ST. HELENA — St. Helena may have the best swimming team around but no one beats Kelseyville’s Nick Dobusch in the 100-yard butterfly or 100 backstroke.
Dobusch remained undefeated in both events on Thursday as the combined Clear Lake/Kelseyville squad hit the road for a league meet that produced a handful of first-place finishes for the visitors.
“Nick embodies the spirit of this fledgling team,” Clear Lake/Kelseyville coach Agustin Merodio said. “We don’t practice in a competitive pool. We have no blocks to practice diving and the pool is not competitive length. Yet despite the disadvantages this team faces, Nick continues to dominate in two of the hardest races on the schedule. And he does it with a positive and cheerful attitude that serves as a role model to the rest of the team.”
Evan Holdenreid (50 freestyle) and Jenna Williams (100 butterfly), also from Kelseyville, also won their events. The Clear Lake/Kelseyville 200 freestyle relay team of Catherine Braider, Tanya Vasquez, Bailey Huggins and Emma Larsen also won.
Five senior swimmers on the Clear Lake/Kelseyville squad will be honored later this month at the league championships in Fort Bragg. They are Holdenreid, Dobusch and Larsen from Kelseyville High School as well as Braider and Fiona Kirkpatrick from Clear Lake High School. Both Dobusch and Larsen plan to continue swimming at the collegiate level.
Next up for the Clear Lake/Kelseyville team is a league meet April 11 against Tech High School in Rohnert Park.
