The Turlock Seadogs notched another victory June 25 after placing first in the 2016 Sea Dogs Invitational in a mix of five teams from the Mid Valley Swim League at Pitman High.
Although the meet was a victory, the day was highlighted by the remembrance of Mark Selee, who died at age 44 in November 2015.
Seadogs stood above the five participants with a score of 1869.5 and the Ripon Sea Lions were second at 1565.5. The Ceres Dolphins followed in third at 1303.
“This meet was dedicated to an amazing man (Mark Selee) and it started out as a very emotional day as we had a summer family meeting with our team and remembered and honored him,” said Seadogs coach Michaela Solario. “We vowed to go out there and swim our best in honor of him.”
It was also the fifth Seadogs Invitational victory.
“I could not be more proud to take home this victory for the fifth time in a row,” said Solario. “Almost all of our kids improved in one or all of their events. It was a fantastic day and it will be a day that myself and I'm sure the Selee family will always remember.”
Eight swimmers earned high point honors for the day in their respective age groups for the Seadogs.
Malia Sloan, Meg Hall, Madison Ngo, Nolan Lok, Izzy Romeo, Matt Hesse, Audrey Morgan and Dom Walls were all the high point winners for the Seadogs who dominated their meet.
In the six and under age group, Malia Sloan placed first in the 25 yard fly, back and free and was part of the 100 yard medley relay.
Hall topped all in the 100 yard individual medley in the 9-10 age group and also the 100 yard free and 50 fly. She was also part of the 200 free relay team that placed first.
In the 15-16 age group, Audrey Morgan placed first in the 100 IM, 100 free, and also the 200 free relay as well as the 200 medley relay team. Morgan also took second in the 50 yard breast, just behind Seadog Naomi Wenstrup.
Matt Hesse, Dom Walls, Zach Glidden, and Josh Buck placed first in the 15-18 200 yard Individual Medley Relay race with a time of 1:49.19.
Hesse placed first in the 15-16 100 yard IM and he also took first in the 15-16 100 yard back along with a close first place finish in the 50 yard free, winning by .24 seconds.
Hesse, Glidden, Buck and Walls also took first in the 200 Yard Free Relay from the 15-18 age group after a time of 1:37.14.
Izzy Romeo took first in the 13-14 age group for the 100 yard free race with a time of 1:00.45. Romeo also took first in the 50 yard fly with a time of 30.16, just .28 seconds from second place.
Romeo topped all in the 50 yard free race with a time of 27.48. Romeo also was part of the second place 200 yard free relay team along with Ashley Figurell, Kianna Hesse and Mackenzie Peterson.
Along with Romeo was Hesse, Figurell and Wenstrup in the first place result in the 200 yard medley relay for the 13-14 age group.
Out of 102 races, the Seadogs placed second or better in 65 of them.
“The kids did just that, we laughed, they swam amazing and at the end of the day our summer family prevailed as a unit,” said Solario.
Madison Ngo took first in the 11-12, 100 yard Individual Medley with a time of 1:14.31 and in a very tight race, Ngo tied Victoria Silveria of Ceres with a time of 33.03 in the 50 yard back race.
Ngo also took first in the 50 yard breast with a time of 36.46.
Nolan Lok, Michael Tobin, Tanner Clayton and Noah Cossey placed first in the 13-14, 200 yard medley relay race with a time of 1:55.88. Lok also took first in the 100 yard IM with a time of 1:02.51. In the 50 yard fly, Lok took first with a time of 27.04.
Lok placed first in the 50 yard back with a time of 28.10. Lok, along with Clayton, Cossey and Tobin all took first in the 200 yard free relay after striking a time of 1:43.65.
The Seadogs will take a week break before competing again, when they will take on Tracy at Ripon on July 9.
