Cleveland honors seniors, Storm and Rams dominant in home meet

RIO RANCHO — “It's always bittersweet saying goodbye to these amazing young people.”

Cleveland head coach Patrick Dorman and the Storm swim and dive team had all the feels this past weekend, hosting senior day at the 2026 Cleveland Invite at Rio Rancho Aquatic Center.

The big day was capped off by a celebratory dive into the pool by the Cleveland seniors, with only a few more meets left in their high school careers.

“It's an honor to have been an influence on the people that they have become and to have had the opportunity to watch them grow over their years with the swim team,” Dorman said. “They are an amazing group of athletes, and I know that they will all continue to have a positive impact in their communities. I'm so proud of our seniors.”

Rio Rancho’s swim team is set to do the same for their Rio Invite coming up, with district and state championships set for February.

Team dives, group celebrations, what could be a better way to celebrate your exiting seniors?

By dominating the field.

On their home turf, the Cleveland girls and Rio Rancho boys took first place in the competitive 12-team field, with both programs placing in the top three or better on both sides. The two schools combined scores for first and second place overall, with the Rams taking the top spot, 844-798.

“We hosted 12 teams on Saturday,” Dorman said. “It was a big meet with lots of fast times.”

Cleveland’s Ziyah Chavez-Rodriguez had a standout day, taking the 500-yard freestyle and as a key part of the Storms’ 400-yard freestyle relay victory.

Along with Ziyah, Lucia Pena took second in the 200-yard freestyle, and Alyssa Hall finished first in 1-meter diving in a Storm-heavy leaderboard.

For the electric blue boys, it was another big meet for Guha Hari. Along with a win in the 50-yard freestyle, Hari beat out Rio’s Jacob Rice in 1-meter diving and helped Cleveland to a 200-yard freestyle relay victory as well.

Hari’s relay mate, Allison Journey, took the 100-yard backstroke in what ended up as one of the best performances of the season overall from the Storm boys. Their 496 points were good for almost 100 points more than second-place Farmington High.

For the Rams, names were scattered throughout the board. Rio took the four relay victories on the day, including the boys' and girls' 200-yard medleys.

Caleb Solis finished first in the 100-yard freestyle, with fellow relay winner Sean Bogue just behind in third. Bogue would also take second in the 100-yard backstroke, as Solis would follow suit with a silver finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. 

“I was really happy with what our swimmers did,” Rams head coach Jeremiah Stanton said. “There were some technical mistakes that we made, so we will be working to clean those up as we get ready for championship season. “

Stanton was not just pleased with the swimmers, but the strides the program has been making on the diving side as well.

“I am really amazed by how well Coach Aaron Lopez has been developing our divers,” Stanton said. “We now had three divers competing on the boys' side, and two of them, for the first time, were to qualify to be able to compete. Those divers really gave us a boost on the boys' side.”

Stanton also added looking into developing more divers on the girls' side, capitalizing on every point available.

Rio and Cleveland will now gear up for another run at the city’s Aquatic Center, with the Rams Invite next.

“We showed the state of New Mexico that the city of Rio Rancho will be a force in swimming and diving for a long time to come,” Dorman said.