RIVERSIDE, California, May 20. THE Santa Margarita High School girls and University High School boys took home the CIF Southern Section Swimming and Diving Championship titles for Division I last Saturday afternoon, highlighted by national high school records from Santa Margarita’s Katie McLaughlin and Saugus’ Abbey Weitzeil. Santa Margarita topped the girls’ field with 280 points, followed by JSerra (209) and Edison (162). University won the boys’ meet with 337 points; Loyola finished second with 246 points, while Edison took third with 185.
The meet got off to an exciting start with a very close finish in the opening 200 medley relay. After trailing by almost a second and a half after the backstroke leg, Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Christina Campbell, Kirsten Vose, Katie Altmayer and Kate Herrill chased down JSerra’s Katie Glavinovich, Catherine Lowengrub, Kaitlyn Albertoli and Karli Thuen for the win, 1:44.38 to 1:44.52. Santa Margarita’s Andrea Laliena, Emily Gibson, Raquel Remick and Camryn Barry touched third in 1:45.94.
In the boys’ relay, University took down their own Division I meet record from prelims in dominating fashion. Daniel Tran, Michael Schiffer, Corey Okubo and William Hofstadter swam a 1:30.10 to erase their day-old 1:30.87 from the record books. Loyola’s Joon Sung, Zach Profozich, Oliver Maarse and Ryan Wilson held off several other schools to take second in 1:32.05, just .02 ahead of Redlands’ Shea Macready, Tyler Ocasio-Pare, Kyle Gornay and Collin Green (1:32.07).
Santa Margarita’s Katie McLaughlin earned her first of two individual victories in the girls’ 200 free final. McLaughlin lowered her own Division I meet record of 1:45.39 from last year with a 1:44.66 for the win. Woodbridge’s Daniela Georges nearly broke the old record as well with a 1:45.89 for second, while Foothill’s Rachel Thompson wrapped up third with a 1:47.51.
Santa Margarita kept the momentum going in the next event as sophomore Grant Shoults swam away with the boys’ 200 free crown. Shoults touched in 1:35.99 to knock off Hart’s Cole Cogswell (1:36.81) and Edison’s Thomas Smith (1:38.02).
Valencia freshman Nikol Popov got her high school career off to a great start with a win in her first individual event, the 200 IM. Popov cleared two minutes in the event, touching in 1:59.90 to secure the win. Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Kirsten Vose (2:00.85) and Edison’s Nora Deleske (2:01.44) rounded out the top three.
University senior Corey Okubo capped the last 200 IM of his high school career in record-breaking fashion, lowering his own Division I meet record of 1:46.92 from prelims to 1:45.42 in finals. Corona del Mar senior Liam Karas also broke the old record in finishing second in 1:46.54. Daniel Tran of University snuck in for third at 1:48.99.
In the girls’ 50 free, Saugus’ Abbey Weitzeil became the fastest swimmer in high school history with a record-breaking 21.98 in finals. That lowered the national high school record of 21.99, set by Olivia Smoliga in 2012, and the Division I meet record of 22.21 set by Weitzeil in prelims. JSerra’s Kaitlyn Albertoli finished way behind in 22.84, still an incredible time for high school. Alemany’s Katherine Wagner rounded out the top three in 23.07.
Loyola’s Corey John got to the wall first in the boys’ 50 free final, hitting the wall in 20.55 to finish just ahead of University’s William Hofstadter (20.71) and Mater Dei’s Matthew Payne (20.96). Alex Chan of Saugus actually had the third-best time of the day, but finished ninth in 20.80.
Capistrano Valley freshman Camryn Hidaldo won her first section title in the girls’ 1-meter diving final, scoring 536.40 points to edge Mission Viejo’s Alexandra Caplan (523.80) and San Clemente’s Haley Farnsworth (522.35). Tarek Abdelghany made it a sweep of the diving events for Capistrano Valley after winning the boys’ 1-meter title with 579.35 points. El Modena’s Matt Casillas scored 539.65 points to finish second, followed by Huntington Beach’s Brandon Loschiavo in third with 537.95 points.
Another national high school record fell in the girls’ 100 fly, this time to Santa Margarita’s Katie McLaughlin. McLaughlin touched in 51.78 to take down Jasmine Tosky’s national mark of 51.92 from 2011, and also took over a second off her own meet record of 52.93 from last year. Tamara Santoyo of Hart swam a 53.75 to take second while Anna Quinn of Thousand Oaks placed third in 54.34.
Dos Pueblos junior Alex Valente had almost as impressive a race in the boys’ 100 fly, finishing just over a second off the national high school record in that event with a 46.69. He wasn’t quite fast enough to take down Joseph Schooling’s record of 45.52, but he did lower Kyle Gornay’s Division I meet record of 46.83 from 2013. University’s Corey Okubo took second in 47.53, while Edison’s Wade Nelson claimed third place honors with a 48.63.
Abbey Weitzeil of Saugus took down her second national high school record in as many events in the 100 free, lowering Dagny Knutson’s 2009 mark from 48.15 to 47.91. That also took six tenths off her own Division I meet record of 48.54 from prelims of the 400 free relay, which she led off. Kaitlyn Albertoli of JSerra finished second to Weitzeil for a second time, posting a 49.90. Rachel Thompson of Foothill came in third in 50.49.
After finishing second in the 200 free, Hart’s Cole Cogswell moved up one spot on the podium to first in the 100 free, out-touching Redlands senior Kyle Gornay for the title, 43.97 to 44.03. Cogswell just missed the Division I meet record in the event, a 43.85 set by Derya Buyukuncu in 1994. Valencia’s Kevin Dai swam a 45.12 to take third.
Woodbridge’s Daniela Georges held off Capistrano Valley’s Brooke Lorentzen to win the girls’ 500 free, 4:45.94 to 4:46.85. Meagan Popp of Corona del Mar touched third in 4:50.35. Meanwhile, Capistrano Valley’s Nicholas Norman won the boys’ 500 free in 4:23.02, ahead of Servite teammates Stephen Marcin (4:24.30) and Jerad Kaskawal (4:27.02).
Santa Margarita’s quartet of Camryn Barry, Raquel Remick, Elizabeth Devitt and Katie McLaughlin raced to the top spot in the girls’ 200 free relay, holding off Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Kate Herrill, Katie Altmayer, Christina Campbell and Kirsten Vose by .14, 1:34.64 to 1:34.78. Woodbridge claimed third in 1:35.78, led by Alexa Clayfield, Whitney Ching-Wen Chang, Kathryn Krolikowski and Daniela Georges.
In the boys’ 200 free relay, Loyola’s Oliver Maarse, Joon Sung, Ryan Wilson and Corey John took down the Division I meet record of 1:23.04, set by Yucaipa in 2008. The foursome touched in 1:22.57 to outdistance Hart’s Cole Cogswell, Kevin Moore, Austin Barreiro and Matt Johnson, who touched in 1:23.15. Valencia’s Kevin Dai, Jessie Kim, Tyler Tran and Jack Kerchner took third in 1:23.94.
Three swimmers cleared 56 seconds to lead a quick girls’ 100 backstroke field. Foothill’s Courtney Mykkanen led the way in 55.12, just off her prelim time of 54.83. Ventura’s Solie Laughlin stayed right with Mykkanen the whole way and touched just over a tenth behind in 55.29, while Mater Dei’s Aislinn Light took third in 55.93.
Redlands senior Kyle Gornay rebounded from a second place finish in the 100 free earlier in the meet to put his stamp on the 100 back. Gornay won by more than a second, just missing his own Division I meet record of 47.04 with a 47.15. Valencia’s Jessie Kim came in second with a 48.39, followed by Westlake’s David Puczkowski in 48.56.
Valencia freshman Nikol Popov added a second victory to her win in the 200 IM earlier in the day with a commanding victory in the 100 breast. Popov touched in 1:01.17 to beat Edison freshman Nora Deleske (1:02.61) by almost a second and a half. Devin Newton, also of Edison, also cleared 1:03 with a 1:02.82 for third. Tyler Lin of Corona del Mar won the final boys individual event on the table, taking the 100 breast title in 55.53 over University’s Judd Howard (55.97) and Northwood’s William Monjay (56.17).
Santa Margarita wrapped up the girls’ championship title with a win in the final 400 free relay. Elizabeth Devitt, Sydney Franzen, Emily Boggess and Katie McLaughlin raced to a 3:24.32, just over a second ahead of JSerra’s Kaitlyn Albertoli, Brittany Kahn, Katie Glavinovich and Karli Thuen (3:25.44). Foothill, led by Emily Konishi, Brooke Maxson, Courtney Mykkanen and Rachel Thompson, finished third in 3:27.30.
In the boys’ relay, Hart’s Cole Cogswell, Austin Barreiro, Kevin Moore and Matt Johnson edged Redlands’ Shea Macready, Collin Green, Tyler Ocasio-Pare and Tom Frye, 3:02.41 to 3:02.60. Loyola took third behind Kyle Otazu, Sean Lee, Ryan Wilson and Corey John’s 3:03.71.
Results For: CIF Southern Section Swimming and Diving Championships
