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No stopping the Turlock Seadogs
Seadogs own their own Invitational
turlock seadogs
The Turlock Seadogs hoist their first place trophy after winning the Seadogs Invitational at Pitman Highs pool this past weekend with four other teams present. - photo by Photo Contributed

The Turlock Seadogs can't stop tasting victory in the Mid Valley Swim League this season.

It seems like all they do is win, much like this past weekend at their own invitational between four other squads: Ceres, Ripon, Tracy and Manteca.

Driven as usual, and heavily motivated by head coach Erich Richter and Michaela Solario's words, the Seadogs stayed cohesive as a unit and dominated the day as they won by a huge margin of 479.5 points.

“Coach Richter always mentions to the kids that they are a family and that we need to go out there and swim our best and support each other,” Solario said. “That is what we strive to do each and every week, have the kids swim their best and have everyone in our swim family support each other.”

It’s a big reason that the Seadogs are off to a perfect 5-0 start for the season and have been rolling over their opponents with big wins.

To say this unit is a family would be an understatement because they would go above and beyond one another in any situation, Solario said.

The tenacity and determination of the Seadogs on Saturday was indescribable.

They swam like there was no tomorrow, finishing in the top two in 64 out of the 102 races.

“We had some amazing swimmers this weekend as always, but at an invitational you get to see who truly stands out above the pack as far as talent goes,” Solario said.

Alexander Esquibel, Henry Garcia, Avery Ahlem, Kaylee Amarant, Livia Romeo, Cooper Harris, Meg Hall, and Cohen Harris were all big point getters for the Seadogs team, who finished the afternoon with a total of 1938 points. Second place Ceres finished with 1458.5.

“Our amazingly talented and spirited kids are always cheering on their teammates and working hard to swim fast and be legal in all their strokes,” Solario said.

Noah Cossey and Michael Tobin tied for the overall high point trophy as each have 20 consecutive first place finishes.

Tobin also added personal bests in the Individual Medley and the breaststroke.

Along with the top point getters, Madison Ngo, Kianna Hesse, Leilani Ortiz, Izzy Romeo, Kim Canisso, Mary Lee and Matthew Hesse added much needed points.

“Amazing day for the Seadogs and a lot of fun,” Solario added.

The boy’s side was absolutely dominant as Nathan Olson took second overall and Josh Buck placed third after an amazing performance in the 100 yard fly with a record breaking time of 58.29.

Along with Olson and Buck, Allan Quinn and Zachary Glidden all helped break two relay record times. First in the 200 yard free relay, the four clocked in at 1:36.67 and placed them in first. Then in the 200 Medley relay, the group finished with a time of 1:49.02.

Ava McCullough in the 9-10 age groups also took 15 seconds off her time in the 100 free and concluded with a time of 1:27.95.

“She has been working so hard and watching her finish that race and look at that clock was amazing,” Solario said of McCullough. “The reactions on her family’s faces were pretty amazing.”

In the same lane, Abby Braley ended up taking 10 seconds off her best time which helped in getting the team a mass amount of points in the long run.

The Seadogs next meet will be against Tracy at 9 a.m.  July 11.