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The Tasmanian Devils jumped on the host Folsom Sea Otters early
and never looked back in the highly anticipated showdown of 4-1
teams. Swimming for sole possession of 2nd place in the SSL
standings, both clubs entered having lost only on the road at Park
Terrace.
The Devils opened a lead of 60-30 after the Individual Medley
series. However, from that point, the meet tightened
considerably. The Otters and Devils swam dead even through
the Medley Relay and Short Freestyle events. Though the
racing was tight and evenly matched between the two clubs, the
Otters were unable to cut into the overall lead through event
35.
The Devils broke out in the Long Freestyle events, scoring 72
points to the Otters’ 36, and pushing out to a 70 point lead
at the meet’s midway point.
Even once again through the Breaststroke events, the Otters
staged a brief rally in the Butterfly, trimming 11 points off of
the Tas lead by the end of Event 84. From that point,
however, the Taz regained command in the the meet’s
final event, the Freestyle Relay, pushing to the meet’s
final victory margin.
The Taz were led by high scorers Daniel Verner (age 16) and
Derek Dong (18), each with 16 points. Verner and Dong
finished tied for second in individual event scoring, trailing only
Eric Johnston of the Otters with 21 points. Trevor Dong (13)
scored 15 points, for the Taz, matching the total of Katie Weiss
(16) and Morgan Jones (11), who led all women in scoring.
Madison Grinnell (12) scored 13 points for the Taz. Megan
Jory (10), scored 11 points, matching the total of Jack Peterson
(8) and Ryan Thoms (10).
The resurgent Sea Otters, having their best season in recent
years, swam passionately, setting three club records during the
afternoon. Folsom hosts cross-town rival Broadstone next
weekend to end their season.
The Tasmanian Devils next host the rival Sierra Sharks its 2009
dual meet finale. Sierra enters with a record of 3-2 and is
coming off of a bye this past weekend. The following weekend,
the Taz will turn their attention to defending its title against
the resurgent Park Terrace Penguins at the SSL
Championships, to be held July 24-26 at Sierra College.
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