July 5, 2005 > Mission Valley Barracudas win by a hairsbreadth

by Praveena Raman

It was truly an exciting and nail-biting event as the Barracudas beat Mission Highland Sharks by 19 points with a score of 524:505 on Saturday, June 18. This clinched their 44th straight dual meet win since July 1998.

In the Medley relays the 13/14 age group girls showed their strength by the A and B teams winning first and second place defeating the Sharks A relay team to a third place.

In the individual events 12-year-old Audrey McLaggan shone winning first place in Free, Back and IM (individual medley). There was an endearing moment in the 8 and under butterfly race when a 6-year-old Shark decided he was too tired to swim the Fly and took a rest on the lane lines. With the parents watching, urging him to finish his race, he suddenly gave a bright smile continued on amidst great cheer.

The final Free Relays were exciting as the Barracudas trailed the Sharks. They decided to show their team spirit driving the team toward a win. In this event the 11/12 girls had a spectacular swim with 12-year-old Audrey McLaggan closing a big gap to take the lead and give her team the first place win. This was followed by a great team effort by the 11/12 boys B relay team (being the underdogs) taking on the Shark's A relay team, with anchor Karthik Raman acting on the lead given by his teammate Jonathan Teng; finishing with a spectacular swim securing a second place spot, giving the 11/12 boys a 1-2 win against the Sharks. Up next was a 1-2 win by the 15/18 girls with both the A and B relay teams placing in the lead giving the Barracudas the 19-point advantage.

Relay results

Medley:
Boys: 8 & Under - 1st place - Adam Hancock, Mark Perry, Emil Graversen, Jesse Wheeler
9/10 - 1st place - Stephen Chi, Jerry Wong, Dean Luo, Bryce McLaggan
11/12 - 1st place - Thomas Chi, Grant Huang, Matthew Imhof, Kieren Hassett
Girls: 9/10 - 1st place - Claire McLaggan, Kylie Moltzen, Tatiana McCuaig, Sherri Zhang
13/14 - 1st place - Jessica Wagenbach, Tiffany Yen, Katherine Eve, Hannah Scobel
13/14 - 2nd place - Christine Andersen, Hannah Imhof, Cristina Nunez, Kate Baird.
15/18 - 1st place - Rachel Julson, Joanna Wilk, Cathy Wagner, Raha Sadjadi
Free:
Boys: 8 & Under - 1st place - Emil Graversen, Jeremy Mak, Jesse Wheeler, Mark Perry
9/10 - 1st place - Bryce McLaggan, Alex Hancock, Dean Luo, Steven Chi
11/12 - 1st place - Kieren Hassett, Grant Huang, Thomas Chi, Matthew Imhof
11/12 - 2nd place - Jonathan Poole, Grant Lam, Jonathan Teng, Karthik Raman
13/14 - 1st place - Steven Poole, Kyle Quock, Jeffrey Tsui, Ryan Tanakit
Girls: 8 & Under - 1st place - Sydney Sloan, Emily Banks, Hesper Wu, Juliana McCuaig
9/10 - 1st place - Claire McLaggan, Sarah Lucarelli, Kylie Moltzen, Tatiana McCuaig
11/12 - 1st place - Ada Wong, Laura Conn, Allison Lucarelli, Audrey McLaggan
13/14 - 1st place - Hannah Scobel, Katherine Eve, Jessica Wagenbach, Kate Baird
15/18 - 1st place - Cathy Wagner, Raha Sadjadi, Katie Thompson, Alisa Tanakit
2nd place - Stephanie Conn, Rachel Julson, Amanda Miller, Briana Hu

The weekly East Bay Swim League results for all teams can be accessed at www2.inow.com/~wag/southgate/ebsl/ebslresults/ebsl2005.htm.