With the temperature in the high 80’s, Valencia swim team took on Canyon swim team at Santa Clarita Aquatic Center Tuesday afternoon.
Winning both the boys and girls events, 117-50 and 139-25, respectively, Valencia head coach Kathryn Rosenast was happy with the win.
“I think it was a great meet to come back after spring break for,” Rosenast said. “…We had some really really optimistic young swimmers that stepped up and filled some spots, so we are really fortunate.”
Dylan Perante was a standout for the Valencia boys, winning singles events in the 50-yard freestyle (22.20 seconds) and 500-yard freestyle (4:54.27), as well as the 200-yard freestyle relay (Perante,Ronit Shresta, Woo Young Yi, Ryan Davis) and 400-yard freestyle relay (Perante, Ronit Shresta, Joshua Lee, Woo Young Yi).
Perante attributed his fast swimming to the weather.
“I think I just had a good day today,” said Perante. “I think the weather had a lot to do with it because I had a better mental attitude.”
Ronit Shresta won the 200- and 400-yard freestyle as well as the 100-yard freestyle (50.24) and 200-yard freestyle (1:50.16) for the Vikings.
“It’s nice to see how much Canyon has improved compared to the previous years and it makes me really excited for leagues,” said Shresta. “It’s going to be fast.”
Canyon’s Kevin Childs took home three first-place trophies, winning the 100-yard butterfly (52.08) and the 100-yard backstroke (52.51), as well as 200-yard medley relay (Childs, George Monday, Nathan Dellarda, Jordan Krestul).
“I’m really happy with the 200-yard medley,” said Childs about the group win. “We really excelled in that, so that was a surprise. For the other two events, it comes down to making it at practice and coming hard every day.”
For the girls, Allison Cho took home first place in the 200-yard freestyle (2:06.84) and 500-yard freestyle (5:39.85).
She also helped in Valencia’s 200-yard medley relay (Cho, Jin Young Yi, Izabella Adame, Julia Unas) and 400-yard freestyle relay (Cho, Sabrina Acosta, Julia Unas, Izabella Adame) wins.
“Personally, I felt I did pretty good today,” said Cho about her first places finishes. “…The team overall did a lot better. We were a lot more supportive and cheered a lot more this meet. We had a lot more supporters.”
Jin Young Yi joined Cho winning the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay, as well as the 200-yard individual medley (2:18.92) and 100-yard backstroke (1:03.39).
Trying to build on the momentum from this meet and a big meet coming up against Hart next week, Valencia’s Yi will continue to work and improve her techniques.
“… I have to work on my technique and nail all aspects of my race,” said Yi via text message. “Also because it’s all about mentality, we shouldn’t be doubting ourselves and just race as hard as we can to keep our winning streak.
“I think because we have great teamwork there wouldn’t be a problem with our sportsmanship and everyone cheering.”
Valencia will host Hart on Tuesday, April 17. Canyon hosts Golden Valley Wednesday, April 18.
