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East Union overwhelms Ripon, Patterson
EU-SWIM1-3-20-10
East Union’s Julia DeGroot heads toward the wall in her first-place finish in the 200 individual medley Friday. - photo by HIME ROMERO
East Union High’s boys and girls swim teams had a solid day in the pool Friday, defeating visiting Patterson and Ripon in a three-team dual.

The Lancer boys defeated Ripon 94-63 and cruised past Patterson 60. East Union’s girls handily beat Ripon 116-51 while sinking Patterson 108-61.

“The whole team stepped up to the challenge and swam personal bests,” EU coach Aviette Heinze said. “I am so proud of all my swimmers. They performed remarkably.

Ben Alfter highlighted East Union with wins in the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. He shaved off 3 seconds of his season-best time in the butterfly and out-touched Ripon’s Alex Wever to win in 1 minute, 3.6 seconds. He also improved his time to 2:21.16 in the medley.

Frank Ciccarelli took first in the 200 freestyle (2:21.74) against Patterson, and Cesar Marquez picked up another win against Patterson in the 50 freestyle (27.47).

Julia DeGroot was EU’s multi-event standout on the girls side. She was the top finisher against both opponents in the 200 IM (2:29.33) and 100 butterfly (1:07.94).

Also contributing key wins were Amanda Sokolowski in the 200 free (2:34.75), Kim Contreras (500 fre, 7:42.71) and Mariah Borelis (28.46).

Oakdale 100, Manteca 63.5 (B)
Oakdale 109, Manteca 60 (G)
OAKDALE — Manteca struggled to keep up with Oakdale’s superior numbers but had its share of standouts in the Valley Oak League meet Friday.

Davina Bennett cruised to wins in the 50 freestyle (25.86) and 100 breaststroke (1:18.68), and her 50 free time is good for a berth to the Sac-Joaquin Section meet.

“Davina worked really hard in practice this week and she was determined to qualify for sections,” Manteca coach Elyce Ruble said. “All of her hard work paid off with her great performance tonight. Now she has her eyes set on breaking the school record held by her coach, Ashley Williams.”

Joey Grijalva picked up the only win in the boys race, claiming the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.57.

— Jonamar Jacinto