The Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) swim and dive team dove headfirst into the 2025 Tri-Valley League Championships, which spanned from April 30, 2025 to May 2, 2025 and featured strong performances from several Foothill Tech swimmers as they faced off against some of the toughest competition within the league.
At the meet, swimmers competed for a chance to advance to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) postseason, aiming to go far and make their team proud.
The Foothill Tech Dragons didn’t back away from the challenge as their girls’ team brought home second-place with a team score with 287 points, and the boys’ team came up just shy of a podium finish, scoring a combined 166 for fourth place.
Some of the first swimmers to take to the line faced off in the 200-yard medley relay, where the girls’ team swam a 2:11.08 to lock up a third-place finish, with Rihanna Samples ’25, Mikaela Clabaugh ’25, Samantha Roberts ’27 and Sunny Roberts ’28 making up the four legs of the relay.
Subsequently, Foothill Tech’s Gavin Ingold ’27, Turner Stehle ’25, Connor Morris ’27 and Aiden Cumming ’25 competed in the boys’ 200-yard medley relay and took second place, bringing home hardware for their team with a collective time of 1:54.53.
More strong performances came from Foothill Tech in the boys’ 200-yard freestyle, where teammates Stehle and Logan Sholl ’27 placed seventh and ninth within the consolation final. Stehle came through the finish with a time of 2:16.57 and Sholl followed only two spots behind with a finish of 2:24.20.
Sholl shared some insight into the pressure with looming CIF cuts on the line, as well as his personal performance throughout the meet, sharing, “I feel that the atmosphere is always a bit tense with nervous energy … Everyone was trying their hardest to make the cuts … I think I could have done more than I did in the time leading up to this meet.”
Another standout performance came in the 100-yard backstroke, where Samples finished with fourth-place in the girls’ heat, swimming a 1:11.44 and took the top spot for Foothill Tech. On the boys’ side, the Dragons’ Parks Riley ’27 swam away with a fifth-place finish in the event with a near identical time of 1:11.66.
Riley commented on the work put in throughout the season, as well as his key takeaways he hopes to apply to seasons ahead, stating, “I would say I performed quite well. On Friday I dropped 2 seconds in my 200 individual medley and a second in my 100 backstroke. Next season I plan on tapering sooner and working on my turns and technique.”
The meet concluded with the boys’ 400-yard freestyle, where Ingold, Morris, Jack Merritt ’25 and Cumming finished the league meet out strong with second-place, swimming a time of 3:37.02, coming up just one second short of first place.
With Foothill Tech’s regular season officially concluded, qualified athletes will advance to the CIF postseason. As they advance, they carry the hopes of their teammates cheering them on from home.
