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When you are a small team from a small school—Anzar High has only 276 students—any meet against larger teams means adjusting your goals while striving to perform at your peak. That’s particularly true when matched up against a team like the Soledad High Aztecs, one of the strongest in the Mission division of the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
And so, on March 27, when the two met at the Watsonville High School pool, the Hawks still walked away happy, even though both the girls and boys teams lost. The Hawks took seven of the 22 events and set four school and personal records.
For longtime coach Larry Willis, that was good enough.
“We were moved up to a harder division based on our performance last year,” he said. “This year, the teams are quite a bit better. All you can hope for is that people do their very best and accomplish better times, if possible. And we were able to do that today.”
With no school or community pool available in San Juan Bautista or Aromas, Anzar High hosted this home swim meet at Watsonville High.
Soledad High is a formidable opponent, drawing from a student body of over 1,500. Soledad also benefits from a strong club swim program which funnels experienced swimmers into its high school team.
“Against competition like that,” Wills said, “it’s probably more of a challenge for me than for them because I like to win. And a lot of times, they’re not really aware of the other schools’ level.”
In the final tally, the Anzar girls were defeated, 113-52, which is a good result, Willis said, considering how new some of them are to the sport.
“I’d say about a third of our team didn’t know how to swim at the beginning of the season,” he said. “They’ve probably been in a pool, but they would have drowned if we threw them in the deep end. We had to teach them.”
Still, the girls took three events and set two personal records:
- Kiana Aleman, Kayla Casillas, Annaliz Alleman and Melissa Alvarez won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:42.66.
- Annaliz Aleman won the 100-yard butterfly with a personal best time of 1:33.90.
- Aleman also scored a personal best in the 200 individual medley at 3:06.50.
- Kiana Aleman won the 100-yard backstroke with a personal best time of 1:26.62.
Alleman, 17, said that facing an experienced team like Soledad was “a little bit more intimidating,” but her focus was less on winning than on improving her times.
“I dropped four seconds in my butterfly,” she said, “and nine off my individual medley, so I thought I did pretty good today. We moved up a league, so it is a little harder, but it’s still fun just being here.”
The boys, though also defeated, fared better, dropping a tighter contest by a 75-67 score.
- Oliver Doupnik won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.34.
- Doupnik also won the 500-yard freestyle, setting a new school record of 5:25.65.
- William Mejia won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:19.43.
- Xavier Contreras won the 100-yard backstroke with a personal best time of 1:21.91.
- Vinh Lieu set a personal best time in the 100 breaststroke at 1:16:47.
- Max Alvarado, Contreras, Mejia and Doupnik won the 200 free relay with a time of 2:05.03.
Team co-captain Lieu, 18, said that the team already tends to be at a numbers disadvantage against larger schools, and this year, moving up to a higher division exacerbated the situation.
“We have been trying even harder than we’ve ever had before, and we’re working to keep team morale high,” he said. “But the practices are always amazing, and we are all like family. I’m excited to keep competing in these meets.”
Willis will lose eight graduating seniors this year, a third of the team. As for this season, with two more meets before the May 1 league championships, he remains proud of how well his swimmers have done against this season’s greater odds.
“The kids from the other schools and the other coaches have been great,” he said, “and our team has a nice personality. So I think win or lose, we’re pretty happy. Am I optimistic? Always.”
Anzar has a meet on April 10 at Everett Alvarez High School and a home meet on April 27 with North Salinas High School at Watsonville High.
Xavier Contreras in the 200 individual medley. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
William Mejia in the 100 individual medley. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Kiana Alleman in the 50 freestyle. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Melissa Alvarez-Navarro in the 200 freestyle. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Oliver Doupnik in the 200 freestyle. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Annaliz Alleman in the 200 individual medley. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Melissa Alvarez-Navarro in the 100 freestyle. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Oliver Doupnik in the 500 freestyle. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Vihn Lieu. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Vihn Lieu in the 200 medley. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Vihn Lieu in the 100 breaststroke. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
William Mejia in the 100 backstroke. Photo by Robert Eliason.
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