The Highlanders, coached by Colby Price, made a long-awaited return to pool competition after a multi-year hiatus due to COVID rules and restrictions. Piedmont won a preseason meet against eight other teams at Mills College on March 3. On March 11, the girls team beat Castro Valley in the first official meet of the season.
Both the girls and boys placed first at the pre-season Head Royce Invitational, scoring higher than San Francisco University High, Head Royce, Berean Christian, Athenian, Holy Names and Redwood Christian High School. Piedmont’s relay teams stood out. The boys placed first in both of their relays. The 200 medley relay team consisted of Simon Lins on backstroke, Ryan Stokes on breaststroke, Chuck White on fly, and Farris Saffouri on freestyle. Joining Lins, Stokes, and White on the 200 free team was Evan Byun.
The girls placed second in the 200 IM, 200 Free and 400 Free. The 200 Medley team included Maddie Payne on backstroke, Taylor Rolefson on breaststroke, Sonja ten Grotenhuis on fly, and Tyler Dacanay on freestyle. Joining Dacanay on the 200 Free team were Odessa Dando, Emily Fitzgerald, and Anne Reardon. The 400 Free team featured ten Grotenhuis, Rolefson, Payne, and Sophia Nicoll.
Top individual contributors for the boys included Lins with first place in both the 50 Free and 100 Back; Byun with second place in the 200 IM and 100 Breast; Saffouri with second place in 100 Free; Stokes with second place in 100 Breast and third in 200 Free; Finn Burke with third place in 500 Free; and White with third place in 200 IM.
Top individual contributors to the girls’ win were Dacanay with second place in 500 Free and third in 100 Fly; Payne with second in 50 Free and third in 100 Breast; Rolefson with second in both the 200 Free and 100 Fly, and ten Grotenhuis with third in 100 Back.
The season opening win against Castro Valley featured many fine performances. The relay team of Kate Aubrecht, Rolefson, Oesterer, ten Grotenhuis easily won both the 200 Free and 200 Medley relays. Payne, Dacanay, Fitzgerald and Dando placed second in the 200 Free Relay. Top individual contributors included Aubrecht, who won the 50 Free and placed second in the 100 Free; Rolefson, who won both her events with a first place finish in the 200 IM and 100 Fly; and Oesterer, who won the 500 Free and placed second in the 200 Free. Ten Grotenhuis won the 100 Back and placed third in the 100 Free. Other contributors included Dando, third in 200 Free; Dacanay, third in 100 Fly and 100 Back; and Payne, second in 50 Free and 100 Breast.
For the girls’ JV team, Claire Dean had a third place finish in the 100 IM and 100 Free, and Anne Reardon finished second in 200 Free and 100 Breast.
The boys lost to Castro Valley despite some standout performances. Stokes placed second in both the 50 Free and 100 Breast. Andrew Grasman, Micah Temple, and Frank Udovch all placed third in the 200 and 500 Free, 50 Free and 100 Back, and the 100 Fly, respectively.
The girls and boys face off against Berkeley on March 25, and Bishop O’Dowd and San Leandro at San Leandro on March 31.