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High Point winners from the Sea Lions are pictured left to right: Riley Stewart, second 11-12 Boys; Evan Apuron, first 11-12 Boys; Darien Apuron, first 13-14 Girls; Tabitha Kellam, second 11-12 Girls; and Ethan Kellam, second 9-10 Boys.
Vince Apuron | Miner
Over the weekend of Jan. 9-11, the Sea Lions Swim Team competed in the Prescott Plunge Swim Meet at the indoor pool at Yavapai Community College. The meet featured 12 teams from throughout the state of Arizona and the Sea Lions finished in fourth place overall with 552 points. Westside Silver Fins (Goodyear), Vitras Swim Team (Verrado), and Sunwest Swim Club (Glendale) topped the team standings. Coach Alex Gort commented that finishing ahead of teams from Sedona, Flagstaff, and Prescott was a good achievement for a team from a community our size. Six individual swimmers from the Tri-Community area received trophies for high point scoring based on the number of points they earned in each individual event. Evan Apuron (11) won the 11-12 boys High Point Trophy with a total of 101 points. Darien Apuron (13) won the 13-14 girls High Point Trophy with 94 points. Ethan Kellam (8), Riley Stewart (11), Tabitha Kellam (11) and Will Newman (15) all brought home second place High Point Trophies in their respective age groups.
The brother and sister combination of Evan and Darien Apuron won a total of 19 individual events at the meet between them. Darien won nine events and Evan won 10. No other swimmer in any age group won more than eight events. Coach Alex Gort commented on the Apurons’ performance at the meet. “Both Evan and Darien swam the toughest possible schedule in the three day meet and won the most races,” he said. “Against some great competitors, they came through time after time. Most impressive is the fact that they are both at the bottom end of their age groups.”
Other Sea Lion Swimmers also won events at the meet. Ethan Kellam swam faster than the meet record in three different events, but it was not until his swim in the 25 Freestyle (17.61 seconds) that he won a race and set a meet record that held up. Older sister Tabitha Kellam swam the race of her life in the 400 IM to achieve her first State Qualifying Time as an 11-year-old and Meet Record time of 5:39.53. Will Newman (swimming with FAST Swim Team – Oro Valley) won five races and set a new meet record time of 2:04.81 in the 200 Backstroke. Rocky Andrade finished first in the 200 Fly and Riley Stewart won the 100 Back.
The Sea Lions practice in the Oro Valley pool during the winter months and in the San Manuel Pool in the warmer months. Anyone wanting more information about the Sea Lions Swim Team can contact Alex Gort at 896-2190.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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