This past Saturday, the Stratford swimmers competed against Memorial, George Ranch, and Bridgeland High Schools at an all-relay meet at the SBISD Natatorium. This is a fun way for the swimmers to officially get their season started. We had several top spots and even a surprise alumni relay team: Tyler Barber, Gavin Beach, and Andres Valle—all class of 2022—and Coach Blocker Duncan--class of 2009—that raced against a class of 2023 team and an underclassman team. Although they didn’t win, the alumni team was impressive, and it was great to see them all again poolside and in the water!
Top 3 finishers:
Boys 200 medley relay
3rd (1:55.47) – Kyle Brown (back), Austin Chao (breast), Devon Beals (fly), Sam Brooks (free)
Girls 200 yard butterfly relay
2nd (1:55.66) – Allison Ortiz, Lindsay Wong, Elizabeth Conner, Gwen Beach
3rd (2:00.55) – Elle Burke, Molly Kate Minyard, Bella Smith, Lilli Oteiza
200 yard backstroke relay
Girls: 1st (2:00.15) – Gwen Beach, Caroline Smith, Sophia Giesecke, Isobel Glover
Boys: 2nd (1:51.07) – Parker Kooyman, Andy Zhuri, Marin Pavlin, Luke Barber
500 free crescendo relay
Girls: 1st (4:46.02) – Lily Askounis (50), Lindsay Wong (100), Elle Burke (200), Molly Kate Minyard (100), Caroline Steranko (50)
Boys: 2nd (4:20.89) – Wyatt McCulley (50), Luke Barber (100), Nathan Moss (200), Julian Hemmer (100), Andy Zhuri (50)
200 breaststroke relay
Boys: 2nd (2:01.01) – Ricky Conticello, Ian Ong, Lowell Moss, Marin Pavlin
Girls: 3rd (2:25.39) – Avery Garcia, Sarah Beth Roady, Emmie Hanvey, Sophia Giesecke
300 medley relay (each swimmer swims a 100 IM)
Boys: 2nd (3:02.03) – Kyle Brown, Julian Hemmer, Bryce Oliphant
Girls: 3rd (3:31.96) – Lilli Oteiza, Hana Riley, Isobel Glover
Girls 400 freestyle relay with fins
3rd (3:40.25) – Avery Garcia, Hana Riley, Sarah Beth Roady, Bella Smith
2 x 200 free relay (2 swimmers/alternating 50s, 400 yards total)
Boys: 1st (3:19.64) – Lowell Moss, Nathan Moss
Girls: 3rd (3:49.32) – Lindsay Wong, Allison Ortiz
200-yard free class relay (one swimmer from each grade level)
Girls: 3rd (1:50.13) – Bella Smith (9th), Avery Garcia (10th), Lily Askounis (11th), Gwen Beach (12th)
Boys: 3rd (1:38.12) – Kyle Brown (12th), Andy Zhuri (11th), Julian Hemmer (10th), Sam Brooks (9th)
8 x 25 mixed free T-shirt relay
Stratford took home 2nd and 3rd place. Teams changed last-minute, so I didn’t have the swimmers in each relay.