San Marcos captured the championship title in the inaugural Tri-County Swim & Dive Invitational on Thursday at Elings Aquatic Center.
In a 16-team field with schools from San Luis Obispo to Thousand Oaks, the Royals came out on top in the combined competition after winning the girls division and coming in fourth in the boys division.
Westlake won the boys division, beating out second-place Cate. The Dos Pueblos Chargers earned third place in the girls division.
San Marcos headlined the local schools as Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara High, Carpinteria High and Cate all competed as well.
“I am really proud of all my athletes that competed; it was a great day of competition,” Royals head coach Chuckie Roth said. “I also would like to acknowledge Paige Trelor-Ballard, who organized the entire event. She spent a year organizing the event and it ran seamlessly.
“We are hoping to make it an annual event and are looking for local sponsors to host the event next year.”
San Marcos
The Royals’ girls were led by Sierra Tallman and Taylor Steelman, who each won a pair of individual events and were a part of two winning relay teams.
Tallman took home first place in the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly while Steelman won the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle.
The duo was joined by Sophie Yonker and Lucy Haaland-Ford to win the 200 medley relay. Meanwhile, Steelman, Tallman, Haaland-Ford and Sophia Hall combined to capture the 400 freestyle relay.
The San Marcos girls continued to dominate the relays when Steelman, Hall, Yonker and Ella Grube won the 200 freestyle relay.
Haaland-Ford (200 IM), Yonker (50 freestyle) and Hall (100 freestyle) all won individual events as well.
The San Marcos boys had several top finishers, including Noah Warkentin, who took home third in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 500 freestyle.
Jacob Angel (200 IM, 5th), Yonker (100 freestyle, 5th), Will Stuart (200 freestyle, 7th), Christian and Mateo Obando (50 freestyle, 7th) all had strong individual showing as well. Ovando also took seventh in the 100 freestyle.
In the 200 medley relay, Warkentin, Jacob Magid, Duncan Hunt and Nolan Clark placed third.
Obando, Yonker, Stuart and Duncan Hunt came in fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, while Stuart, Yonker, Warkentin and Obando came in fifth in the 400 freestyle relay.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers shined in the pool as well, taking third place in the girls division while coming in sixth in the boys division.
The girls relay squad of Riley Moore, Kay Taylor-Ng, Dasha Dzreeva and Dev Wigo came together to place second in both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
Janette Prykhitko, Pessia Fygenson, Parker Bryant and Keira McAvoy came in eighth in the 200 freestyle relay.
Individually, Dzreevea (100 fly, 100 breaststroke) and Moore (100 freestyle, 100 backstroke) each tallied a pair of second-place finishes.
Meanwhile, McAvoy came in fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 500 freestyle. Dev Wigo placed sixth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle. Taylor-Ng touched the wall sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
As for the boys, Grant Nelson led the way with a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM and fifth place in the 100 fly. Eli Carnaghe placed second in the 50 freestyle and Liam Young grabbed sixth in the 100 backstroke.
The medley relay team of Nelson, Carnaghe, Ben Fuhrer and Liam Young placed fifth, while the 400 freestyle squad of Young, Carnaghe, Nelson and Aricin Marshall tallied a sixth-place finish.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons were led by Jules Horton, who came in first place in the 200 freestyle and placed fourth in the 100 freestyle. Both of her times were CIF-SS automatic qualifying times.
Rose Nelley finished in the top 16 of both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle with a pair of CIF consideration marks.
Oliver Kelly reached the top eight in the 100 breaststroke with a CIF consideration time of his own.
The duo of Calvin Nelley and Shane Davis registered season-best times in several races throughout the day.
The Dons will return to Channel League action by hosting Buena on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.
Cate School
The Rams had a historic day for their program, breaking five program records. As a team, the Cate boys finished second overall, while the girls ended in fourth.
Josiah Hansen won both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke, setting a new school record in the backstroke.
Hansen joined Ben White, Devon Liang and Joba Samson to finish first in the 200 medley relay.
Emi Kanda-Gleeson earned a pair of school-record times in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke. She came in third place in the 200 IM.
She was also a member of the school-record 400 freestyle relay team alongside Jen Won, Stella Rogers and Maddi Kollock.
Wil Rivera rounded out the record-breaking day with his stellar performance in the 500 freestyle.
“There were impressive swims by every Cate swimmer in attendance, a phenomenal meet to build on as we prepare for League Championships later this month and the CIF Championships in early May,” Cate head coach Tobin White said.
Carpinteria High
The Warriors had a great day of their own, establishing 29 out of 38 individual season-best times while also breaking a pair of school records.
Jake Ehlers earned himself the school record in the 500 freestyle, breaking a 10-year-old record. Meanwhile, Giulia Piccoletti broke her own school record in the 100 breaststroke. Both times were CIF consideration marks.
Izzy Scott and Lucia Smith picked up CIF consideration times in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, respectively.
The boys 200 medley relay team of Ehlers, Jacob Otsuki, Sky Korling and Stefano Piccoletti dipped under CIF consideration time as well.
Otsuki, Korling and Ehlers joined Lucas Martin to register the team’s fastest 4×50 freestyle relay time of the year.
The Warriors will take on Cate on Wednesday in Carpinteria.