SHS swim teams shine in Clovis

The Shafter High Generals swim teams traveled to Clovis March 29 to participate in the prestigious Clovis West Invitational Swim meet, one of the toughest competitions of the season. Over 75 swim teams gathered from all over the Central Valley to compete for medals and to hit qualifying times that would guarantee them a trip to the Valley meet.

The boys and girls teams competed against 35 other teams in their division and came away with a 9th place overall in the combined score. The boys team placed 7th.

They also had a few individual standouts, with Tristan Lopez having an outstanding meet. Tristan raced to a first place finish in the 100 yard butterfly event and took 6th place in the 100-yard freestyle event, which had 109 swimmers competing. The girls 200-yard medley relay team placed 7th out of 38 teams in their division with a time of 2:22. The relay team was Alleigh Hanner, Makena Knapp, Kaelah Perez and Areyal Hernandez.

On the boys side, the 200-yard freestyle team of Tristan Lopez, Anthony Mestaz, Malachi Dewitt and Dylan Perez finished with a time of 1:45 and a 5th-place medal. This time will likely get them into the Valley Championship meet at the end of the season. This team has been getting stronger every meet and are peaking at the right time. "These boys have been working really hard and are hopefully Valley bound," said Coach Larissa Davis.

The Generals had a couple more individual highlights at the meet. Anthony Mestaz took 22nd place in the boys 50-yard freestyle, out of 106 swimmers in the event. Kaelah Perez took 13th place in the butterfly on the girls side, out of 85 swimmers.

The Generals boys and girls teams will conclude their regular season with a dual meet against Wasco at the Shafter Aquatic Center beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday April 11, followed by the South Sequoia League meet at Bakersfield College on Saturday, April 27, beginning at 8 a.m.