The East Union boys looked to their relay teams for victory, while the Sierra girls relied on the strength of its individuals.

The Lady Timberwolves weren’t too bad in their relays, either.

Paced by a pair of victories by Vanessa Flores, including a to-the-wall finish in the 50-yard freestyle, the Sierra girls cruised to victory over East Union on Friday afternoon.

Marissa Machado, Rachel Holmstrom and Ashley McKinney also posted individual victories and the Timberwolves swept the relay events in a convincing 118-52 victory.

The boys’ contest proved to be much closer.

Lucas Romero and Elijah Salas each won two individual events for the Lancers, who needed season-best swims from their freestyle relays late to secure an 89-81 win.

Girls

Flores was Sierra’s only double winner on Friday and she had to earn that distinction with a frantic finish in the sport’s ultimate sprint.

Flores won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. She topped teammate Natalie Jamero by four seconds in the 100 free, but found a worthy competitor in the 50 from Kimmy La Mar.

In many ways, she’s largely responsible for Flores’ winning time of 29.06. La Mar posted a season-best 30.68, pushing Flores to the wall.

Haley Boyd was East Union’s only two-time winner, and she left no doubt in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Boyd opened up a 10-second gap in each distance event.

Sierra’s other individual victories included: Machado in the 100 breaststroke; Holmstrom in the 100 butterfly; and McKinney in the 200 individual medley.

East Union’s Jennelle Macedo denied McKinney a second victory in the 100 backstroke.

The margin of victory was an “eyelash,” East Union coach Nancy Wright said.

It’s accurate.

Macedo touched the wall in 1:10.10, five-tenths of a second faster than McKinney.

Macedo’s time was a personal best.

Boys

It took a series of record-setting splits by Colin Scholl, Scott Fisher, Romero and Salas in the 200 freestyle relay to seal the Lancers’ dual victory.

The quartet gradually pulled away from Sierra for a near-3.5-second victory. The eight points, Wright says, were the difference in the meet.

There were fast times sprinkled throughout the event schedule.

Romero qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section championships in the 100 free with a 54.14. He nearly posted another qualifying time in the 200 free with a personal-best 2:05.06.

Salas was the only swimmer under a minute in each of his events. He won by more than 10 seconds in the 200 butterfly (58.32) and 16 seconds in the 100 backstroke (58.66).

Scott Tolmen led the Timberwolves’ charge with victories in the 200 IM (2:15.41) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.05).