The boys varsity swim team continued their winning streak and secured a 95.5-73.5 point victory against the Woodside Wildcats on Friday afternoon. However, the girls varsity swim team came up short, losing 105-65.
The meet began to an unfortunate start, with junior Maya Earley obtaining an injury during warm-up that rendered her unable to compete in the meet. Her absence altered relay lineups and likely affected the girls’ overall point total.
The Bears started off strong by securing two CCS cuts in the 200-yard medley relay. On the girls’ end, seniors Addison Finn and Hailey Pruess, and freshmen Hanna Lai and Kate Wong finished in 1:51.47. The boys, consisting of juniors Alex Powell and Michael Powell, freshman Augustin Araya, and senior Jack Bullard, secured a time of 1:42.69.
In the 200 freestyle, Preuss emerged victorious with a time of 1:55, just two seconds before the second-place finisher, getting the team another CCS cut.
“I did breaststroke on the relay, the 200 medley relay, and went pretty well. I feel like my stroke was really connected, and I did well. I caught up to Woodside’s A relay, so I’m really happy,” Pruess said.
Continuing the Bears’ winning streak, M. Powell also placed first in the 200-yard Freestyle, completing his race in 1:42, seven seconds ahead of the Woodside swimmer who earned second.
Despite their achievement in the 200-yard freestyle, the girls fell short of Woodside in the individual medleys. A Woodside swimmer scored first in the 200 IM, but their triumph was followed by three M-A swimmers: Lai, freshman Maddie Webb, and Wong earned second, third, and fourth, respectively.
The boys triumphed in the 200 IM, with freshman Ryan Powell winning first for the team.
The 100 Butterfly represented a trend that continued throughout the meet. The boys won first, and the girls fell short of Woodside, earning second, third, and fourth places. A. Powell won by a wide margin, completing his race in 54.54 seconds, nearly six seconds before the runner-up. Finn barely earned second, touching the wall just one second after the first-place Wildcat swimmer. Wong and Sarah Chang were third and fourth places respectively.
M. Powell swam the 500-yard freestyle in 4:30.87, securing himself another CCS cut during the meet.
In the 200-yard freestyle relays, Woodside overpowered both the girls and boys teams. A strong effort by Finn, Wong, Chang, and Webb resulted in the girls securing second place. An impressive performance by Bullard, freshman Theodore Laster, freshman Ryan Ko, and R. Powell earned second place by almost 0.1 seconds,
Throughout the relays and 500-yard swims, teammates encouraged those swimming by cheering on the sidelines. “I think the team feels a lot closer this year than in previous years. Maybe just because I think there’s a lot of the other seniors that I’m with, I’ve had four years with, and it’s been cool to watch them grow and become better swimmers. But it’s also super exciting to have all these new swimmers. We have a bunch of fast freshmen, and we have a buddy system where the upperclassmen are signed to lower classmen, and I think it helps create this team dynamic and culture on the swim team,” senior Kai Kawaguchi said.
Preuss won the 100-yard breaststroke, reaching the wall three seconds before the runner-up. The boys reached the wall after by a small margin, with Araya and junior Chan Na winning second and third respectively.
Though the Bears faced losses throughout the meet, they ended strong in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Again, Finn, Pruess, Lai, and Wong swam the relay in 3:55.30, getting them another CCS cut. A. Powell, M. Powell, Ko, and Laster also secured a CCS cut of 3:20.93.
While the girls team was not as lucky as the boys, Pruess swam the meet with a positive and determined mindset. “Everyone is behind the blocks and warming up, and we are missing a good chunk of people, so I’m really proud of how we’ve been showing up. And, you know, I feel like some people could have seen the people we don’t have on our roster right now, and kind of given up a little bit. But I feel like we haven’t done that. I feel like we are still sharp and we’re ready to go.”
The Bears will return to the M-A pool for a tri-meet against the Mills Vikings and the Aragon Dons on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
