The Ceres Dolphins recrecreational swimming club wrapped up the 2015 season with a year-end banquet on July 19 at Ceres High School.
"It's a big event for us," head coach Tracy Bull said. "We spent over $3,000 on awards for the kids. They deserved it."
Jesse Vazquez, 13, was the recipient of the "Connor" Award.
Former Dolphin Connor Saavedra passed away at the age of seven in July of 2010.
Vazquez has autism.
"When the season started, he couldn't swim well," Bull said. "By the end of the year, we were taking him to all the meets. He tried so hard. His confidence and social skills got better. He was one of the more popular kids on the team. He has a great heart. He loved giving out hugs to everybody."
Most Valuable Player awards were given to Zachary Jones (17-18 boys), Reuven Denton (15-16 boys), Evan Lumpkin (11-12 boys), Diego Armas (9-10 boys), Julia Pata (15-16 girls), Alyvea Olanolan (11-12 girls), Danika Brar (9-10 girls), Kaydence Bispo (7-8 girls) and Leilani Olanolan (6&under girls).
"They were so dominant," Bull said.
Colin Ramos (17-18 boys), Bobby Baranski (15-16 boys), Tristan Freitas-Scott (15-16 boys), Agustin Leyva (13-14 boys), Gary Dodd (13-14 boys), Elliott Lewis (13-14 boys), Jordan Browning (11-12 boys), Brett Hartley (11-12 boys), Oliver Kidd (9-10 boys), Nicholas Campbell (9-10 boys), Eduardo Lopez (7-8 boys), Zachary Esparza (7-8 boys), Rhett Thatcher (6&under boys), Parker Johnson (6&under boys), Annie Connors (17-18 girls), Taylore Bentley (15-16 girls), Katrina Guevara (15-16 girls), Hannah Denton (13-14 girls), Camille Hartley (13-14 girls), Mikiela Jackson (13-14 girls), Aryanna Jimenez (11-12 girls), Victoria Silveria (11-12 girls), Emma Silveria (11-12 girls), Leslie Bovadilla (9-10 girls), Abigail Gonzalez (9-10 girls), Madeline Staley (7-8 girls), Bianca Najera (7-8 girls), Zhaira Brar (7-8 girls) and Zajara Melchner (6&under girls) were presented Swimmer of the Year awards.
"They were really good swimmers and worked hard," Bull said. "They went above and beyond."
Best Newcomer awards went to Iain McCarthy (9-10 boys), Elias Melchner (7-8 boys), Bailey Bowmer (11-12 girls), Erin Geary (9-10 girls), Julissa Gonzalez (7-8 girls) and Yahrely Hernandez (7-8 girls).
Hardest Worker awards went to Ivan Ponce (11-12 boys), Blake Ricks (9-10 boys), Jullissa Arreola (13-14 girls), Tori Kelley (11-12 girls), Grace Messer (9-10 girls) and Savannah Gonzalez (7-8 girls).
Breakout Swimmer of the Year awards went to Maddie Kidd (13-14 girls), Hannah Kelley (13-14 girls) and Allison McAdams (11-12 girls).
Daniel Hagens (15-16 boys) and Gurpreet Singh (15-16 girls) were recipients of the Mister Dolphin and Miss Dolphin awards.
Andy Tan (9-10 boys) and Cailin Kelley (9-10 girls) were named Mr. Junior Dolphin and Ms. Junior Dolphin, respectively.
The Dolphins finished third at the 2015 Mid-Valley Swim League Championships.
Jones and Bispo were both awarded High-Point trophies for their dominance in their respective age groups.
Ceres' boys and girls teams placed first and second, respectively, in the MVSL dual-meet standings.
