LODI BOYS WIN SWIMMING TITLE
Flames girls place third; Tokay fifth in boys and girls
Lodi High boys swim coach John Griffin shook hands and took photos on Saturday.
He’s not trying to get an early start on a political campaign. Griffin and the Flames were celebrating their third consecutive Tri-City Athletic League title at Saturday’s league finals at the Tokay High swimming pool. Lodi, which placed a swimmer in the freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and relay events, had 301 points, with Lincoln second at 269. Lodi went 5-0 in league meets this season.
“We’re very blessed to have good strength in all of those events,” Griffin said.
Lodi held a slim lead over Lincoln, 162158. But the Flames ignited the pool in the 500 freestyle. Although Lodi and Lincoln had three swimmers each place in the event, the Flames had two place in the top five in Griffith at 5:00.73 for third place and Brosnan Elrod 5:28.63 for fifth.
“We just continued to add on,” Griffin said.
In the backstroke events, Lincoln had four swimmers place in the top 10. But the Flames had two occupy the top five spots; Aidan Scott sprinted to second place at 1:00.04 and Alexander Elrod fifth at 1:04.78.
A strong finisher for Lodi was Nicholas Wikert, who won the 50 freestyle at 21.60 seconds and the 100 freestyle at 47.57. Wikert was also part of the 400 freestyle relay team with Sam Griffith, Scott and Jack Gillespie to win at 3 minutes, 22.33 seconds. Nicholas, Scott and Griffith were on the 200 medley relay team with Benjamin McDonald that took second place at 1:42.74.
“We have Nick and Jack step up,” said Griffin of Wikert and Gillespie.
Gillespie and Wikert were members on the 400 freestyle relay team that also won. Teamed with Sam Griffith and Scott, the quartet was clocked at 3:23.33. Gillespie swam to a second place finish in the 100 backstroke at 1:02.82, and fourth in the 50 freestyle at 22.94.
Last spring, Griffin, who had a pacemaker installed into his chest two months ago and suffered a heart attack February 2016, was thrown into the pool after the Lodi boys squad won a second straight title. But this time, his swimmers of boys and girls, parents and sup-
porters congratulated him. After the meet, he took photos with some of his swimmers.
Tokay, which was led by one of its long distance swimmers, took fifth with 85 points. Julio Murguia was second in the 200 freestyle at 1:48.04 and the 500 free at 5:00.73. Murguia was the only Tiger boy who earned a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section’s trials and finals, which will be held at Tigers’ pool toward the end of next week.
“He did great,” said Tokay coach Haley Ring of Murguia. “He dropped some times today.”
For the girls, Lincoln won the TCAL title over Lodi with 371 points; the Flames had 291 points.
Giannii Pitto won four times for the Flames. She raced past the competition in the 100 breaststroke at 1:04.23, which surpasses the qualifying mark for the Sac-Joaquin Section at 1:14.
“You don’t see those kinds of athletes,” said Griffin of Pitto.
In addition, Pitto took first place in the 200 individual medley at 2:07. Pitto teamed with Madeline Woznick, Melissa Celli and Nicole Coon to win the 400 freestyle relay at 3:42.48. Pitto was a member of the 200 medley relay with Woznick, Celli and Coon, whom won the race at 1:53.
Other top finishers for the Flames were Celli third in the 200 individual medley at 2:17.64 and third in the 500 freestyle at 5:32.05. Coon also finished third in the 100 freestyle at 57.26. Both earned berths in the section trials.
Tokay took fifth place with 118 points. Sam Escobar took sixth place in the 100 backstroke at 1:11.42. Kirstyn Strootman was also sixth in the 100 breaststroke at 1:16.86.
Ring was happy to see the Tokay frosh-soph boys squad take third place as a team with 143 points. Lodi won the title at 382 and Lincoln was second.
“Looking forward to the next couple of years,” Ring said.
The section’s trials for the girls are scheduled to start Thursday, May 11 and the boys on Friday, May 12. The finals for both are Saturday, May 13.