Giants' men, women capture Bay Valley Conference swimming and diving titles
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
Behind top individual performers Joshy Peters and Audrey Bradford, College of the Sequoias rolled to the Bay Valley Conference men's and women's swimming and diving championships.
Peters, a former Redwood High standout, produced 60 points while winning three events individually and contributing to two first-place relays as the Giants' men scored 761.5 points, well ahead of second-place Merced (338), Clovis (273) and Shasta (264.5) during a meet held May 14 in Merced.
Bradford (Lindsay) had two firsts and a second individually, and was a member of two winning relays as she scored 57 of Sequoias' 591 points to edge Merced (556) for the women's title. Shasta (470) was third, followed by Clovis (253) and Fresno City (24).
It's the first conference title for the Giants' men since 2018. The women last won a conference title in 2013.
Sequoias' men won eight races overall, led by Peters in the 200 individual medley (1:59.02), 100 back (56.8) and 200 free (1:47.18).
Peters was joined by Caleb Peltzer (Exeter), Ezra Sisk (El Diamante) and Zachary Welch (Exeter) on the first-place 200 free (1:29.01) and 200 medley (1:40.6) relays.
"Joshy is a high energy freshman with a hunger to win and a high tolerance for pain and training," Giants coach Ally Briano said. "He pushed himself hard every day this year from September until May, and his results have placed him into a category of swimmer where he will be setting records and get recruited to a four-year school when he is done at COS."
Welch, a freshman, was a double winner for the Giants, capturing the 100 free (47.3) and the 50 free (21.87).
Peltzer, a freshman, won the 100 IM in 55.83.
For Sequoias' women, Bradford won the 100 fly (1:06.4) and the 50 fly (28.67), and placed second in the 100 free (58.32).
Bradford, a sophomore who has committed to continue her academic and athletic career at Fresno Pacific, also helped lead the winning 200 free (1:46.12) and 200 medley (2:01.19) relays along with teammates Anna Nippoldt (Immanuel-Reedley), Alyssa Bodoh (Porterville) and Alex Salazar (Redwood).
"Audrey's performance has been a long time coming," Briano said. "We have always known she had tremendous potential in the sprints, but her chance to race was cut short last year. So this year, two years of effort led to her dropping tons of time in all her races, and putting her in a better position to be recruited by a four-year team."
Freshman diver Jude Dizon (Golden West) also was a double winner, capturing the 1-meter (229.8 points) and 3-meter (208.5) events.
Freshman Kate Sullivan (Redwood) placed first in the 200 IM (2:34.5), while freshman Bodoh was first in the 500 free (5:54.4) and sophomore Nippoldt won the 50 free (26.6) as the Giants' women tallied nine first-place finishes.
"Overall, this team is jam-packed with talent, and has a tremendously positive attitude and willingness to put in the work it takes to become excellent," Briano said. "Next year, our team will be talented and strong. I am looking forward to it."
