Records fall on day 2 of the 3C2A Swim/Dive Championships
MONTEREY PARK - When the state meet first came to East Los Angeles College's Swim Stadium back in 2011, coaches knew the reputation of the indoor facility--a "fast pool" capable of producing record performances. From 2011-2017, the ELAC-hosted championships totaled a dizzying 52 state records.
Despite none achieved last year in the first post-COVID final, on Friday's Day 2 of the 3C2A State Swimming and Diving Championships, it was a return to the record dance for student-athletes.
Four more state records were achieved Friday (five this meet) by Orange Coast in the 200-yard medley relay, breaking an 11-year-old record set by Santa Rosa, Sierra's Jake Reuter in snapping Golden West's Gabriel Hernandez 2014 mark by .66 in the 400 individual medley, and Palomar's Emma Hart breaking her own record from the prelims in the women's 100 butterfly to win the gold in the finals. (See capsultes for times).
Santa Monica leads Sierra in the women's standings by a healthy 52 points while Sierra has a sizeable 131 point advantage over Orange Coast in the men's competition.
WOMEN'S STANDINGS: 1. Santa Monica 268, 2. Sierra 216, 3. Orange Coast 196, 4. Santa Barbara CC 185, 5. Santa Rosa JC 166, 6. Palomar 125, 7. West Valley 108, 8. Diablo Valley 107, 9. Riverside CC 100.5, 10. American River 91.
MEN'S STANDINGS: 1. Sierra 437, 2. Orange Coast 306, 3. Mt San Antonio 172.5, 4. Palomar 168, 5. Las Positas 160.5, 6. Golden West 150, 7. College of the Sequoias 121, 8. Cuesta 114, T9. West Valley, American River 101
Here is an event-by-event recap:
FRIDAY, MAY 5
Event #13: W-200 medley relay: Champion--Santa Monica, 1:48.55 (Emily Lester, Wilma Henriksson, Ema Kilmauskas, Risa Akatsu), 2. West Valley 1:51.74, 3. Santa Barbara 1:51.75. It was the breaststroke leg of Kilmauskaus that opened things up for the Corsairs as Akatsu finished strong for the 3-plus second victory. West Valley touched the wall in a photo finish of .01 for second over third-place SBCC.
Event #14: M-200 medley relay: STATE MEET RECORD-Champion--Orange Coast, 1:29.79 (Tatsuki Inoue, Matthew Simpson, Ethan Smith, Dane Howell), 2. Sierra 1:30.62, 3. 3. Mt. San Antonio 1:32.27. Howell stormed the final 50 to cap breaking the state meet record by .20. Sierra was just .63 off the record but had to settle for the silver.
Event #15: W-400 individual medley: Champion-Stanislava Holzhauser, Santa Rosa, 4:34.71, 2. Kilmauskas, Santa Monica, 4:39.03, 3. Emm Marsalek, Allan Hancock, 4:47.23. Shaving nearly 13 seconds off her premlims time, Holzhauser pulled away from the pack for the win in the longer versatile event.
Event #16: M-400 individual medley: STATE MEET RECORD-Champion--Jake Reuter, Sierra, 3:52.54, 2. Matthew Simpson, Orange Coast, 3:59.54, 3. Max Pecile, Allan Hancock, 4:01.58. In what has to be one of the greatest improvements ever from freshman to sophomore, Reuter swam a full four seconds faster to break the state record in the longer versatile event and defend his IM crown.
Event #17: W-100 butterfly: STATE MEET RECORD-Champion--Emma Hart, Palomar, 54.82, 2. Isabella Urlando, Santa Barbara, 57.19, Reigner, Santa Monica, 58.38. Hart broke the state meet record in the event at 55.30 in the prelims. She then smashed that mark in the finals by .48.
Event #18: M-100 butterfly: Champion--Ethan Smith, Orange Coast, 47.50, 2. Eric Yeh, 48.56, Mt. San Antonio, Tommy Collins, Sierra, 48.90. A repeat champion, Smith won but was .22 slower than his title from '22. "Slow" is something not usually in Smith's vocabulary as he proved in Thursday's freestyle sprints.
Event #19: W-200 freestyle: Champion--Mia Park, El Camino, 1:51.54, 2. Camryn Bussey, Sierra, 1:54.10, 3. Risa Akatsu, Santa Monica, 1:55.82. Park picked up her second freestyle title (won 500) with ease. Bussey finished for silver ahead of defending champ Akatsu, who was surprisingly three seconds off her freshman winning time and took the bronze.
Event #20: M-200 freestyle: Champion--Alec Mortensen, West Valley, 1:38.24, 2. Joshy Peters, Sequoias, 1:40.81, 3. Stash Perry, Cuesta, 1:40.85. Using the same closing speed he performed on Thursday in winning the 200 IM, Mortensen stormed to a 2-second plus gold medal win while Peters barely edged Perry for silver by .04. Sierra's Andrew Espinosa, the defending champ, swam a surprising seventh, two seconds off his winning time in '22.
Event #21: W-100 breaststroke: Champion--Courtney Seljeseth, De Anza, 1:03.68, 2. Henrikkson, Santa Monica, 1:05.33, 3. Ashley Sand, Las Positas, 1:06.78. Seljeseth, the 200 IM winner, picks up her second gold without being threatened.
Event #22: M-100 breaststroke: Champion--Srboljub Filipovic, Golden West, 55.90. 56.08, 2. Tomas Townsend, American River, 56.31, 3. Zachary Zauhar-Kurr, Las Positas, 57.01. Fiilopovic is back-to-back champ here as he beat his '22 time by .18.
Event #23: W-100 backstroke: Champion--Isabella Urlando, Santa Barbara, 56.07, 2. Olivia Khan, Foothill, 58.36, 3. Reva Reignier, Santa Monica, 59.32.
Urlando shaved a few seconds off her prelim time and used her technically strong strokes to take control of this title win.
Event #24: M-100 backstroke: Champion--Evan Terry, Sierra, 48.19, 2. Tatsuki Inoue, Orange Coast, 48.93, Charles Fleming, Sierra, 50.28. Terry becomes a 2-time champion in the short back event in beating his '22 time by .83. Inoue was a repeat silver, dropping .38 from last year but not enough to catch Terry.
Event #25: 800 freestyle relay: Champion--Santa Monica, 7:59.51, 2. Sierra, 8:07.14, 3. Riverside 8:10.11: Looking for a state title, the Corsairs are dominating the relays and this one was no different with a sub 8-minute mark to win their fourth relay title.
Event #26: M-800 freestyle relay: Champion--Sierra, 6:44.51 (Reuter, Collins, Christopher Nihart, Lathan Skeehan), 2. Orange Coast, 6:49.72 3. Las Positas, 6:52.85. The Wolverines continue to be well on their way to a possible state team title with 40 more points here for their third title of the day.
Event #27: W-1-meter board: Champion--Laurel Plewe, Sierra, 250.85 points, 2. Maia Chase, Santa Rosa, 219.5, 3. Lourdes Salsa, San Diego Mesa, 209.65. Plewe was ultra consistent in all six of her dives, scoring 40 or more on five of them to secure the high board gold. Her best score had the highest degree of difficulty (2.4) as she totaled 46.8 points on her fourth attempt-a forward 2-1/2 somersault pike. Chase, the high board champ, got off to a good start, scoring 44.4 on her second try (back 1-1/2 somersault 1-1/2 twist), but was unable to keep up with Plewe's solid run. Mesa's Salas best mark was a back 1-1/2 somersault tuck for 41.8 points as she scored the bronze.
Event #28: M-1-meter board: Champion--Donovan Taylor, Palomar, 260.5 2. Ty Hunt, San Diego Mesa, 242.85, 3. Tony Arteaga, San Joaquin Delta, 239.65. Taylor scores the daily diving double in winning the short board after his triump on Thursday in the high board. Taylor and defending champion Hunt were virtually tied in points going into the fifth of six dives. The Comet then nailed the landing on a back 1-1/2 somersault 1/2 twist, scoring his high of 55 points. Hunt picked the wrong time for his lowest scoring dive at #5 (24.15) on a reverse 2 somesault tuck. That proved to be the difference for Taylor's third title in two years. While Hunt took silver he scored more points than he did when he won the 1-meter title in 2022, including a wonderful 50.4 points score on his fourth dive-an inward 2 somersault tuck. Arteaga, who opened with a monster 57.6 score on an inward 1-1/2 somersault pike, was a very close third.
Release by Robert Lewis, for the 3C2A-state meet SID