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Pride sinks Bulldogs in cross town showdown
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Lucy Deitz leads off for Turlock High during the final girls relay on Friday at Pitman. - photo by CANDY PADILLA/The Journal

With the Stanislaus County and Central California Conference championships only days away, Turlock and Pitman High’s swim teams squared off in a dual meet on Friday in a battle to see who would come out atop in the annual cross town rivalry clash.

By the end of the day, the high number of swimmers and talent of Pitman’s were able to overcome the lighter Turlock squad as they dominated in a convincing fashion 126-55 at Pitman High.

“I think overall everyone pulled their weight. We do have very good numbers and all our kids swam well,” Pitman girls head coach Michaela Solario said. “It was a great day for us all around. Good start for Stan County and CCCs next week.”

The girls’ team took first place in every event except in the breaststroke.

Hollie Tinley led the way with multiple first place finishes after owning the 200 and 100 free. Annika Jasek-Rysdahl took the first place honors in the 200 IM and also the 500 free.

Jordyn Kennell was able to top out in first in the fly and back.

 “It has been a good season but definitely full of struggles. With our pool being broken and the lack of practice time it has been rough but they have been working hard to achieve their goals,” Solario added.

Pitman’s boys’ team swam equally well, topping out with nine first place finishes. Among them were Max Rodriguez, Alex Rosero and Gavin Madrigal, all of which finished with personal best times.

Rodriguez sank the competition after a stellar 100 breast stroke showing. Rosero would top out in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.39 and Madrigal led the way in the 200 freestyle.

“We had good performances. We took a lot of first and second place finishes; we kept our standard to gear up for Stanislaus championships tomorrow before we roll into next week’s championships and getting ready for it,” Pitman boys head coach Ryan Bullard said.

Along with strong individual performances by the Pride boys and girls swimmers, it was the relay teams that were perfect after finishing with three first place finishes for the boys.

“Relays were strong, all three took first place, pretty solid performance overall, and we added new swimmers as well,” Bullard added.

Turlock struggled on both sides as it was Pitman’s day, however the Bulldogs still managed to pull away with a few first place finishes in the girls and boys events.

Sarah Phillips topped out in first after a stellar performance in the 100 breast with a time of 1:13.00.

“Pitman is a great team and they have very strong swimmers. It’s really a rebuilding year for us, on the other hand I think 60-70 percent of our girls had personal best times so we come a long way, but it will take a few seasons to get to that level of competition,” Turlock girls head coach Lauren Bettencourt said.

For the boys, Zach Glidden saw the best day for the ‘Dogs after topping out with two first place finishes in the 50 and 100 back.

“Score didn’t reflect it but I think our team did a good job from where we started the season,” Turlock boys head coach Nick Serratos said. “Pitman has a lot of experience and the numbers, we hope to learn but it is a rebuilding year.”

“I think Pitman has a great team, I think with our freshman and sophomores in a couple years we will have what it takes to compete with these powerhouses, me and Nick are trying to work at getting the program up and back and running to continue the success we always had,” said Bettencourt.

The Stanislaus County meet will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at Johansen High.