The Grizzlies’ swimming and diving teams seem to be reaching success through the spirit and motivated attitude of the athletes.
Much to the Grizzlies’ surprise, both the men and women’s teams beat Foothill on March 20, with several swimmers placing in the top three for their events. Foothill was one of the top teams in league last year, but Cal used its spirit to dominate the Falcons.
“The energy was really high at this meet,” said senior Bridget Bugbee, a top finisher at NCS last year. “We did a different team cheer which had people really pumped for the whole meet.”
The men won by a mere point with a score of 93-92. Two of the team’s top scorers, seniors Paul Quincy and Brad Perfect, were in Florida competing at Junior Nationals for swimming during the meet against Foothill.
The Grizzlies were concerned Paul and Brad’s absence would threaten their chances of winning, but swimmers such as sophomore Brian Yee, senior Stewart Bracken, and juniors Jeremy Lewis and Kyle Stelter stepped up placing in the top three in their events.
The women, on the other hand, beat the Falcons handily by winning 106-79. Bridget, sophomore Delise Batizta, and juniors Stephanie Chang and Stefanie Rebro made for a dominating relay team. Stefanie dove into the pool one-half a body length behind the Foothill leader, but managed to swim her team to a huge win in this relay event.
Along with these women, swimmers such as juniors Maile Driggs and Natalie Meltzer placed in the top three for their events as well.
“It was pretty shocking,” Maile said. “We didn’t expect to win. They were so good last year, but they lost a lot of swimmers and we have just gotten better.”
Coach Anja Klein was nothing less than enthusiastic about beating Foothill. She hopes the win will give the team more confidence to beat other good squads.
“This is the first year I have been here that we have beat Foothill,” said Klein. “It’s very exciting.”
But Cal was not so enthusiastic after both teams lost to Amador on March 13.
Although Paul and Brad both won their events, the men lost to the Dons 95-88. Brian and Kyle also took a top three spot in the 100-meter butterfly, but it wasn’t enough to sink the Dons.
Both the men and women’s diving teams impressed the judges at the Amador and Foothill meets. The team consists primarily of new divers. Juniors Teddy Martin and Ashley Evonc have proven to be great new contributions to the team, receiving high marks on their dives in both of the league meets.
“We have some really talented new divers who are picking it up quickly,” said junior Hannah Perchau, a first year diver.
As the season progresses, a hint to how Cal will do in NCS will unfold. But the team is expecting to place higher in NCS than in previous years.
“Some of last year’s strong teams are not as strong, and we are as strong as we have been in the past,” said Bridget, referring to the women. “We just have to make sure that we step up our game.”
The men are more concerned about pulling individuals into NCS finals in more than a few events.
“We are trying to get more swimmers to go to NCS who haven’t before,” said Stewart. “We have a new relay this year and we keep trying new things.”
Despite the confidence the team has about how NCS will not be quite as tough this year, both San Ramon and Monte Vista have several exceptionally fast freshmen and sophomores. This could present a challenge to individuals trying to place in NCS finals.
“It is important we have a good relay so we can challenge the best and hopefully be a top team in NCS,” said Maile. “Our goal is to make sure that we have a girl in every event at NCS to make us a stronger team.”