Benicia High’s varsity swimmers were little fishes in a big pond at last week’s Sac-Joaquin Section Championships at Tokay High School in Lodi.

The Lady Panthers had a solid showing and took ninth place as a team with 98 points. Granite Bay won the varsity girls team championship with 321 points, followed by Davis (310) and Rio Americano (178). American Canyon was 28th.

Benicia’s varsity boys earned only four points and finished in 35th place. Oak Ridge won with 290 points, followed by Granite Bay (282) and Jesuit Marauders (228.5). Vanden finished tied for 17th with 37 points.

Jessica Larson was the star swimmer for the Lady Panthers, finishing fifth in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. Larson joined Samantha Man, Esther Hurst and Hannah Barlow on a Benicia girls 200-yard freestyle relay team that took sixth place. Larson, Barlow, Kelsi Norman and Alyssa Powell took eighth place in the 200 medley relay. Hurst, Man, Powell and Norman finished ninth in the 400 freestyle relay.

Powell took 14th place in the 100-yard butterfly and 24th in the 200 IM. Barlow finished 16th in the 50-yard freestyle, with Hurst 23rd and Man 33rd. Man also finished 35th in the 100 backstroke, Norman finished 20th in the 100 breaststroke and Hurst was 23rd in the 500-yard freestyle.

Benicia’s boys 200-yard freestyle relay team of Xavier Quintana, Jared Fisher, Hank Nelson and Matt Simonson finished 15th. Simonson took 23rd place in the 50-yard freestyle while Quintana took 28th place in the 100-yard butterfly.

In frosh/soph swimming, Benicia’s best showing came from the girls 400-yard freestyle relay team, which took 19th place.

Qualifying swimmers advanced to the CIF State meet, which will take place this Friday and Saturday at the Clovis West Aquatics Complex.

Sharing is caring!