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Pride boys swimming sweeps regular season duals
Turlock girls complete perfect CCAL regular season
pitman boys swim
The 2019 Pitman High varsity boys swim team finished the regular season with an unblemished league record of 5-0 after defeating Turlock High on Wednesday, 106-62 (Photo contributed by Dave Walls).

Pitman High varsity boys swimming and Turlock High’s varsity girls swimming completed the regular season sweep in the newly created Central California Athletic League after Thursday’s final meet of the year.

The Pride’s varsity boys won the meet 106-62 while the Bulldog varsity girls won 102-46.

 “It was a very good meet, in the last relay, we went 3 seconds faster than our normal time, especially later in the day, and they are ready to do something,” said Pitman head coach Mark Garrett. “Turlock is a good team, they have some pretty good guys, and through their lineup they have individuals that can-do things, but our guys stepped up all the way through. Our guys were sitting there, never won anything in aquatics and I said they should be proud and enjoy it. I am proud of the kids, for having never won anything, it is special for them and I am happy to be here with them.”

“We are now 5-0 going into our CCAL meet, leading the league,” said Turlock girls head coach Anne Cornell. “The girls swam well and swam personal bests today. I am very proud of our team. They have worked hard for the win and continue to earn personal bests.”

On the varsity girls side, Pitman won just a single event (200 IM) while Turlock took home 10 first place finishes.

Hannah Castro won both her individual races, 200 and 500 free with personal bests. Sierra Yandell in both her races and Izzy Romeo won the 100 fly. Emmerson Stempson won the 100 free and Kianna Hesse won the 100 back—all were personal bests.

For the varsity boys, Pitman won seven events while Turlock took home five first place finishes.

“Straight up and down the board, I had to redo our times for league, since I had guys swim so much faster, from top of the event list to the bottom, they all swam faster,” said Garrett who has been coaching since 1974 (47 years). “We had 12 different places where guys went faster and that is a great thing. We took each week, one at a time and it all worked out. I also would sit down and look at the other team and it was a collaborate effort and they did it.”