A big win in the 400 freestyle relay pushes Hollister past Santa
Catalina, Acorns up next to begin league action
Hollister – The San Benito High girls swim team is all set for its league opener against Live Oak on March 24 following an 89-80 win over visiting Santa Catalina at the SBHS pool on Tuesday.
The win saw some gritty performances from the Balers. In the 200 freestyle event, Hollister’s Elspeth Tozier started neck-and-neck with the Santa Catalina swimmer in the lane next to her. By the second lap, the Santa Catalina swimmer had managed to gain a slight edge over Tozier. But Tozier took control of the race on the third lap with a burst of speed that carried her all the way to the finish and she went on to win by less than a foot.
A late burst of speed also helped Hollister’s Katie Buzzetta take a win in the 50 freestyle race with a time of :27.03.
The Balers notched another come-from-behind win in the 100-yard freestyle race. A pair of Santa Catalina swimmers jumped out to an early lead and it looked like the Haybalers might have been in store for a defeat. But Buzzetta managed to catch up with the Cougars’ leaders and pull ahead just before the finish to take her second win of the day.
The grueling 500-yard freestyle race came down to a fight to the finish between Hollister’s Natalie Smith and Valerie Britton. The two Balers had little trouble getting ahead of their Santa Catalina competition in the event.
Following the final turn of the race, it was clear that neither girl was going to give the other an inch. From the side of the pool, it looked as if both swimmers reached the finish at the exact time. But the stopwatches declared smith the winner by a fraction of a second.
With Hollister in the lead 79-76 heading into the final event, the meet was on the line with the 400-yard freestyle relay. Santa Catalina had a decent advantage after the first leg but Hollister’s Kathryn Adamek closed the gap and took the lead before teammate Rosanna Woods opened up a huge lead on the rest of the competition, helping the Balers win the race and the overall meet.
“The girls did really good on that last race,” said head coach Stephanie Pursley. “They came from behind to take the lead and then continued to push themselves. I’m really proud of the way they performed today.”
