2012 BULLETIN ALL-AREA GIRLS SWIM TEAM
SIMONE GAGNON, RIPON – Gagnon was one of the key members of the Ripon Indians girls club, landing the programs only Valley Oak League championship in the 200 IM. Gagnon also recorded a third place finish in the 100 fly.
AMANDA CHRISTENSEN, MANTECA – Christensen put together an impressive season for the Buffaloes, helping Manteca to a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay and nabbing a top-5 finish in the 100 fly.
EMMA LEWIS, RIPON – Lewis turned in the VOL’s second fastest time in the 50 free championships and also helped the program with a fourth place finish in the 100 free during VOLs. Lewis went on to take seventh in the section frosh-soph 50 and 100 free.
JANNELLE MACEDO, EAST UNION – Macedo made definite impact on the VOL’s fourth place club. She earned a third place finish in the league championships in the 200 IM, continuing her success into the SJS Sections with a sixth place finish in the event’s frosh-soph consolation.
ASHLEY MCKINNEY, SIERRA – McKinney had one of the bright runs for a challenging Sierra high season, closing out the Valley Oak League season with a top-5 finish in the 100 free and contributing on both 200 and 400 free relay squads.
— Jagada Chambers
By JAGADA CHAMBERS
Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin
For the majority of the season, East Union’s Julia De Groot recorded victory after victory for the Lancers’ varsity girls swim team.
Posting points and effortlessly handling the competition is what glistened about De Groot’s senior season, but it will be the pain in which she accomplished it that will stand out most.
De Groot, the Manteca Bulletin’s 2012 All-Area Girls Swimmer of the Year, suffered through shoulder issues throughout her four-year Lancer career, yet the pain of the injuries took an unprecedented toll in her final season.
“The pain started off right before the high school season started,” De Groot said. “It began my freshman year, but it got better. The therapy that I was going through my sophomore and junior year wasn’t working as well my senior year.
“It was like my injuries just progressed.”
Through determination and perseverance De Groot’s success continued to progress as well.
She was nothing short of brilliant throughout her East Union career, leading the Lancers in points scored over the past three seasons and recording 50 victories during her tenure. De Groot also landed a Sac-Joaquin Section Swimming Championships berth in each of her four seasons.
De Groot qualified in four different events for this year’s section meet. She opted to depart from her responsibilities in the individual events she qualified and focus on assisting her teammates in the relay.
“I swam both of the relays with my team,” De Groot said. “I raced in one relay and then I had my individual events and felt like if I swam in the two individuals that I wouldn’t be able to swim with the rest of my team. I felt like I would have let my team down by choosing those individuals over that relay.
“So I just put those two aside and powered through the relay.”
Both relay teams finished with respectable top-30 finishes, with the 200 medley relay taking 28th and the 400 free relay finishing 22nd. De Groot’s primary focus was to help the team get better. The Lancers have made subtle strides in the right direction, having De Groot as a foundation through first-year head coach Kara Andrews debut season was invaluable.
“I always just wanted to win to help my team,” De Groot said. “I’ve always wanted to help our team get better. We weren’t the best team in the league, but we were continually improving over the years.
“I wanted to assist in that all four of my years.”
De Groot closes out her Lancer legacy with a second consecutive Bulletin All-Area award, cementing her name in the Lancer’s record books for season’s to come.
“I’m not sure how much better I could have been time wise,” De Groot said. “But I feel like if I had gotten the training in without my shoulder issues I would have had a better career. One of my goals this year before I got hurt was to break the school record in the 500.
“If I wasn’t injured I feel like I could have done that; it’s just something I wish I could have done.”
