Bulldogs cap perfect dual season with division title
SAN JOSE — Was there a more fitting way for Ammon Suzuki and the Sobrato boys swimming team to end the regular season?
On the weekend the Bulldogs sacked the Santa Teresa Division championship meet in impressive fashion, beating second-place Piedmont Hills by more than 90 points, Suzuki finally clinched the section-qualifying standard in the 50-yard freestyle that has eluded him for years.
Suzuki came agonizingly close to accomplishing that feat this spring, falling seconds — even tenths and hundredths of a second — short. In his second-to-last swim of the regular season, Suzuki made the cut. He clocked 22.96 seconds during preliminaries Friday, eclipsing the standard by three hundredths of a second.
“He was pretty ecstatic,” Sobrato second-year coach Paul Harris said. “He’s been trying for that not just all season, but his entire high school career.”
For Suzuki and his teammates, the weekend at Independence High School’s Frank Fiscalini International Swim Center, was not meant for disappointment. Sobrato legitimized an 8-0 run through division dual meets and added two more section-qualifying standards – 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay – on top of Suzuki’s. The Bulldogs will send six to this weekend’s CIF-Central Coast Section finals meet at the Santa Clara Swim Center.
“The boys were excited to win league,” Harris said. “All year they were kind of expecting to do well. I let them know that, going in, they had to make sure they have great times.
“I knew they would do well; they did well all season. I expected them to win league, and they did.”
Behind Sobrato (494.5), Piedmont Hills placed second with 402 points; and Silver Creek third with 298.
The Bulldogs won three events on the way to their second division championship in program history. Their medley relay of Suzuki, Timmy Thompson, Patrick Read and Michael Lopes placed first in 1:46.29, and their CCS-bound 400-yard freestyle relay of Suzuki, Lopes, Adam Jasper and Danny Thompson won in 3:33.72. Danny Thompson also won the 100-yard freestyle in 51.94. He was subbed out for Lopes in the medley relay, which was less than a second from qualifying for CCS earlier this season.
“Danny is a great freestyler, but I decided to switch it up,” Harris said. “The medley was tenths off this year. I think they missed CCS last week by .3. I figured they’d make it this time. They were swimming well.”
Making his debut in backstroke, Sobrato’s Man of the Weekend, Suzuki, came through in the clutch. The senior helped the medley relay shave four seconds off its personal-record time, making the cut by more than two seconds.
With 411 points, Prospect took the girls title handily, while Independence (324) and Branham (277) placed second and third, respectively. Sobrato’s young girls team ended its season with a fourth-place finish at 274.
The Lady Bulldogs failed to land any CCS berths last weekend, but had their highlights. Sophomore Nika Burnett bested her PR in the 500-yard freestyle by a staggering 18 seconds, freshman Miranda Herrington dropped four seconds in the 100-yard backstroke, and Brittney Doutt shaved nearly seconds in the 50 freestyle.
“Those are pretty amazing,” Harris said. “That’s like a season’s worth of improvement in one meet.”
