The Twentynine Palms High School Wildcat swim teams headed to Yucca Valley to face the Trojans Wednesday, and both the boys’ and the girls’ teams came away with victories and a new award. William and Debra Johnson of Twentynine Palms donated a bell for a Battle of the Bell competition for the cross-basin rival swim teams, and the bell went home with the Wildcats yesterday. Smaller bells were also donated for the winners of the 500-meter freestyle races. The Ladycats won their meet 120 to 57; the Wildcats won 91 to 71.
In the first event, 200 medley relay, the Ladycat team of Gabby Crank, Kyra Minatrea, Lindsey Scamman, and Lexi Wade won handedly.
Nicole Elmer and Lea Speer then went first and second in the 200 free.
The Ladycats then swept the 200 individual medley with Cortni Rahn, Kyra Minatrea, and Lexi Wade taking first, second, and third place.
Gabby Crank then won a very close 50 free.
Taking first and second in the 100 butterfly were Lindsey Scamman, who also improved her CIF qualifying time, and Cortni Rahn.
Gabby Crank won again in the 100 free with Kyra Minatrea taking third.
Winning this year’s bell in the 500 free was Nicole Elmer with Lea Speer coming in behind her to take second.
The 200 free relay saw the Ladycat team of Gabby Crank, Nicole Elmer, Kyra Minatrea, and Lindsey Scamman take second, and the team of Maggie Obrien, Cortni Rahn, Lea Speer, and Ashley Warring getting third place.
In the 100 backstroke the Ladycats swept again, with Lexi Wade finishing first, followed by Devanee Johnson, and Bella Crank.
Lindsey Scamman took first and improved her CIF qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke, followed in third place by Maggie Obrien of Twentynine Palms.
In the final race, 400 free relay, the team of Nicole Elmer, Cortni Rahn, Lea Speer, and Lexi Wade took first and the team of Catalina Aguilar, Annamarie Hanson, Melisa Vazquez, and Marissa Washington placed third. Their performances netted the girls’ team a 120-to-57 win over their cross-basin rivals.
The boys’ 200 medley relay saw the Twentynine Palms High School and Yucca Valley High School teams tying for first place (Tyler Ambrams, Kevin Johnson, Kyle Bobadilla, and Brian Soster swimming for the Wildcats; no names were provided for the Yucca Valley Trojan team). The Wildcat team of Glen Reaves, Marcus Freitas, Matthew Councell, and Cody Landry took third place.
The Wildcats followed this up with a first place finish by Nick Valenzuela in the 200 free.
The 200 individual medley saw Kyle Bobadilla take second, followed by Kevin Johnson in third.
In the 50 and 100 free, Brian Soster for the Wildcat boys took first.
In the 100 butterfly, Tyler Ambrams and Glen Reaves of Twentynine Palms took first and third.
Winning this year’s individual bell for the 500 free was Nick Valenzuela of Twentynine Palms.
In the 200 free relay, the Wildcat team of Nick Valenzuela, Tyler Ambrams, Kyle Bobadilla, and Brian Soster placed first, with the team of Marcus Freitas, Matthew Councell, Glen Reaves, and Tanner Rush taking third.
Kevin Johnson of Twentynine Palms High School won the 100 backstroke, and in the 100 breaststroke, Tyler Ambrams and Kyle Bobadilla finished first and second.
The final race of the afternoon ended with the Wildcat team of Kevin Johnson, Tanner Rush, Cody Landry, and Nick Valenzuela getting second in the 400 free relay.
The boys were able to win 91 to 71 putting the Wildcats out front 211 to 128 and winning the first annual Battle of the Bell Swimming.
The Twentynine Palms High School boys’ varsity tennis team traveled to Desert Mirage on Monday. The Wildcats defeated the Rams by a score of 16 to 2. The Wildcats were led by John Lanza sweeping all three sets. In doubles action, all of the Wildcats doubles team swept all of their sets. The Wildcats will host the Knights of Shadow Hills today at 3:15 pm.
Coming up in high school sports tomorrow, the Yucca Valley High School track team will participate in the Mt. San Antonio College invitational meet, starting at 8 a.m.
