The Crow Canyon Sea Lions were crowned 2005 Contra Costa County Champions for the first time in their history, at the county championships held Aug. 13-14 at Acalanes High School in Lafayette. Fifty-nine teams participated.
“The kids were dedicated all summer long. They came to practice every day with a new challenge and always rose above the coaches’ expectations,” said swim coach Dan Cottam. “They never complained about training, no matter how hard it was.” He also noted that both younger and older teammates were supportive of each other. “They knew what each other’s goals and dreams were.”
“They finished 492 points ahead of Blackhawk Country Club. Round Hill Country Club finished third,” Cottam said, beaming.
Cottam and co-head coach Ethan Hall have coached the Sea Lions for the past four years. This was the first year Hall coached the summer team but he has coached the swimmers in the fall for the past four years, said Cottam. He has been swimming for 23 years and swam competitively for 20 years.
Both coaches were teammates on the Terrapins Concord U.S. Swim team and swam for UC Santa Barbara for four years.
The entire team deserves credit for this impressive victory, Cottam said, providing the following list of “only some of the standouts of the swim meet as there were too many to list all of them.”
* JJ Koski, 8 – high-point winner for 7-8 boys (first in butterfly; first in Individual Medley)
* 7-8 boys Medley Relay (Kyle Kearns, JJ Koski, Connor Doyle, AJ Silva) broke the County Record
* 13-14 boys Medley and Free Relays – first place (Justin Gribble, Jason Roudnev, Byron Gruendl, Patrick Weiss)
* 7-8 girls Free Relay – first place (Kelly O’Connell, Kristin Schumann, Marina Smith, Katherine Klass)
* 9-10 boys Medley Relay – first place (Dillon Williams, Colin Chiapello, Kyle Schumann, Brian Roudnev)
* Chris Glass – first place 100 backstroke 15-18 boys
* AJ Silva – first place in 25 freestyle 7-8 boys
* Dillon Williams, 9 – second place in 50 back and 50 butterfly 9-10 boys
* Colin Chiapello, 9 – second place 50 breaststroke 9-10 boys
* Kyle Schumann – first place 50 butterfly 9-10 boys
* Kristin Schumann – second place 25 breaststroke 7-8 girls
* Logan Bjorkman – second place 100 backstroke 15-18 girls
* Marina Smith – fourth place 100 IM; third place 25 butterfly 7-8 girls
Planning Commission denies appeal over event space proposed for Wood Ranch in DanvilleJuly 22, 2026 9:10 am
Tri-Valley squad among 3 Bay Area Little League teams still vying for World SeriesJuly 24, 2026 7:52 am