Diving into their first meet of the season after newly lifted Covid-19 restrictions, the bearcats took home the gold against rival school, Atascadero. The men’s Varsity and JV teams and women’s Varsity team finished first against the Atascadero Grey Hounds.
The Paso Robles Bearcats began their first meet of the season against Atascadero with the Men and Women’s 200 Yard IM Relay. Senior athlete Abigail Springer swam the 50 Yard Backstroke, freshman Mackenzie Ruppe did the 50 Yard Breaststroke, junior Holly Disimone swam the 50 Yard Butterfly, and senior Kendall Moffit finished the relay with the 50 Yard Freestyle. The Varsity girls ended with a time of 1:57.65. The Varsity boys were next in the same event and finished with a time of 1:58.39. Junior athlete Cody Domingoes swam the 50 Yard Backstroke, senior Nolan Rumph did the 50 Yard Breaststroke, sophomore Jacob Baier swam the 50 Yard Butterfly, and junior Jackson Parr ended the race with the 50 Yard Freestyle.
Up next was the Men and Women’s 200 Yard freestyle. Holly Disimone placed first for the Varsity girls with a fishing time of 2:03.76. Likewise, sophomore Justin Haggmark finished first for the Varsity boys with a time of 1:58.38. Following the 200 Yard Individual IM, Abigail Springer took first with a time of 2:25.40 for the Varsity girls. In a nail-biting performance by Cody Domingoes and Nolan Rumph -with Domingoes pulling in 1 second in front of Rumph on the last 25 yards of the race-Domingoes finished with a time of 2:30.12 to Rumph’s 2:31.40.
Another close finish was in the Varsity Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle by senior Tre Eade and junior Reily Lowry. Lowry launched off the block and secured a strong lead for the first 25 yards of the race. Trailing behind him, Eade pulled ahead in the last 25 yards and took first in the event by tenths of a second… 24.37, Eade. 24.89, Lowry.
As the end of the meet grew closer, junior Ava Hughes scored first place in the Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke by .01 halves of a second against Atascadero swimmer Annika Pauscheck. Neck and neck the entire race, Hughes finished a fingertip ahead of Pauscheck and secured her victory with a time of 1:10.64.
As the bearcats ended their first meet and secured their first wins of the season for three of their four teams, the final scores of the meet were a 69 to 18 loss for the JV Girls, a 102 to 65 win for the Varsity Girls, an 84 to 25 win for the JV Boys, and a 136 to 13 win for the Varsity Boys. With an overwhelming victory and many events swept by the bearcats, many are looking forward to the season ahead of them.
