The Coronado High School swim team claimed a series of wins at their March 26 home meet.
For the junior varsity squad, the girls team defeated Point Loma High School 88-43, while the boys won 117-53. The varsity boys team won 119-52, and the varsity girls fell to the Pointers with a close final score of 88-82.
A multitude of swimmers placed first at the March 26 meet. For the boys relays, David Abdul Samad got first place in the 200-meter freestyle (free), Luca Morocco in the 200-meter Individual Medley (IM), Ryan Mondzelewski in both the 50 free and 100 free, Gage Everitt in the 100-meter butterfly (fly) and Russell Richardson in the 500 free.
Placing first for the girls team was Megan Ledgerwood in the 50 free, Chloe Quarles in the 100 fly, Ally Fabrey in the 500 free and 200 free relay and Jillian Stachowicz in the 100 backstroke.
Ben Hedberg Invitational
The Islanders also competed in the Ben Hedberg Invitational on March 16 where multiple swimmers and relay teams placed in the top 10 among a field of about 25 high school teams and over 600 swimmers.
Luca Morocco placed seventh in the 200-meter freestyle and seventh in the 100-meter fly, while Gage Everitt placed second in the 50-meter free and the 100-meter fly.
Quarles, the younger sister of CHS alum and current University of California, Berkeley swimmer Sam Quarles, placed third in the 50-meter free and first in the 100-meter fly.
She broke the meet record with her performance in the 100-meter butterfly event with a time of 57:93 seconds. These performances helped the CHS team finish fifth overall in the event.
Quarles said that the 100-meter butterfly and 100-meter backstroke are her best events— events she has been competing in for years.
“My strongest events are 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. In the 100 fly I go a 57.92, and [in the] 100 back[stroke] I go 59.39,” she said. “I started swimming when I was 4 years old for a summer league team, and six years old year round.”
Quarles said this team is special in that the swimmers are not swimming for themselves, but for their teammates.
“This team means so much to me. Getting to swim for a team is always special because it means you are swimming for more than yourself, which is something that motivates me to be the best teammate and swimmer I can be,” she said.
The Islanders’ season continues with senior night on April 18 as they continue to work to better themselves and their overall team performance. The CIF championship meets will take place on May 2 and May 3.
