2024 CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The girls and boys from Santa Margarita Excessive College continued their reign of dominance in swimming & diving within the CIF Southern Part. The Eagles swept the ladies’ and boys’ state titles for the 4th-consecutive season, with the ladies profitable a Tenth-straight SoCal crown.
Each groups noticed new Meet Information fall, with Nationwide Teamer Teagan O’Dell coming inside just a few tenths of her personal Nationwide and State File within the 200 IM.
Ladies’ Recap
High 5:
- Santa Margarita – 439
- Mira Costa – 180
- Hart – 171
- Jserra – 156
- Fountain Valley – 139
The Santa margarita women put up one other dominant efficiency en path to their Tenth-straight group victory. Whereas it wasn’t fairly the 300-point margin they rolled out final 12 months, a 259-point benefit over a much-improved Mira Costa group (they had been eleventh ultimately 12 months’s meet) was adequate to launch them off to the CIF Championship meet because the favorites to repeat there as nicely.
The run included a Meet File within the 200 IM from Nationwide Crew member Teagan O’Dell. She swam 1:53.63 to interrupt her personal report of 1:54.07 set ultimately 12 months’s meet.
That left her only a quarter-second shy of her 1:53.38 from final 12 months’s California State Championship meet the place she set the Nationwide Excessive College File.
The splits present that O’Dell is swimming this race fairly otherwise than she did final season, particularly going out far more aggressively on the backstroke leg.
Splits Comparability:
| New CIF-SS File | Previous CIF-SS File | ||
| Fly | 24.36 | 24.87 | 25.38 |
| Again | 28.00 | 27.77 | 26.94 |
| Breast | 33.43 | 33.92 | 33.61 |
| Free | 27.84 | 27.51 | 27.45 |
| Complete Time | 1:53.63 | 1:54.07 | 1:53.38 |
O’Dell’s 200 IM was the one profitable title protection in eight particular person swimming occasions on the schedule.
Whereas she is unlikely to battle by means of a crowded subject within the 200 IM at this summer season’s Olympic Trials, a finals swim could possibly be a launching pad to huge future outcomes on the nationwide stage.
She will not be entered at subsequent week’s State Championship meet, so she gained’t have the possibility to defend her title or break her report within the 200 IM.
O’Dell additionally gained the 100 fly in 52.12 on Saturday. She swam the 100 again ultimately 12 months’s meet.
She was considered one of two swimmers who grabbed particular person wins for Santa Margarita on the meet. The opposite was junior Gracyn Aquino, who gained the 50 free in 22.65. That took a tenth off her personal private greatest from a twin meet in March. She is dedicated to swim at Cal in fall 2025 together with O’Dell.
She additionally completed 2nd within the 100 free in 50.12 behind Poly-Riverside sophomore Ava DeAnda. DeAnda swam 48.82 for the win, which is .02 seconds shy of her private greatest from Winter Juniors in December. That’s her second-straight Southern Part title, although final 12 months she gained in Division 2 in a time of 48.85.
O’Dell and Aquino mixed to guide Santa Margarita to 2 relay wins. Within the opening 200 medley relay, O’Dell (24.42), Eileen Track (30.03), Chloe Stinson (23.81), and Gracyn Aquino (21.81) mixed for a 1:40.07. Aquino’s break up was the very best within the remaining by four-tenths. O’Dell and Stinson (by nearly a second) additionally had the quickest splits on their legs.
Mira Costa junior Bella Brito was the quickest breaststroker of the sector, splitting 28.16 as a part of her group’s 1:42.55 time for 2nd place.
They then closed the session in 3:20.57, with the relay of O’Dell (48.37), Audrey Lee (51.13), Victoria Mori (51.36), and Aquino (49.71) profitable by greater than six seconds.
This was the tightest relay within the heats, however the addition of O’Dell and Aquino blew the race vast open.
Santa Margarita’s unbelievable depth allowed them to complete the sweep handily within the 200 free relay even with out their two dash stars O’Dell and Aquino. There, the quartet of Ariel Lin (23.37), Giselle Hollis (23.61), Sydnie Massucco (23.49), and Kaitlyn Kreb (23.17) mixed for a 1:33.64. Flint Ridge Prep was 2nd in 1:36.45; their anchor Natalie Walklett had the quickest break up of the sector in 22.92, however they didn’t have the depth to problem Santa Margarita.
DeAnda break up 22.96 main off Poly-Riverside’s leadoff leg.
Alyssa Ton made her Southern Part debut with a bang, profitable the 200 free in 1:45.96. That smashed her greatest time of 1:47.36 from Winter Juniors West. That ranks her because the Ninth-best swimmer all-time amongst 13-14 swimmers.
High 10 All-Time, 13-14 200 SCY Freestyle
- Missy Franklin – 1:44.55 (2010)
- Claire Weinstein – 1:44.72 (2021)
- Claire Tuggle – 1:44.96 (2018)
- Rylee Erisman – 1:45.28 (2023)
- Justina Kozan – 1:45.77 (2018)
- Taylor Ruck – 1:45.81 (2014)
- (TIE) Stephanie Elkins – 1:45.91 (1977)/Courtney Harnish – 1:45.91 (2014)
- Alyssa Ton – 1:45.96 (2024)
- Madi Mintenko – 1:46.04 (2022)
She helped lead Fountain Valley means up the rankings into the highest 5. They more-than-doubled the 65 factors they scored ultimately 12 months’s meet for seventeenth place.
Different Occasion Winners:
- The runners-up from Mira Costa gained a pair of races. Bella Brito gained the 100 breast in 1:00.36, which is three-tenths off her greatest time from Sectionals in 2022. The USC commit skipped her first two seasons of highschool swimming, however is now a Southern Part Champion. Like O’Dell, she too will skip the State Championship meet the place she would have been the highest seed.
- The opposite Mira Costa winner was Delaney Herr, who gained the 100 again in 53.93. Herr was the runner-up within the 100 fly at this 12 months’s meet, and whereas she slid to Eighth in that race this 12 months, she gained the 100 again in O’Dell’s absence.
- Woodrow Wilson senior Samantha Hamilton swam a greatest time for Fifth place within the 200 free (1:48.58) and added one other within the 500 free for the win in 4:46.63. In one of many more-dominant particular person performances of the meet, she gained that race by 6.3 seconds over Hart senior Lily Dormans (4:52.98).
- San Juan Hills senior Taylor Fox completed her highschool profession with a third-straight win on 1-meter. Fox is dedicated to one of many nation’s greatest faculty diving packages on the College of Texas.
Boys’ Recap
High 5:
- Santa Margarita – 382
- Loyola – 345
- Northwood – 281
- Jserra – 181
- El Segundo – 161
It wasn’t the runaway that the psych sheets projected within the boys’ meet, however the Santa Margarita boys held on for a 4th-straigh title forward of the Loyola Cubs. Loyola’s runner-up end marks an 18th-straight season within the high 3 on the Southern Part Championships.
Together with Northwood, the boys’ meet featured three of the highest 4 from final 12 months’s State Championship meet.
The Santa Margarita boys made hay in relays, ending within the high three in all three relays.
They opened the meet with the lone win of the relays and a brand new Meet File within the 200 medley relay in 1:29.08. That broke their very own report of 1:29.30 set ultimately 12 months’s meet with three of the identical 4 legs.
Ramon Jiang (23.19), Nathan Wu (24.84), Daniel Verdolaga (20.62), and Jerry Yan (20.43) mixed for the win and the report, clearing Loyola by about half-a-second. Jiang, who was the freestyler for Santa Margarita final 12 months, moved to the backstroke leg this 12 months. Wu and Verdolaga additionally returned from that relay.
All 4 SM swimmers graduate after this season, in order that they’ll want to include some new faces into subsequent 12 months’s relay.
Loyola swapped in Andrew Brown on their anchor leg, and he had the quickest remaining 50 of the sector with a 19.97. Northwood was third in 1:31.01, with Derek Hitchens‘ 22.37 backstroke leg main the ultimate.
Uncoincidentally, each Brown and Hitchens gained the 50 free individually. Brown, a senior, gained the 50 free in 20.41, main a decent race that noticed Woodbridge’s Jacob Wang (20.45), Newport Harbor’s Connor Ohl (20.48), and El Segundo’s Lucas Crother-Collado (20.52) all end inside .11 of Brown.
Brown’s time within the 50 and for Fifth-place within the 100 (45.34) had been each lifetime bests.
Hitchens, in the meantime, was 2nd within the 100 again to Loyola junior Ray Liu. Liu gained the race in 48.07, and Hitchens was just-behind in 48.55. That wasn’t a greatest time for Liu, however his third place end within the 200 IM (1:46.38) was. Liu is an uncommitted highschool junior.
Whereas Hitchens didn’t get the win within the 100 again, not lengthy after he did lead off Northwood’s profitable 400 free relay. He break up 44.63 on the leadoff leg and was adopted by Elson Lee (45.88), Will Chen (44.48), and Andrew Maksymowski (44.16) because the trio mixed for a 2:59.15. They had been capable of hold-off Santa Margarita’s senior anchor Hunter Cehelnik, who break up 43.91 however got here up two-tenths quick in 2:59.37.
These two groups are the highest two seeds, by four-and-a-half seconds, for subsequent week’s State Championship meet.
The 200 free relay noticed one other slim loss for Santa Margarita, this time behind Loyola. The Loyola relay of Brown (20.66), Liu (20.41), Gavin Santoso (20.93), and Edward Kim (20.57) mixed for a 1:22.57. That efficiently defended their title, although it didn’t break their Part File set final season.
Santa Margarita was a tenth again, together with a 20.13 leadoff leg for Cehelnik.
Cehelnik completed Ninth within the 200 free however gained the 50 free in 44.34, simply .13 seconds off his greatest time from prelims. Cehelnik was as quick as 1:37.75 within the 200 free in December, however based mostly on his instances at this meet, the 50 free probably would have been a higher-scoring choice for him.
Northwood’s Andrew Maksymowski gained that 200 free in 1:35.51, yet one more greatest time in what has been a endless run of them this spring. Beginning with a 1:37.39 at Winter Juniors, he went 1:36.86 in March, 1:36.85 in April, 1:36.47 in April, and now 1:35.51. In complete this season, the sophomore has dropped 2.75 seconds from his greatest time finished en path to an Eighth-place end ultimately 12 months’s Southern Part meet.
He then gained the five hundred free in 4:22.64, taking about half-a-second off his greatest time from early March.
Daniel Verdolaga contributed to SM’s effort with two huge relay swims and two particular person wins – together with Maksymowski, he was considered one of two particular person double winners on the meet.
First Verdolaga gained the 200 IM in a greatest time of 1:46.07, after which he gained the 100 fly in 46.90 (not a greatest time). These had been his first two profession Southern Part titles; he was additionally high 4 in each occasions ultimately 12 months’s State Championship meet. He’s the highest seed within the 200 IM and the #2 seed within the 100 fly for this 12 months’s meet.
The third and remaining Meet File of the day fell by the hands of San Marino senior Daniel Li. The Stanford commit gained the 100 breaststroke in 53.05, which broke Tanner Olson’s 2017 report of 53.18. Whereas it was a Meet File, it wasn’t Li’s private greatest – he was 52.43 to win final 12 months’s Division 2 title earlier than San Marino was promoted to Division 1 this season.
Mixed with a runner-up swim within the 200 IM (1:46.29), he scored 41 of his group’s 52 particular person factors as a part of a Seventh-place end.
Different Occasion Winners:
- Nolan Rooker, a senior at San Clemente, gained the boys’ diving occasion with 610.85 factors, 44 forward of the runner-up Valentino Nieto from Santa Margarita.
