The CCS Invitational held at Bullard High School and hosted by Fresno Dolphins as the first swim meet in the new year recognized high point recipients for each age from six to fourteen. Four of our 47 TNT swimmers performed at a level that deserved such recognition, and led the team to its second place finish behind the 157 member Clovis Swim Club.
Natali Herrera of Selma led all seven year old girls in points as she took home the high point for that age by swimming seven events for the meet, and scoring in six of them. Her 29 points made her the only 7-year old girl with a double-digit score. Her highest place was second in the 7-8 age group 100 yard backstroke (1:44.68). Damian Brown took home the honor by leading all boys who were seven years old. His 31 points led the second place by 20 points. Damian swam six events in the 7-8 division, and placed no lower than 5th in any of them. He had three 3rd place finishes in the age group that included his 50 breaststroke (1:00.38), 50 free (40.01), and 100 IM (1:56.62). Daniel Haley was the winner among 8-year old boys with 47 points. Daniel scored in seven events, and was the event champion in both the 7-8 boys 50 backstroke (46.59) and 8-under 100 IM (1:40.45) events. In his seven events, Daniel placed top two in five of them. Danielle Albright led all 9-year old girls, an age division that fielded the top four point getters as TNT swimmers (Danielle Albright, Kylie Walker, Peyton Mckinzie, & Layla Flores in that order). Danielle competed in eight events, and was the event champion in four of the eight events that she competed in, including the 50 breaststroke (37.15), 200 free (2:25.93), 100 breaststroke (1:21.96) and 100 IM (1:16.45) events.
Our additional event champions included Joseph Cobarrubias of Fig Garden who took home the win in the 13-over 50 freestyle (22.51), Skylar Ford of Visalia who was the event champion in thee of her four 9-10 girl events on day 1, including the 100 free (1:01.55), 50 fly (30.63) and 100 back (1:13.75) events. Ten year old Jackson Huckabay went undefeated in the 9-10 boys division, winning all four of his events on Saturday: 100 free (1:05.70), 50 breast (39.62), 200 IM (2:42.16), and 200 free (2:23.08). London Jones was the event champion for the 6-under girls 25 fly (25.08), while Matlyn Morris marked her return with four wins in the 13-over division that included the 100 free (54.66), 200 back (2:17.58), 50 free (25.27), and 100 back (1:02.99) events. Ten year old Alex Roberts took home the win in the 50 backstroke (35.70), while Selmas Satoshi Shinkawa was the event champion in the 11-12 boys 50 fly (29.15). Runner-up high point swimmer, nine-year old Kylie Walker became the event champion in the 9-10 division in both the 50 free (30.35) and the 100 fly (1:20.49) events.
Nine year old Peyton Mckinzie was one of only two TNT swimmers to maintain a 100% improvement rate among the 47 who entered the meet. She swam improvements in five events that had been previously recorded with the team (100 free, 50 breast, 200 free, 50 free and 100 IM), and swam three events for the first time (100 back, 100 breast and 100 fly). Her highest finish was in the 9-10 girls 100 fly event where her time of 1:28.47 was fast enough for a third place finish in the event. Our other 100% improvement came from Brittney Vierra who improved her 50 freestyle by over two and a half seconds. She also swam the 200 breaststroke event in the 13-over division for the first time.
A welcome to the team goes to 12-year old Brandon Hatch who records five new times with the team in the 11-12 boys division. His highest finish came in the 200 freestyle where his time of 2:20.64 earned a 4th place finish in the event.