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Jones beats boys in virtual swim meet

The Fallbrook High School and San Pasqual High School swim teams had a virtual meet March 4 with the Fallbrook boys and girls competing in the Fallbrook High School pool and the San Pasqual contingent using the Del Norte High School pool.

Although each actual race involved only swimmers from one school, the boys and girls from each school swam in the same race and Fallbrook junior Jocelyn Jones finished ahead of two Fallbrook boys in each of her individual races and had faster times than all three San Pasqual boys in the 50-yard freestyle while bettering two San Pasqual boys in the 100-yard freestyle.

Although dual meets with two teams in the same pool are allowed, San Pasqual, which was scheduled to host the March 4 meet, was not able to obtain a starting time earlier than 6:45 p.m., so the Fallbrook swimmers and divers likely wouldn't have returned home until after 10 p.m. The Fallbrook portion of the meet began at 3 p.m. and was completed around 5 p.m. San Pasqual was not made aware of the Fallbrook times until after the Golden Eagles swam.

"I think the kids had fun because they got to race," said Fallbrook girls coach Sean Redmond.

"I was skeptical that kids wouldn't take it seriously, but it was exactly the opposite," said Fallbrook boys coach Bill Richardson. "It definitely worked out okay."

Having boys and girls in the same races meant that one of the girls might have a faster time than at least one of the boys. "That in itself caused excitement," Redmond said. "That worked out for us well."

"They kind of test each other," Richardson said. "I'm sure that pushed the boys."

Each school is allowed up to three swimmers in each of the eight individual events and up to two relay teams in each of the three relay races. Although the Fallbrook and San Pasqual swimmers were unaware of how they would fare against their counterparts, the desire to beat their own teammates provided the pacing and final efforts associated with a normal meet. "It's a matter of pride," Redmond said.

Richardson noted that the pacing includes saving effort for later races. "You have to give it everything you have and see what happens," he said. "I think it will make a difference in the longer events."

Fallbrook took first and second in the boys 50-yard freestyle race with junior Brock Bushnell finishing in 22.84 seconds, which is an automatic qualifying time for the CIF meet should it be held this year, and junior Tegan Cannon completing his two laps in 25.64 seconds.

Cannon was actually the third overall finisher as Jones had a time of 25.33 seconds, which is an automatic CIF meet qualifying time.

"That was a good race to watch between the two of them," Redmond said. "That had a little bit of excitement there."

The first finisher in the 100-yard freestyle, junior Kai Maestas, had a CIF meet consideration time of 51.65 seconds.

Jones' time of 59.04 seconds is a consideration mark. One San Pasqual boy joined Maestas in having a faster time than Jones.

Richardson noted that the boys and the girls practice together. "I don't think it's any surprise to those boys," he said of Jones' speed. "She deserves everything she gets."

Because Fallbrook High School's pool had been closed, Jones practiced with the Renegade club during the summer and fall. Those practices were at the Baker Boys and Girls Club in Escondido, so she swam with many members of the San Pasqual High School team.

"That was the bad part about not being able to do it in person," Redmond said. "She wasn't able to see some of her friends."

The inability to be in person with friends on the opposite team also involved San Pasqual junior Kayden Trafford, who swam for Fallbrook as a freshman and sophomore and also played water polo for the Warriors.

Redmond noted that availability of a local pool in Escondido during the summer and fall gave San Pasqual an advantage in the meet against Fallbrook. "They have quite a few year-round club swimmers who have been able to swim," he said.

San Pasqual won the girls portion of the meet by a 90-79 score. "They had some really good swimmers," Redmond said.

After the conclusion of the Fallbrook performances, Redmond traveled to Del Norte to watch the Golden Eagles swim and dive. "It was fun to watch," he said.

Fallbrook's boys took a 95-81 victory over their San Pasqual counterparts. "They had a couple of personal bests," Richardson said. "They had some great swims for where we're at in the season."

Because San Pasqual has a declared diver, the diving results were included in the boys team score even though the Golden Eagles' diver didn't compete. Fallbrook senior Donovan Taylor accumulated 245.85 points on six dives, bettering the CIF meet automatic qualification score he achieved Feb. 25.

The Fallbrook girls divers competed for CIF qualifying purposes. A score of 193.00 gave sophomore Payton Wilson automatic qualifying status; senior Kassidy Ewig posted her first consideration score of the year with 178.15 points, and freshman Ava Papoulias accumulated 126.30 points for her six dives.

Papoulias' first high school meet Feb. 25 included a diving score of 101.95 points. "That's a huge improvement," Redmond said of her March 4 score. "She even did new dives."

In both of Trafford's individual races, he finished second overall behind Fallbrook junior Doug Pearce. Pearce won the 200-yard individual medley with an automatic qualifying time of 2:02.68 and Trafford earned consideration status with a 2:17.03 performance. Pearce also posted an automatic time in the 100-yard butterfly he won in 53.63 seconds while Trafford's time was 1:02.93.

Bushnell also won the 500-yard freestyle and had a consideration time of 5:10.57. Maestas added a win in the 100-yard backstroke while posting a consideration time of 1:06.27. Fallbrook sophomore Ian Ritchie had consideration times in both of his individual events, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:56.11 and placing second in the 100-yard backstroke he completed in 1:02.27.

Fallbrook won both freestyle relay races. Ritchie, Maestas, Pearce and Bushnell had an automatic time of 1:35.04 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Bushnell, Pearce, Ritchie, and Maestas completed the 400-yard freestyle relay in a consideration time of 3:33.19.

San Pasqual won the 200-yard medley relay, but the Fallbrook quartet of junior Jake Martin swimming the backstroke, freshman John Hodgkinson taking the breaststroke laps, junior John Norman using the butterfly stroke, and sophomore Kenneth Fukunaga anchoring the race with the freestyle gave the Warriors consideration status in that event with a time of 2:02.53.

Fallbrook took both first and second in the girls 200-yard freestyle relay. "It was a good race," Redmond said.

Both Fallbrook times met the consideration standard. The winning time of 2:01.61 was posted by junior Grace Goode, junior Erin Burnett, freshman Kela Kendall, and Jones. The quartet of junior Leyla Houx, sophomore Arden Baur, Wilson, and junior Brooklyn Van Norstam finished in 2:02.48.

The faster San Pasqual girls 200-yard freestyle relay team completed the event in 2:02.67. "That would have been a fun race," Redmond said.

San Pasqual won the other two girls relay races, but Fallbrook had consideration times in both. Goode, freshman Ava Dowden, sophomore Stephanie Hanlon, and freshman Marissa Pearce swam the 200-yard medley relay in 2:05.56. San Pasqual won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:17.03 while Pearce, Dowden, Hanlon, and Jones took 4:18.67.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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