The Channel Cats won the North Bay Aquatic League Championship which took place in Napa, Calif., Friday, August 6, through Sunday, August 8, 2010. Pictured, front row, left to right: Candace Clayton, Robin Adams, Irish Ely, Lauren Rudnick, Sydney Lawler, Hailey Wright, Roman Uribe, Olivia Dobusch, Maria Tinoco, Jazmin Uribe, and Ashley Vasquez. Second row, left to right: Coach Ari Lopez, Jesse Lundquist Krag, Chelo Lundquist Krag, Kyra Rudnick, Noe Urquiza, Shannon Fronsman, Michael Camacho, Danielle Erickson, Nicole Hanson, Iris Vasquez, Maya Colacion. Third row, left to right: Paloma Colacion, Allison Hanson, Dylan Wright, Owen Lawler, Kimberly English, Nadine Bradley, Kelly Strong, Nicholas Dobusch, Shao-Jia Chang, Koren English, Sarah Merodio and Coach Agustin Merodio. Back row, left to right: Matteo Merodio, Brian Bradley, Brandon Disney, Charlie Adams and Evan Thompson. Not pictured: Liam Wayment and Rainey Vanoven. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Channel Cat team swam to a first place victory, winning team champion honors and the league trophy at the inaugural North Bay Aquatic League Championship meet held Aug. 6-8.

This was the team's first league competition in nearly 10 years.

The newly formed North Bay Aquatic League is currently comprised of five North Bay swim teams of similar size, including: the Lake County Channel Cats, the Monticello Aquatic Seals, the Sonoma Sea Dragons, the Willits Otters, and the St. Helena Waves.

The three-day championship event, hosted by the Monticello Aquatic Seals, was held at Vintage High School in Napa and saw 128 swimmers representing the five teams.

The Channel Cats showed 40 swimmers strong; their largest competitive team to date.

The team proved fit and fast from a summer of daily training with Head Coach Agi Merodio and Assistant Coaches Ari Lopez and Kerry Braider.

Sporting royal blue and gold suits, “vintage” blue and green LCCC logo caps, and “catch me if you can” Channel Cat tattoos, the Cats were united in purpose and determined to win the team trophy. Team spirit soared as Channel Cats swam hard, cheered on their team, and built a solid team foundation.

This competition proved huge for the Channel Cat team. Coach Merodio said the league meet really pulled the team together like no other event has before.

“The kids were really fired up and you could tell they were giving 110 percent for their team,” he said.

Channel Cats team member Allison Hanson, added, “We really wanted to prove ourselves as a swim team. Every one of us wanted that team trophy. We couldn’t have gotten there without Coach Agi pushing us to do our best.”

Merodio said he was really proud of all the swimmers who signed on and put forth their best efforts this meet.

“The kids really worked hard this summer, they swam well, and nearly everyone improved time and should be proud of their effort,” he said. “As a team, we have proven that we are competitive. We are the league champions and the team to beat.”

As it was, new swimmers were on board to catch the spirit and veteran team swimmers were ready and eager to lead the way with cheers, mentoring, and friendship.

Team President Jen Hanson was most impressed with the way that the experienced swimmers took on the guidance of younger and newer team members.

“Our team mixes ages from 6 to 17, yet there is a real sense of camaraderie between the age groups that you don’t often see in other team/group settings,” Hanson said. “It’s heartwarming to see the older kids really taking the time to help and support the newer, younger kids whether it is prepping kids for the next race, sharing a tip from experience, a word of consolation after a disqualification, or just simply sharing a laugh along the way.”

She added, “We hope that the experiences shared at this meet will have motivated a few more of our swimmers to continue to compete with the team as we head into fall.”

Detailed results are listed below.

Younger kids in the middle, old kids in the outer circle, the Channel Cats cheered for their team. Courtesy photo.

Record Achievement:

Junior Olympic level: Matteo Merodio (200 breast, boys 15-16), Charlie Adams (50 back, boys 9-10).

PC-A level: Lauren Rudnick (50 back, girls 9-10), Paloma Colacion (500 free, 100 back, girls 11-12), Nicholas Dobush (50 free, boys 9-10), Brian Bradley (100 breast, boys 15-16), Charlie Adams (500 free, boys 9-10).

PC-B level: Maya Colacion (50 free, girls 9-10), Olivia Dobush (25 back, girls 8 and under), Kyra Rudnick (100 free, girls 15-16), Shao Jia Chang (100 free, 100 breast, girls 15-16), Nick Dobush (100 free, boys 9-10), Jesse Lundquist-Krag (50 free, boys 15-16), Brian Bradley (200 free, boys 15-16), Brandon Disney (100 free, boys 15-16).

Top awards by age division:

Girls 6 and under: Robin Adams (1^st 50 free, 25 fly).

Boys 8 and under: Roman Uribe (1^st 25 free, 50 free, 25 fly), Liam Wayment (2^nd 50 free), Irish Ely (4^th 25 free).

Girls 8 and under: Hailey Wright (4^th 25 fly), Olivia Dobush (12^th 50 free, 25 back), Sydney Lawler (7^th 25 fly), Rainey Vanoven (6^th 25 back), Maria Tinoco (6^th 25 fly), Tanya Vasquez (8^th 25 fly).

Girls 9-10: Lauren Rudnick (2^nd 100 free, 100 IM), Maya Colacion (5^th 50 free, 7^th 50 fly), Nikki Hanson (4^th 50 back), Danielle Erickson (8^th 50 fly).

Boys 9-10: Charlie Adams (1^st 100 free, 50 back, 100 IM), Nick Dobush (2^nd 100 free), Michael Camacho (4^th 50 fly).

Girls 11-12: Paloma Colacion (1^st 50 free, 100 free, 50 back, 100 back, 100 IM, 500 free), Noe Urquiza (2^nd 50 fly, 3^rd 100 back), Shannon Fronsman (4^th 100 free, 5^th 50 breast), Candace Clayton (5^th 50 back), Iris Vasquez (4^th 100 back, 6^th 100 free), Jazmin Uribe (6^th 50 breast, 7^th 100 free), Koren English (1^st 100 fly, 100 IM), Kim English (2^nd 100 fly, 3^rd 100 IM).

Boys 11-12: Owen Lawler (3^rd 50 back, 50 breast), Dylan Wright (3^rd 50 fly, 4^th 50 breast, 100 free).

Girls 13-14: Allison Hanson (1^st 100 free, 100 back, 200 back), Sarah Merodio (1^st 50 free, 200 free, 500 free).

Girls 15-16: Kelly Strong (1^st 200 breast, 2^nd 100 breast, 50 free, 500 free), Chelo Lundquist-Krag (2^nd 100 free, 3^rd 50 free, 200 IM), Nadine Bradley (1^st 100 breast), Shao Jia Chang (2^nd 100 fly), Kyra Rudnick (2^nd 200 free, 200 back).

Boys 15-16: Matteo Merodio (1^st 100 back, 200 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM), Evan Thompson (1^st 100 fly, 2nd 100 free), Brian Bradley (3^rd 500 free), Jesse Lundquist-Krag (6^th 200 free, 100 breast).

Boys 17-18: Brandon Disney (2^nd 50 free, 200 free, 100 breast, 200 breast).

First place relay teams:

Girls 15-16 200 Medley team: Kelly Strong, Sarah Merodio, Allison Hanson, Shao-Jia Chang.

Girls 11-12 200 free team: Shannon Fronsman, Kim English, Koren English, Paloma Colacion.

Girls 11-12 200 Medley team: Shannon Fronsman, Noe Urquiza, Paloma Colacion, Jazmin Uribe.

LCCC top point earners by age division:

Robin Adams, 6 (91 pts) girls 6 and under;

Roman Uribe, 8 (94 pts) boys 8 and under;

Hailey Wright, 8 (29 pts) girls 8 and under;

Charlie Adams, 9 (94 pts) boys 9-10;

Lauren Rudnick, 10 (95.5 pts) girls 9-10;

Owen Lawler, 12 (77 pts) boys 11-12;

Paloma Colacion, 12 (140 pts) girls 11-12;

Sarah Merodio, 13 and Allison Hanson, 14 (129.5 pts) girls 13-14;

Matteo Merodio, 16 (131 pts) boys 15-16;

Kelly Strong, 15 (97 pts) girls 15-16;

Brandon Disney, 17 (93.5 pts) boys 17-18.

The Channel Cats practice daily at the Westshore pool in Lakeport. Competition is not a requirement of the program, though it is strongly encouraged. Summer swim session will be finishing at the end of August and Fall sign-ups will be starting soon for swimmers interested in improving upon existing swimming skills and continuing conditioning and training for competitive swimming purposes.

Those interested in Channel Cat activities or youth swimming opportunities may contact team president Jen Hanson at 263-3131 or view the team Web site at www.lakecountychannelcats.com.

Every swimmer wanted to touch the trophy