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San Pedro Boys Win First City Section Swimming Title In Nearly 100 Years
GARDENA - In nearly a century of City Section sports, the boys swim team at San Pedro has been crowned for the first time as champions.
As the final seconds ticked down, the team whooped and hollered as their long-awaited championship became a reality. They raised the winner’s award above their heads. Rather than dousing their coaches with Gatorade, the athletes pushed their coaches into the pool, as their accomplishment soaked.
“It all came together,” head coach Sharon Frazier later said. Her athletes finished first in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay, setting school records in both events at L.A. Valley College. Overall, San Pedro scored 392 points, while Granada finished second with 273, and Cleveland third with 265.
“When I found out that we won the CIF Championship,” swimmer Sean Castleberry said, “I was amazed and grateful because I knew all of the hard work we all put in to accomplish this goal.”
“This made history,” said William Hatch III. “The way our team faced adversity and persevered made hoisting up that trophy such an amazing feeling.”
Sweetening San Pedro’s feat even more was the team’s academic achievement. Swimmers posted a 3.71 grade-point average, tying Taft High for top honors in spring sports, while earning San Pedro another title.
The city of San Pedro has a small-town feel. Its tight-knit community cheered the school’s latest athletic championship, its 62nd overall. This year’s aquatic success was cultivated over recent seasons in steady, rather than sudden, shifts in performance.
“It was a long time coming…but we got it done,” said Josh Jones. “We were all so happy and excited when we found out that we won.” He added: “All the hard work paid off.”
Many of the athletes began swimming in elementary school at a local park, where Frazier was a volunteer swim coach. “The boys on this team now, most of them started at seven- or eight years old at the Peck Park pool,” she said. “We’ve been building these boys up all these years, not all of them, but a good percentage of them.”
Still, she said, many of them further developed their skills as teenagers by becoming lifeguards at nearby beaches. Their passion for swimming shows. “They are water people,” she said.
The athletes also receive strong support from home, Frazier said. Younger siblings on the team learned about the commitment needed for success from watching their older brothers. The Jones family, for instance, had three children competing in the City Section finals: Nick, Mike, and Josh.
Seeds of the team’s success began sprouting last year when they beat perennial powerhouse Palisades. Momentum from that victory, coupled with more time improving their technique under assistant coach Will Douglass, spilled over to this season, boosting the team’s confidence when it mattered most.
Frazier described her athletes as “talented,” “hardworking,” “long-time swimmers,” and “good under pressure.” She developed an early rapport with almost every one of them, if not at the park, then among the San Pedro students in her health class, molding them into a team.
The parts fit together, as if by design, like a well-oiled machine. As Frazier said of the team’s success, “It all came together.”
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Group picture: (L-R) Finley Kircher, Joshua Jones, Harper Young, Max Sorich, Matthew DiLorenzo, Chris Frazier, Adrian Cardona, William Hatch III, Ashwin Chandrasekaran, Marc Bugarin, Mike Jones, Nick Jones, Samson Parker. Not pictured: Sean Castleberry, Vincenzo Crivello, Samuel Orendain. (Photo by Esther Hatch)
Josh Jones diving into the pool. (Photo by Sharon Frazier)
Max Sorich competing in the breaststroke. (Photo by Sharon Frazier)
San Pedro High Boys Varsity Swim Team Quotes
“It was a great experience, getting to watch my friends get their best times. It was an amazing feeling getting first and beating my previous times.”
-Marc Bugarin
“Going to CIF was an exhilarating experience and I wasn’t really shocked that we won as after the first couple events we were winning by a lot.”
-Matthew Di Lorenzo
“I feel like our win was overdue because I know that my teammates and myself work harder than any other team in the city section. Knowing that my efforts contributed to the team’s success is one of the most gratifying feelings I have experienced.”
-Christopher Frazier
“I felt very excited about the win we had at CIF. I felt everyone swimming really gave it their all and it was extremely rewarding to see that we won. Me being a freshman also felt very good as my first year on the team.”
-Michael Jones
“It was really fun and really exciting especially when they announced that Pedro won.”
-Nick Jones
“My reason that I was super excited because I know that all the hard work we put into getting this for and to win it just topped off the season perfectly.”
-Max Sorich
“It was no surprise to me…I knew we would win, but of course I was ecstatic and filled with pride. It was also sad because it was the last swim meet with my senior friends.”
-Harper Young
2022 San Pedro High School CIF Qualifiers
Boys Varsity Results
Marc Bugarin-9th 100 Yard Free 53.14
Adrian Cardona-13th 100 Yard Back 1:04.60, 15th 100 Yard Fly 1:03.88
Sean Castleberry-20th 200 Yard Free 2:11.07, 21 100 Yard Back 1:08.93
Ashwin Chandrasekaran-10th 100 Yard Back 1:03:02
Vincenzo Crivello-10th 50 Yard Free 23.68, 4th 100 Yard Fly 57.28
Matthew Di Lorenzo-10th 100 Yard Free 54:04, 5th 100 Yard Back 1:00.12
Christopher Frazier-7th 200 Yard IM 2:09.92, 7th 500 Yard Free 5:29.22
William Hatch-3rd 200 Yard IM 2:00.81, 7th 100 Yard Breast 1:02.55
Joshua Jones-4th 50 Yard Free 22.15, 2nd 100 Yard Free 49.30
Michael Jones-18th Yard 200 Free 2:06.79, 13th 500 Yard Free 5:36.80
Nicholas Jones-1st 100 Yard Butterfly 50.76*, 1st 500 Yard Freestyle 4:45.08
Finley Kircher-1st 200 Yard Free 1:43.90, 1st 100 Yard Free 48:03
Samuel Orendain-12th 50 Yard Free 24:37, 13th 100 Yard Fly 1:00.85
Samson Parker-14th 100 Yard Breast 1:07.69
Max Sorich-3rd 50 Yard Free 22.14, 6th 100 Yard Breast 1:00.96
Harper Young-13th 200 Yard Free 2:00.84, 15th 100 Yard Breast
200 Yard Medley Relay 3rd Place 1:42.69 (Finley Kircher, Max Sorich, Vincenzo Crivello, Marc Bugarin)
200 Yard Free Relay 1st Place 1:28.18* (Joshua Jones, Max Sorich, William Hatch, Nick Jones)
400 Yard Free Relay 1st Place 3:14.16* (Finley Kircher, Joshua Jones, William Hatch, Nick Jones)
*School record