had two season bests with a 58.74 in the 100 freestyle and a 25.89 in the 50 freestyle. This was also the Panthers’ senior night and they honored Mahe, Beck, Hawks, Ezra Hostutler, Jonah Wurtzel and junior and exchange student Lucia Carballo.
Swim NBLs will take place on April 24 and 25. Good luck, Panthers!
