South Lakes Swimmers Start Season Strong with Win Over Stone Bridge

South Lakes High School’s Varsity Swim teams started off the season with decisive wins over Stone Bridge High School Saturday afternoon, Dec. 7, at the Claude Moore Recreation Center.

The girls won with 202 points over Stone Bridge’s 83. The South Lakes boys scored 193 points, while the Stone Bridge boys scored 90.

“It’s a very nice opening meet with a lot of good swims. We’ll keep moving people around and see what we can do pressing forward to get people in the best events,” said Head Coach Scott Brown. “We have a lot of quality freshmen—both boys and girls. They’ll be a nice complement to the returning kids. It’s just a matter of getting them in the right spots.”

South Lakes swimmers dominated the pool.  In both the boys and girls 200-yard Medley Relay, South Lakes placed first.

Jair Valenzuela, Tyler Ellis, Bradley Torrington, and Gianmichel D'Alessandro swam for the boys. Natalie Obando, Sabrina Groves, Emily Landeryou, and Caitlyn King swam for the girls.

South Lakes boys swept four events, taking first through third place in the 200-yard Medley Relay, the 200-yard Freestyle, the 50-yard Freestyle, and the 100-yard Freestyle.

For the girls, Sabrina Groves (first), Natalie Obando (second) and Malina Stassinos (third) swept the 100-yard Butterfly event.

Mac Sogandares placed first in both 100-yard Butterfly and 100-yard Breast and anchored the first-place 400-yard Freestyle Relay team with Dylan Hawley, Benjamin Gryski, and Johnny Micka.

Joseph Hosi placed first in 200-yard Freestyle and second in 100-yard Butterfly, and anchored the first-place 200-yard Freestyle Relay team with D'Alessandro, Conor McBride, and Tyler Hutson. Hutson also placed first in 50yd freestyle. 

In addition to the 200-yard Medley Relay, Sabrina Groves placed first in both 100-yard Butterfly and 200-yard Individual Medley as well as the 400-yard Freestyle Relay with Malina Stassinos, King, and Landeryou.

Landeryou also placed first in her individual events, the 100-yard Back and 50-yard Freestyle, while King placed first in 100-yard Freestyle. Paige Sogandares won the 500-yard Freestyle event and placed second in 200-yard Freestyle.

Kaylyn Macaluso placed first in 100-yard Breast and anchored the first-place 200-yard Freestyle Relay team with Obando, Stassinos, and Katie Degutis.