Ram Crush Invitational
The Clovis Community College Swim and Dive teams co-hosted the first ever “Ram Crush Invitational” with the help of fellow SCCCD college, Fresno City College, and sponsored by Arena Swimwear. The event covered a two-day format at Clovis North High School Aquatic Center, on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. The nine teams competing in this first offering included perennial CCCAA powerhouses Diablo Valley College (San Ramon) and Pasadena City College, as well as local rivals Merced College and College of the Sequoias (Visalia).
The Clovis Community College Swim and Dive teams co-hosted the first ever "Ram Crush Invitational" with the help of fellow SCCCD college, Fresno City College, and sponsored by Arena Swimwear. The event covered a two-day format at Clovis North High School Aquatic Center, on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. The nine teams competing in this first offering included perennial CCCAA powerhouses Diablo Valley College (San Ramon) and Pasadena City College, as well as local rivals Merced College and College of the Sequoias (Visalia).
The men's team placed a respectable 5th placed, out of eight men's teams in the meet. The winning team, Diablo Valley, finished with 1513.5 points, while the Crush men's team scored 335 points, just ahead of conference rival, COS who earned 306 points in the two-day competition.
Returning CCCAA "All-American," Jaylan Neal, recorded the team's only win of the weekend, with a victory on the 1m springboard, with a score of 224.0 (6 dive format). His score bettered his existing team record, set last year. Neal's diving counterpart, Joshua Depaz managed a 3rd placed finish on the 1m board to earn a podium place in the event. Fellow returning All-American, Dante Ramos also provided some fireworks in the pool, as he took 2nd place in both the 500 freestyle and the 1650 freestyle events. His time in the 1650 was faster than the time invited to compete at the CCCAA championship meet, the past 3 years.
The men's top relay finish came from the, meet closing, 400 freestyle relay, in which the team of Ramos, Colin Plank, Stuart Mallam, and Daniel Jones finished a in a solid 5th place to solidify their final team place ahead of perennial CVC Champion, College of the Sequoias.
Next up for the Crush Swim and Dive teams is the Cuesta Invitational, which will be held, this year, at Bakerfield College, as the host pool, in San Luis Obispo, is still down for repair. The meet will be another two day invitational, March 8-9, and typically features over 20 different schools, including many teams ranked in the top 20 in the state.
For action shots from the event, check out the Ram Crush Invitational Flickr Album!
