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2007 San Diego Section
Spring Sports Log
Prep Swimming & Diving

Eastlake's Kimmel races to 50 freestyle title

Posted May 19, 2007
After Saturday's San Diego Section swimming championship meet at Rancho Bernardo High School , Eastlake High School coach Bryan Monzon must be wondering if there are any more siblings in the Kimmel house?

Standout Dani Kimmel, now at Pepperdine University , captured the Division I 100-yard breaststroke title in 2005 while finishing third in both the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke last year.

Younger sister Jacquie Kimmel captured the 50 freestyle sprint this year while placing fourth in the 100 backstroke.

It has to be genetic. There is no other way to describe it.

Eastlake 's girls team, buoyed by Kimmel's big swims, avenged its narrow defeat at this year's Mesa League championship meet by placing 91 points ahead of the Barons at last weekend's Division I finals. The Titans finished the meet third overall — trailing only division champion Torrey Pines and runner-up Carlsbad .

Eastlake was fourth last year.

The reigning league champion in both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, Kimmel timed 23.91 to win the 50 freestyle event and later hit the touch pad in 59.11 to secure a top four finish in the backstroke event. The 2007 Mesa League Female Swimmer of the Year out-touched Carlsbad 's Amy Morales (24.50) in the 50 freestyle in shaving off 0.12 seconds from her prelim time. Morales also went faster than her prelim time of 24.58.

Kimmel won the Mesa League title in the 50 freestyle in 24.30 and clocked 59.49 in winning the league backstroke title.

The Titans, who are working on a streak of two consecutive Mesa League dual meet championships, clearly exploited their many strengths at the Division I finals.

Eastlake won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.02, with Taylor Stoddard, Heather Voigt, Andrea Voigt and Kimmel each swimming legs. The Titans, featuring the same lineup, finished second in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:38.43. The foursome went nearly three seconds faster in the 400 event than in the prelims and bested the time in the 200 event by more than one second.

Stoddard finished second in the 100 freestyle (53.78) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:55.83) while Andrea Voigt was fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:56.05) and sixth in the 100 freestyle (54.41).

In consolation heats, Heather Voigt placed 11th in the 500 freestyle (5:29.11) and 12th in the 200 freestyle (2:02.80) while Argo was ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.67).

Eastlake 's Sarah Scherrer, the Mesa League Female Diver of the Year, placed 18th in the 20-deep Division I girls diving competition.

The Titan boys team also moved up the Division I standings to seventh place (from 10th place last year).

Monzon said he was looking for Fluhart, in particular, to register some “big swims” at the CIF finals and the Eastlake senior did not disappoint. Fluhart timed 22.34 in the 50 freestyle to place third overall and clocked 49.15 to finish sixth in the 100 freestyle.

Another four-year veteran, Marc Uy, timed 1:01.15 to secure fourth place in the 100 breaststroke after recording the top prelim time of 1:00.77.

Jeff Demoss placed fifth in the 100 backstroke in 56.50 while Chris Schmuckal was right behind in sixth place in 58.54.

The Titans, braced by Demoss, Uy, Benny Garduno and Fluhart, placed fifth in the boys 200 medley relay (1:43.10).

In consolation events, Demoss was 10th in the 200 freestyle (1:51.17) while Uy was 10th in the 200 IM (2:02.97).

Eastlake, powered by Schmuckal, Demoss, Ismael Alvarez and Fluhart, placed 12th in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.01)

Championship heats
•Bonita Vista's Lakera Williams placed sixth in the girls 50 freestyle (25.95) while Otay Ranch's Roni Coffer finished sixth in the girls 100 breaststroke (1:12.28).

•Bonita Vista's Robert Newman, the Mesa League Male Swimmer of the Year, placed sixth in the 100 butterfly (56.05).

Consolation heats
•The Bonita Vista unit of Sasha Beltran, Monique Beltran, Sarah Skinker and Williams finished seventh in the 200 medley relay (1:58.61).

•Otay Ranch placed eighth in the 200 freestyle relay as Elyse Dayrit, Coffer, Alex Sanchez and Leslie Rodriguez teamed for a 1:46.92 time.

•Bonita Vista finished eighth in the 400 freestyle relay as the two Beltrans combined with Danielle Harrington and Skinker for a 3:53.03 time.

•Bonita Vista finished ninth in the boys 200 medley relay as Derrik Clair-Williams, Jono Newman, Robert Newman and Kevin Burman sped to a 1:47.43 clocking.

Otay Ranch's foursome of Alex Sanchez, Roni Coffer, Roxana Magee and Leslie Rodriguez finished 10th in the same event in 2:01.74.

Sasha Beltran was ninth in the 50 freestyle (25.95) and also ninth in the 100 backstroke (1:05.13) while Monique Beltran finished 11th in the girls 100 butterfly (1:02.92) and 12th in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.26).

Boys roundup
Bonita Vista finished ninth in the 200 medley relay as Derrik Clair-Williams, Jono Newman, Robert Newman and Kevin Burman sped to a 1:47.43 clocking.

Robert Newman was sixth in the 100 butterfly (56.05) while Burman was 10th in the 100 freestyle (50.76).

The Barons, navigated by Robert Newman, Gabriel Gonzalez, Clair-Williams and Burman, secured 11th place in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:30.28.

Sam Diego Section
Division I team standings
Girls (points): 1. Torrey Pines 323, 2. Carlsbad 153, 3. Eastlake 135, 4. Rancho Bernardo 94, 5. Granite Hills 89, 6. El Camino 63, 7. Mission Hills 58, 8. Scripps Ranch 56, 9. Poway 51, 10. Grossmont 47, 11. Bonita Vista 44, 12. Escondido 42. Others: 18. Otay Ranch 25.

Boys (points): 1. Carlsbad 292, 2. Poway 171, 3. Rancho Bernardo 149, 4. Patrick Henry 112, 5. Torrey Pines 106, 6. Fallbrook 82, 7. Eastlake 79, 8. La Costa Canyon 77, 9. Mira Mesa 68, 10. Scripps Ranch 65, 11. Grossmont 50, 12. San Diego 46. Others: 14. Bonita Vista 27.

West Hills swimmers finish strong at CIF finals

The West Hills High School girls swim team recently wrapped up its second consecutive Grossmont North League championship. Caitlin Macky wrapped up a superlative high school career in the process by going undefeated in all individual events in which she competed over a four-year span.

Macky earned All-San Diego Section honors in the 200 individual medley and 100-breaststroke as a freshman and placed no lower than third place in the section finals during her four-year career with the Wolf Pack, earning All-American times in her events.

She will continue her decorated swimming career in college at San Jose State University after receiving an athletic scholarship to attend the NCAA Division I school.

Besides excelling in the pool, Macky has also excelled in the classroom and continues to participate in club swimming for Dave Kilmer of the College Area Swim Team.

Macky finished her prep career at the San Diego Section Division II finals May 19 at Rancho Bernardo High School by placing second in the 100-yard breaststroke and third in the 200 IM. She was also a member of West Hills' fifth-place 200 medley relay team.

Although her high school swim career has finished, Macky will compete in the Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine where she will be joined at the prestigious event by sophomore teammate Kelsey Hall, who also completed another undefeated season in league competition. Hall competes for North Coast Aquatics in club swimming.

Both Hall and Macky have helped guide the Wolf Pack 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams to success. Hall and Macky were joined by Traci Robertson and Madison Boehrig this season in the 200 medley relay. West Hills won the 400 freestyle consolation heat to place seventh at this year's division finals. Lana Herrington joined Hall, Macky and Boehrig to complete that foursome.

In individual events, Hall finished second in the 500 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle while West Hills junior Alexa Stecker placed fifth in the girls diving competition.

As a team, the Wolf Pack finished fifth in the Division II girls team standings to lead all Grossmont Conference entrants. Valhalla finished 11th while Monte Vista was 17th , Steele Canyon was 18th and Mt. Miguel was 25th.

Division II finals
Valhalla 's Hanna Basler placed third in the 100 freestyle while Monte Vista's Andrea Thiltgen finished fifth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 200 IM.

The Valhalla unit of Tess Stevenson, Megan Rizk, Lexi Scully and Basler placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay.

Steele Canyon , powered by An Dang, Kristine Negrete, Hillary Kerrigan and Stefani Feilen, won the consolation heat in the 200 freestyle relay.

Titans, Barons split titles at Mesa League finals

Posted May 12, 2007
Eastlake swim coach Bryan Monzon was kept busy handing out championship medals to team members at Saturday's Mesa League championship meet at the Loma Verde pool. There were 22 championship heats at last weekend's meet — boys and girls combined. Titan swimmers came away with 18 titles.

Monzon should be kept on call when championship medals are handed out at next Saturday's San Diego Section championships at Rancho Bernardo High School . The Titans qualified 17 swimmers for this past week's section prelims — up from last year's total of 11.

Eastlake repeated as Mesa League dual meet champions this season but split championship meet titles with arch-rival Bonita Vista last Saturday. The Titans won the boys competition with a 555-425 edge over the Barons while Bonita Vista claimed a narrow 530-469 edge in capturing the first-place trophy in the girls meet.

Otay Ranch, last year's South Bay League champions, were third in both the boys and girls standings in its first-year move to the Mesa League.

The Titans captured eight titles in the boys meet, led by double-event winners Jeffrey Demoss (200 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Marc Uy (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke) and Gavin Fluhart (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle).

Demoss, who is headed to Cal State Northridge, timed 1:52.22 ahead of teammate Chris Schmuckal (1:53.59) in the 200 freestyle and repeated as league champion with the top time of 56.68 in the 100 backstroke (winning by more than three seconds over Schmuckal).

Uy, who will attend UCLA this fall, repeated his Mesa League titles in both events. He timed 2:07.11 in the 200 IM and 1:02.81 in the 100 breaststroke (shaving 1.5 seconds off last year's winning time). He beat freshman teammate Nick Garduno (2:13.46) in the IM.

Fluhart, who has been accepted to play water polo at the Air Force Academy, broke through with championship swims. He timed 23.53 in the shorter sprint distance, out-touching teammate Ismael Alvarez (23.67), while edging BV's Kevin Burman (51.44) in the longer sprint distance.

Eastlake also won the 200 medley relay (1:47.43) and 200 freestyle relay (1:35.21).

“The boys this year have really impressed me,” Monzon said. “They have exceeded expectations all season long. They definitely earned the title ‘champions.' They have been led by Jeffrey Demoss, who has made some of biggest strides this season in the 200 free and 100 backstroke. Marc Uy has also contributed greatly throughout the season in 200 IM and 100 breast. Gavin Fluhart has been our talented sprinter in the 50 and 100 freestyle and is looking for another big swim at CIFs this year.”

Another four-year varsity swimmer, Freddy Uquillas (headed to Cal Berkeley), just missed qualifying cuts in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle, Monzon said. Uquillas placed third in the butterfly event at last Saturday's league finals.

The Titan coach said all have balanced schoolwork with a strenuous training schedule throughout the year and have been successful.

Bonita Vista's Robert Newman repeated as league champion in the 100 butterfly (55.60) and 500 freestyle (5:04.53). In the latter event, he out-touched younger brother Jono (5:05.00). Jono Newman also finished runner-up in the 100 breaststroke to Uy.

Eastlake captured 10 first-place finishes in the girls meet despite finishing second to Bonita Vista.

Taylor Stoddard (100 freestyle and 200 freestyle), Andrea Voigt (200 IM and 100 butterfly) and Jacquie Kimmel (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke) all doubled in winning individual events while Heather Voigt (500 freestyle) and Meghan Argo (100 breaststroke) also emerged as event champions.

The Titans won two of the three relay events — the 200 freestyle relay (1:43.94) and 400 freestyle relay (3:50.77).

The Barons took their only first-place finish in the 200 medley relay (2:00.67), besting Eastlake 's second-place team by 0.44 seconds.

For Eastlake , Stoddard repeated as the league's 200 freestyle champion while Kimmel and Heather Voigt won again in the backstroke and 500 freestyle. Voigt also placed runner-up in the 200 freestyle.

Bonita Vista had finished 18 points behind Eastlake in the teams' hotly-contested annual dual meet. Barons coach Steve Wiggs said he could have called the latest meeting between the league's resident power houses “either way.”

“It had to be our fourth swimmers in each event who gave us that extra push to the end,” Wiggs said. “I didn't expect it. We put it into the kids' heads that if they went out there and did their best that it was possible. Eastlake is just so strong.”

Four BV swimmers notched second-place finishes in the meet: Sasha Beltran (200 IM and 100 backstroke), Lakera Williams (50 freestyle), Monique Beltran (100 butterfly) and Danielle Harrington (500 freestyle). Sarah Skinker (200 IM), Monique Beltran (100 breaststroke), Harrington (200 freestyle) and Williams (100 freestyle) also captured third-place finishes.

While Otay Ranch may have finished in third place behind Mesa League champion Eastlake and runner-up Bonita Vista in the move up from the South Bay League this season, that has not diminished in any way the accomplishment of this year's squad — the first to complete a four-year cycle in school history.

The Mustangs girls varsity team finished dual meet competition 5-2 overall, 3-2 in league. Otay Ranch scored non-league victories against Mar Vista and Grossmont. The Mustangs finished 7-0 in girls junior varsity competition.

The Otay Ranch boys team finished 4-3 overall, also 3-2 in league meets, with a non-league victory against Mar Vista . The Mustangs boys JV team went 6-1 and captured the league title.

Otay Ranch was overloaded with individual South Bay League champions last year. Among those returning champions (though competing this season in the Mesa League finals) were Leslie Rodriguez, Elyse Dayrit, Roni Coffer, Cindy Velasquez, Monique Castillo, Henry Flores and Ben Jo.

The Mustangs, Mesa League-version, established five new school records last Saturday. Among them were two set by freshman sensation Alex Sanchez (1:04.20 in the girls 100 butterfly and 1:09.44 in the 100 backstroke), as well as two new standards set by Jo (1:57.56 in the boys 200 freestyle and 5:31.00 in the 500 freestyle). The girls 200 medley relay team of Sanchez, Coffer, Roxana Magee and Rodriguez also set a school record in 2:01.11.

“Looking at the results from the South Bay League, Otay would have won both boys and girls with the Otay girls sweeping many of the events,” girls head coach Ernie Medina said. “Otay did very well in the Mesa , keeping it competitive with BV and Eastlake .”

The Mustangs, who qualified 11 swimmers for this week's CIF prelims, finished eight points out of second place in the girls finals and 36 points out of second place in the boys finals.

The newcomer clearly to watch has been Sanchez, who also has set school records in the 200 freestyle (2:06.82), 200 IM (2:25.93) and 500 freestyle (5:44.80). She finished in third place in setting her school records at last Saturday's league finals.

Among individual boys, Flores set a school record in the 200 IM (2:16.81) while Tristin Hallum set a school record in the 100 butterfly (59.88).

At last Saturday's finals, Coffer was second in the girls 100 breaststroke (1:11.39) and third in the 50 freestyle (26.40), Magee was third in the girls 500 freestyle (6:00.30), Flores was fourth in the boys 100 freestyle (53.55) and Dayrit was fourth in the IM (2:30.81).

There is a lot of pride this season on the team despite placing third. Four-year varsity swimmers include Rachael Medina, Dayrit and Jo — the only original swimmers who participated from the first year the Otay Ranch program began.

“They will be the first four-year varsity (letter-winners) in swimming at Otay Ranch,” the elder Medina said proudly.

Mar Vista swims past Hilltop in South Bay League finals

Posted May 12, 2007
With the boys and girls team scores combined to give an overall team champion at Saturday's South Bay League swimming championship meet at Loma Verde pool, the outcome figured to come down to a battle between the Mar Vista girls team and Hilltop boys team, both reigning league dual meet champions.

Someone needed to figure in the Mar Vista boys team, as in classic fashion befitting the teams' long-standing rivalry, the Mariners won the final 400-yard freestyle relay to tie Hilltop and, along the way, hand the overall team title to the Imperial Beach school.

“It took a lot of will power on our side — a lot of believing we could do it,” said MV's Garrett Griffin, who won two individual events (100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke) and anchored the winning relay team to earn the Male Swimmer of the Year award. “They beat us in the first meet of the year but that's all it was — a first meet. We came back and it was a battle.”

Technically, the Lancer boys team was not beaten, as Hilltop and Mar Vista finished in a tie with 517 points, inclusive of the previously-contested diving competition. However, the Mariners crowned themselves finals champions by a combined score of 1,100 points to Hilltop's 982 points, factoring in the girls results.

In the girls meet, Mar Vista — keyed by standouts Danielle Sales and Myrna Musick DelRosal … and a lot of depth— outscored Hilltop 583-465.

Sales won the 100 butterfly (1:13.12) while DelRosal captured the title in the 500 freestyle (6:46.49). Gabrielle Taylor finished second in both the 50 freestyle (27.31) and 100 freestyle (1:02.19).

Individual championships were spread around, especially in the highly competitive girls meet, as Southwest's Stephanie Arce (200 freestyle, 2:20.99) and Ana Suarez (100 freestyle, 1:00.12) each won titles to go with the double in the 200 individual medley (2:34.93) and 100 breaststroke (1:18.40) posted by Montgomery's Melissa Torres.

Montgomery won two of the three girls relay events (200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay) while Mar Vista won one (200 freestyle relay).

Hilltop senior Andrea Meier earned honors as the South Bay League Girls Swimmer of the Year after winning the 50 freestyle (27.06) and 100 backstroke (1:10.13).

Meier won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke events last year.

Marian Catholic junior David LeDuc matched MV's Griffin with titles in the boys 100 freestyle (54.51) and 200 freestyle (1:57.14). Other boys champions included Hilltop's Justin Jimenez (200 IM, 2:29.82) and Ian Barnes (500 freestyle, 5:47.30), Montgomery 's Israel Sandoval (50 freestyle, 24.41) and Southwest's Ivan Godoy (100 backstroke, 1:01.63).

Sandoval prevented Barnes from doubling by out-touching him in the 50 freestyle by a tiny margin of 0.09 seconds. It was the first loss in the event in league competition for the Hilltop swimmer this season.

Godoy also finished second in the 200 freestyle (2:03.10).

The Lancers, who were missing five swimmers because of previous family commitments, started out the meet strong with a victory in the 200 medley relay (1:54.33). Hilltop received strong supporting swims throughout the meet from sophomore Chris Jaggers (second in the 200 IM), Anthony Andriopolus (second in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke) and Roman Gonzalez (second in the 500 freestyle).

But in the final event, the Mar Vista foursome of Tommy McLaughlin, Henrique Guarneri, Mark Sellers and Griffin notched a 3:45.93 to Hilltop's 3:48.63.

Griffin , who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy next fall, finished undefeated in league competition this season in the breaststroke, butterfly and IM events. He is the second MV swimmer to win the Boys Swimmer of the Year award in successive years, joining 2006 MVP Don Sales.

“I'm happy I carried on the tradition” Griffin said.