Sonoma swim squads swamp El Mo

In the wake of the Sonoma Valley High School varsity boy swimmers upsetting defending Sonoma County League champion Analy in Sebastopol, they rode the momentum wave into Forestville last Thursday and splashed past SCL foe El Molino.

While the young Dragon boys routed El Molino 115-31 to remain unbeaten in league with a 3-0 first-place record, the also-young Sonoma girl swimmers emerged from their loss to defending SCL champion Analy by turning in a strong team performance and cruising past the Lady Lions for a 104-66 win and 2-1 mark.

“The highlight of the meets for me was that there were several close races our Sonoma kids came out on top by fractions of a second,” said Sonoma coach Jane Hansen, who’s assisted by Keith Ryan.

Leading the SCL first-place Dragon boys past El Molino were the winning 200-yard medley relay team of senior Rick Taggesell, juniors Cian Lacy and Jack Lewis, and freshman Dominic Tommasi in 1 minute, 55.98 seconds; the victorious 200 freestyle relay team of Lewis, sophomores Owen Summers and Jackson Mighell, and frosh Nathaniel Silva in 1:48.10; the triumphant 400 free relay team of Tommasi, Taggesell, Lacy and Summers in 3:50.01; Taggesell’s 200 individual medley (IM) and 100 backstroke first-place finishes in 2:24.95 and 1:06.66, respectively; Tommasi’s 100 butterfly and 500 free first places in 1:00.50 and 5:47.02, respectively; Lacy’s 50 free first in 24.89; Mighell’s 200 free first in 2:14.41; and Lewis’ 100 breast-stroke first in 1:16.74.

The Lady Dragons were led past El Molino by the winning 200 medley relay team of sophomore Cameron Taggesell and frosh Hannah Ladouceur, Quinn Jensen and Eliza Neeley in 2:07.08; the victorious 200 free relay team of senior Amanda Ramponi, junior Natalie Baker and frosh Grace Turner and Heather Durfee in 2:09.95; the triumphant 400 free relay team of Ladouceur, Neely, Jensen and Taggesell in 4:15.96; Jensen’s 100 fly and 100 back first-place finishes in 1:09.59 and 1:10.58, respectively; Ladouceur’s 50 and 500 free first places in 27.69 and 5:57.67, respectively; Taggesell’s 100 breast first in 1:20.85; and senior Amanda Gillion’s 200 free first in 2:30.87.

Sonoma’s boys and girls’ swim teams host both Piner and Elsie Allen in SCL dual meets, and their home finale, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, at the Sonoma Aquatic Center pool.

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Sonoma’s boys and girls’ track and field teams open their SCL season tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22, with dual meets against Petaluma and host Analy in Sebastopol.