SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis swimming team defeated Pleasant Grove 97-56 in the first Delta League meet of the season.
"I think our Troubies came out and braved the weather today," said Head Coach Richard Levin. "When it comes to swim meets most people think it is warm and sunny, we came out today in down pours. They swam hard. All first meets can have their challenges especially after just four weeks of practice."
Senior Hannah Parulan won two individual events and competed on two relays, while freshman Baya McIntosh won two individual races in her prep debut.
"We saw some bright spots and our freshman class is especially bright, continuing the tradition of new crops coming in," said Levin. "It was nice to see the senior leadership from the likes of Hannah Parulan and upperclassman like Laura Freeworth."
Parulan swam on the 200-yard medley relay that finished third and on the winning 400-yard free relay, while winning the 200-yard individual medley (2:17.90) and the varsity 50 freestyle (26.33).
"High school is all about touching first and having fun," said Parulan. "We accomplished that so far."
McIntosh won the 200-yard free in 2:17.90 and 100-yard backstroke (1:04.44), while classmate Meredith Garcia took the 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.64)
Garica teamed with sophomore Maddie Hoppa, freshman Lauren Jones and sophomore Anna Poarch-Twining to win the 200-yard medley relay in the first event of the day. Freeworth had the top finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.78 to finish second and Jones was second in the 100-yard freestyle in 59.96.
In the Frosh/Soph division, Audrey Fry, Emily Castles, Abby Newman and Hannah Freund placed second in the 200-yard medley relay. Garcia won the 50 free in 25.60, Taja Suruki took the 100-yard fly, Caroline Smith won the 100-yard butterfly, Kennedy Whitney was fist in the 100-yard backstroke and Bella Austin took the 100-yard breaststroke.
St. Francis will compete at the American River College Invite this weekend on Friday and Saturday.
"We are going with 40 girls to this meet," said Levin. "We are going to get some experience with some races we are not comfortable with, have some fun and cheer for the Troubies."
