The members of Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s swim programs will be striving to post personal records in their respective events this spring under the direction of second-year head coaches.
“Because we don’t have a lot of numbers, I’m not too focused on winning meets as a team,” Bulldogs’ leader Angelique Huerta said. “I’m focused on individuals improving on their swimming technique and making qualifying times for sections.”
“We want our kids to get faster every meet,” Hawks’ coach Cristina Rocha stated.
Ceres High has a roster size of 34 swimmers.
“We have more kids than last year,” Huerta said. “But when it comes to dual meets, our roster becomes thin due to extracurricular activities. I have no issues with kids doing multiple things in high school. I don’t want to shut down their dreams.”
Haley Gaskill (Sr.), Makynzie Hale (Sr.), Amber Hopwood (Sr.), Liset Renteria (Sr.), Camila Campollo (Jr.), Alana Inahara (Jr.), Carla Sanchez (Jr.), Valeria Salcido (Jr.), Layla Abraham (So.), Dayanna Alvarez (So.), Jessie Blevins (So.), Zhaira Brar (So.), Alice Cornejo (Fr.), Layla Gomez (Fr.), Delilah Morales (Fr.) and Heaven Vasquez (Fr.) make up the core of the Bulldogs’ girls team.
Gaskill, Hale, Hopwood, Renteria, Campollo, Inahara, Sanchez, Abraham, Blevins and Brar are returners.
Salcido, Alvarez, Cornejo, Gomez, Morales and Vasquez are newcomers.
Salvador Mendoza (Sr.), Salvador Puga (Sr.), Jesus Valdovinos (Sr.), Kevin Alvarez (So.), Jose Carranza (So.), Jose Nunez (So.), Victor Vaca (So.), Aiden Cisneros (Fr.) and Elijah Rodriguez (Fr.) make up the core of Ceres High’s boys team.
Mendoza, Valdovinos, Carranza and Nunez are returners.
Puga, Alvarez, Vaca, Cisneros and Rodriguez are newcomers.
Central Valley has a roster size of 23 swimmers.
“I’m working on building our numbers and creating an environment where kids want to come back,” Rocha said.
Ketzally Gomez (Sr.), Christina Menera (Sr.), Fernanda Patino (Sr.), Dayanara Rosales (Sr.), Emilia Barragan (Jr.), Brianna Barraza (Jr.), Madyson Daniels (Jr.), Nahomy Medina (Jr.), Alexa Sedano (Jr.), Oliva Cervantes (So.), Natalie Southavongsa (So.), Mikayla Young (So.), Andrea Alcantar Alvarado (Fr.), Kamyla Loza (Fr.), Audrey Rico Salgado (Fr.) and Joellene Roton (Fr.) make up Central Valley’s girls team.
Rosales, Barragan, Barraza, Daniels, Sedano, Cervantes, Southavongsa and Young are returners.
Gomez, Menera, Patino, Medina, Alcantar Alvarado, Loza, Rico Salgado and Roton are newcomers.
Matheo Torres Pichardo (Sr.), Phillip Esparza (Jr.), Kevin Gomez (So.), Niels Rodriguez (So.), Sean Vernon (So.), Sahib Pattar (Fr.) and Heriberto Tellez Miranda (Fr.) make up Central Valley’s boys team.
Esparza, Rodriguez and Vernon are returners.
Torres Pichardo, Gomez, Pattar and Tellez Miranda are newcomers.
Central Valley opened its brand-new Aquatics Center earlier this month.
The Hawks will no longer stage practices and home meets at Ceres High.
“It’s nice to have our own pool,” Rocha said. “It’s awesome.”
“I’m always pushing for great things for our kids,” Central Valley Athletic Director Greg Magni said.
The Bulldogs and Hawks will compete in the Western Athletic Conference and Central California Conference, respectively, this season.
Ceres High’s league schedule consists of dual meets against Johansen, Grace Davis, Pacheco, Los Banos, Mountain House and Lathrop.
The WAC Championships will be held, April 19-20 at Johansen.
Central Valley will face Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Livingston, Atwater, Golden Valley, Merced and Patterson.
The CCC Finals will be staged, April 19-20, at Golden Valley.
Central Valley will move from the CCC to the WAC next season as part of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s conference realignment plan.
“I’m excited to join the WAC next year,” Rocha said. “I hope we get to do a friendly meet (against Ceres High). That will be really awesome.”
“It’s a friendly competition between the high schools,” Huerta stated. “The kids will have fun with it. They’ll want to compete.”
