Nine swimmers from the High Desert competed at the CIF-Southern Section swimming championships at Mt. San Antonio College.
Granite Hills freshman Sosetina Esquibel made a splash at the Division 4 finals on May 7, swimming in three races.
Esquibel took third place in the girls 50 freestyle with a time of 25.51 seconds, just besting her mark of 25.84 at the prelims on May 5.
“Sosetina began the season with no formal swim training and quickly became our fastest sprinter,” said Granite Hills assistant coach Tracy Bright. “Her goal going into finals was to be 1% better. She certainly achieved that goal. Sosetina will continue to be a force in the DSL and CIF-SS.”
Esquibel also competed in two relay races with fellow freshman Melana Serrano, sophomore Bethany Bright and Sophia Knight, a senior.
They took fourth place in the 4×50-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:48.84, and fifth place in the 4×100-yard freestyle relay with a mark of 4:04.86, which they shaved nearly five seconds off from their mark set at the prelims.
“We are excited about what next season will bring with the return of Sosetina, Melana and Bethany as they build on their strength and skills in this sport,” Bright said. “They have record-breaking work ethic, potential, sportsmanship and character. We are excited to keep this momentum up and add to our swim program. Our motto this year has been ‘go have fun swimming fast with friends.’ And that is exactly what we did.”
On the boys side at the Division 4 finals, Burroughs senior Dustin Bui claimed first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.32 seconds. He also finished fifth in the 50 freestyle at 22.36 seconds.
Three Silverado swimmers qualified for the Division 3 finals, which were held Friday morning.
Silverado’s Isabel Maust capped her high school swimming career by claiming fourth place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.54 seconds. Maust also finished seventh in the 100 freestyle at 54.11 seconds.
Maust will continue her swimming career at Biola University.
She was joined by teammates Tommy Fernandez and Cameron McIlroy at the finals.
Both finished 18th in their races. Fernandez posted a time of 2:07.59 in the 200-yard IM, while McIlroy finished the 100 butterfly at 54.64 seconds.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert swimmers shine at the CIF-Southern Section swimming championships
Reporting by Jose Quintero, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
