Sonoma Dragon swimmers sweep SCL again

Swimmers will have to wait to see if times qualify for NCS|

For the second year in a row, the Sonoma Valley High swimming Dragons on Saturday swept both the boys and girls Sonoma County League Meet. It was also the fourth straight SCL championship for the boys.

Both teams won with plenty to spare. The boys ran up 503 points, Healdsburg was second with 271, Petaluma was third with 252, , El Molino was fourth with 199, Analy was fifth with 114 and Piner was sixth with 107.

The girls got 533 points, Analy was second with 388, Petaluma was third with 331, Healdsburg was fourth with 232, Piner was fifth with 199 and El Molino was sixth with 91.

The boys won six of 13 events including the 50 free with Dominic Tommasi; the 100 free with Dominic Fiorito; the 500 free with Ethan Smith; the 100 butterfly with Tommasi; the 200 free relay with Fiorito, Jason Pine, Tommasi and Smith; and the 400 free relay with Fiorito, Pine, Tommasi and Smith.

“I was happy to see Dominic Tommasi end his high school career with double victories. He’s such a great leader, can always be counted on the get the job done and will be sorely missed next year,” Coach Jane Hansen said.

In the 50 free, Tommasi won with Fiorito third and Hank Schoeningh fourth while in the 100 free, Fiorito was first and Pine was second. In the 200 free, Chris Berger was fourth.

“Dominic Fiorito burst onto the scene this year as a sophomore and his swimming genes are evident. Both parents were swimmers,” she said. “His future is bright.”

Sonoma took first, fourth and fifth in the 500 free with Smith winning by a 14-second margin over the second-place finisher, Berger was fourth and Rishi Clark was fifth. Jack Yeates was fifth in the 100 back and third in the 200 IM.

In the 100 breast, Schoeningh was second, Pine third and Mario Coronado fourth.

“Ethan (Smith) won the 500 free and was second in the 100 fly. Jason Pine also continued to show promise, earning second in the 100 free, and third in the 100 breast,” Hansen said.

Sonoma took three of the first four spots in the 100 butterfly with Tommasi winning, Smith second and Dane Paulson fourth.

In addition to winning the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay, the Dragon team of Yeats, Berger, Paulson and Schoeningh was second in the 200 IM relay.

“Hank Schoeningh joined the team after wrestling ended having never swam on a team before. He ended up placing second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 50 free,” she added.

The girls also won six of 13 events including the 50 free with Hannah Ladouceur; the 100 free with Charlotte Hunter; the 200 free with Hunter; the 100 back with Ladouceur; the 200 free relay with Sofia Portello, Hunter, Ladouceur and Abby Parr; and the 400 free relay with Parr, Portello, Ladouceur and Hunter.

“The girls were led by veteran Hannah Ladouceur, who, despite battling a back injury all season, managed to pull off double wins in the 50 free and 100 back,” Hanson said.

In the 50 free, Ladouceur won and Portello was third while in the 100 free, Hunter won, Parr was second and Faith Thomas was fifth. Hunter won the 200 free with Hanna Wales third, and Portello and Kathryn Ajax was second and third respectively in the 500 free. Ladouceur was first and Parr third in the 100 backstroke while Maya Grajczyk was second and Wales third in the 100 breast.

“Sophomore Charlotte Hunter blazed through the 200 free, with her NCS consideration time 1:59.94 and her 100 free, also NCS consideration 55.5. She led off the winning 200 free relay with 25.41, which is also NCS consideration,” she added.

Grajczyk was fourth in the butterfly; Ajax was third and Isabella Dedmore was fifth in the 200 IM.

“Senior Abby Parr was stellar and Maya Grajczyk had a great swim in her 100 breaststroke,” she said. And she also had high praise for Ajax, Portello and Wales.

In addition to their wins in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay, the 200 IM relay team of Ajax, Toni Arzaga, Wales and Grajczyk was third.

Hansen was proud of what her swimmers accomplished.

“This year, we had the biggest turnout of kids that we have seen in Sonoma since the glory days of the 1990s. We started out the year with 55 kids on the team,” she said. “Unsure how to handle it, we didn’t cut anyone and ended up breaking the kids into groups and holding practices at different times. It just made us stronger.”

The swimmers will have to wait another week to find out if any of their times qualified for the North Coast Section swimming meet.

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