Emotional CCC championship for Merced High School swimmers

Josh Fluetsch called it the hardest swim meet of his life. Many of his Merced High School teammates felt the same, including seniors Kai Jones and Jande Monteon, who broke down in tears after winning events and had to be consoled by teammates.

The Bears pulled together and swam with heavy hearts after a tragedy involving teammate Brandon Villegas and won the Central California Conference championships Saturday at Golden Valley High. Villegas’ condition was unknown Saturday night.

“Swim meets are about having fun,” Fluetsch said. “But how can I have fun when my best friend isn’t here? Every time I stepped on the block, I thought about him. It was hard to be here.”

The tragedy hit his teammates hard. Merced swimmers had the letters “BV” written on their chests and backs in honor of Villegas.

“Brandon was always the guy that made you laugh if you weren’t having a good meet,” Jones said. “He would make you feel good. It’s something you don’t notice until he’s not here.”

Jones was in tears as he embraced Buhach Colony’s Casey Bowers after Jones won the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1 minute, 50.95 seconds. Bowers also had “BV” written on his chest.

“We’re both really good friends with Brandon, and he told me, ‘Nice job. You won it for Brandon,’” Jones said.

It was an impressive performance by Merced, considering the circumstances. The Bears boys and girls combined to win 18 of 22 finals.

The Merced girls totaled 524.5 points to complete their sixth consecutive CCC championship. Pitman was second with 448.5.

The Merced boys wrapped up their seventh consecutive CCC title with 480 points. Pitman finished second with 435.

“It’s been a pretty tough road,” Bears coach Kit Grattan said. “I told them I don’t care what place we come in. It’s about supporting each other and swimming as a team. They’ve had such a hard thing to try to deal with that some of them were on the blocks crying before their race. Some of them surprised me by swimming their fastest times.”

Monteon, who recently accepted a scholarship to Cal State East Bay, won the 200 freestyle (1:58) and 100 freestyle (53.82).

Merced’s other double winners included Laurel Carpenter in the 200 individual medley (2:16.19) and 500 freestyle (5:22.81), Mireya Ortega in the 100 butterfly (1:01.73) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.52), Fluetsch in the 100 freestyle (49.43) and 500 freestyle (5:06.89), and Abraham Santana in the 200 IM (2:01.86) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.08).

“It’s been very difficult,” Monteon said. “(Friday) We were out here racing, and I know I only had three hours of sleep after going to the hospital to visit on Thursday night. It’s been emotionally draining on all of us, but we wanted to dedicate this meet to Brandon.”

Pitman was the only other team to take home multiple individual titles. Joshua Buck won the 100 butterfly in 56.89 seconds, and Gavin Madrigal won a competitive 50 freestyle in 22.95 seconds.

“I have a tough time trying not to look at my opponents during the race,” Madrigal said. “It slows me down. This time, I was able to keep my eyes on the ball and I was able to get a faster time.”

Buhach Colony’s Gwynn McBride won the 100 backstroke in 1:03.5, and Atwater’s Nicole Goodnight won the 50 freestyle in 26.31.

“The 50 is such a tough race,” Goodnight said. “It’s two laps and you have to sprint it. You have to give it your all, you have to get the right turn and you have to come in hard.”

Merced’s other winner was Nick Formby in the 100 backstroke (58.32), which was Villegas’ specialty.

“This says a lot about our kids,” Grattan said. “They’re resilient. They’re going through something some of us never have to go through. They were unbelievable.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2015 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Emotional CCC championship for Merced High School swimmers."