This is a busy week for Mesa League swim teams as regular season competition is compacted to accommodate room for the new state championship meet.
The Bonita Vista Barons faced off the first of three dual meets this week by hosting the Hilltop Lancers Monday at the Southwestern College pool. The Lancers swept the meet, winning the boys half by a score of 123-59 points and the girls half by a closer margin of 93-89 points.
The Hilltop boys team remained undefeated on the season, improving to 6-0.
“It’s been a while since a Hilltop team has been undefeated this late in the season,” HHS head coach Ernie Medina said with pride following the meet.
Two Lancers – Wyatt Schmidt and Sidney Aki – remained undefeated on the season by winning their two individual events.
Schmidt captured the 200-yard individual medley over Baron challenger Daniel Ribal with a time of 2:09; Schmidt also won the 500 freestyle event with a superb time of 5:16.
Medina noted it was the first time that Schmidt, the team’s ace backstroker, had attempted the 500 distance in his four-year high school career. Schmidt’s 500 time ranks among the top times in the league this season, and is close to the section automatic qualifying time of 5:09 (and well under the consideration time of 5:33).
Aki won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07 in Monday’s meet; he also won the 200 freestyle in 2:10.67.
On the season, Schmidt is undefeated in the 200 IM, 500 freestyle and 100 backstoke while Aki is undefeated in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.
Hilltop won 10 of the 11 swimming events. David Saiadan joined Schmidt and Aki with a pair of firsts — 100 butterfly (1:01) and 100 backstroke (1:04) — while Jovanny Astorga won the 50 freestyle in 24.53.
The Lancers remain undefeated in league competition in both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
Hilltop won all three relays event: 200 medley relay (1:51.13), 200 freestyle relay (1:44) and 400 freestyle relay (4:00). Schmidt (backstroke), Aki (breaststroke), Saiadan (butterfly) and Astorga (freestyle) swam legs on the 200 medley unit.
Freshman Kyle Kramer provided Bonita Vista with a highlight performance by winning the 100 freestyle in 54.11 by out-touching Astorga (54.37) by a quarter of a second.
The girls meet ended in dramatic fashion as Hilltop captured the final 400 freestyle relay to erase a two-point Bonita Vista lead to win by four points.
The victorious Lancer unit included Nikki Torres, Cassandra Hidalgo, Breana Pence and Frances Carreon. Hilltop took first and third in the event to out-point Bonita Vista.
Pence and Hidalgo both doubled in winning individual events. Pence won the 200 freestyle (2:24) and 500 freestyle (6:37.6) while Hildago won the 100 butterfly (1:12.01) and 100 backstroke (1:16.3).
Bonita Vista’s Azja Czajkowski claimed a pair of first-place finishes in winning the 50 freestyle (26.9) and 100 breaststroke (1:21.16).
Other individual event winners in Monday’s meet included Hilltop’s Mildred Monsivais (100 freestyle, 1:04) and Bonita Vista’s Frida Ramos (200 IM, 2:40.1).
In relay events, Bonita Vista won the 200 medley relay (2:13.1) and 200 freestyle relay (1:56.5).
Hilltop swept the diving competition, which took place Tuesday at the Parkway pool. Competitors in the boys field included Josh Fischer, Angel Soto, Elliott Osborn and Daniel Ryan; the girls dive card featured Mia Ballesteros, Kennedy Miranda, Marissa Alfaro and Veronica Sanderlin.
Miranda led the girls field with an automatic CIF qualifying score of 210.45 points, followed by Ballesteros with 121.25 points and Sanderlin with 96.70 points (Alfaro completed exhibition dives).
Osborn excelled on his final two dives to win the boys competition with 153.10 points to place ahead of teammates Fischer (146.50 points) and Soto (129.40 points). Ryan also completed exhibition dives.
The Lancers girls team improved to 4-2 on the season following Monday’s dual meet victory.
Bonita Vista has posted one win this season in girls competition and remains winless in boys competition.
Hilltop also has a busy week this week as the Lancers will host Otay Ranch in a key dual meet Wednesday at the Parkway pool. Diving gets the meet under way at 2 p.m., with swimming events to follow at 3 p.m.
Otay Ranch is also undefeated in boys league duals. The Mustangs will meet likewise undefeated Eastlake in another key dual meet Thursday at the Loma Verde pool, starting at 3 p.m.
Prior to Thursday’s highly anticipated clash between Eastlake and Otay Ranch, Eastlake will host Olympian in a 7 p.m. dual encounter at SWC in another league match-up.
Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Eastlake all are undefeated heading into their next dual meets.
Ryan Gagarin, the defending league champion in the 200 IM, tops Otay Ranch’s boys team while Alex Lopez (breaststroke) leads Eastlake’s boys team with Jana Miclat (backstroke, 50 freestyle), Elisabeth Lundgren (backstroke, 200 freestyle) and Angelika Yngson (Mesa League Female Swimmer of the Year in 2014 after winning the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke at least year’s finals) setting the pace on the Titans girls team.
Hilltop will host Eastlake in the teams’ regular season finale April 29.
The league diving championship meet is scheduled April 30 at the Parkway pool (1 p.m. warm-ups and 2:30 p.m. start), followed by league prelims on May 1 (3 p.m. start) and the league finals on May 2 (9 a.m. start), both at Mater Dei Catholic High School.
Notepad
Bonita Vista will close out its busy week with a dual meet Wednesday afternoon at Mater Dei Catholic High School before meeting Chula Vista High Tech Friday in a non-league meet in Coronado.
Olympian’s Heath Forney put his hat into the ring as a solid contender to capture this year’s Mesa League boys diving title after out-pointing Hilltop leader Fischer in last Wednesday’s dual meet. Forney chalked up 186.75 points (eclipsing the CIF 185-point automatic qualifying standard) while Fischer finished with 158.1 points.
The Lancers went 2-3-4 in the boys dive card, however, as Osborn tallied 123.6 points and Soto accumulated 119.85 points. Olympian’s Brian Cheung (66.3 points) and Luis Cisneros (57.3 points) followed the three Hilltop divers on the scoreboard.
Metro Conference Swim & Dive Scoreboard
Mesa League
Boys Dual Meets
Monday, April 20
Hilltop 123, Bonita Vista 59
Wednesday, April 22
Hilltop 94, Otay Ranch 92
Note: Hilltop improves to 7-0 on the season
Thursday, April 23
Eastlake 112, Otay Ranch 62
Note: Eastlake remains undefeated in league
Girls Dual Meet
Monday, April 20
Hilltop 93, Bonita Vista 89
Wednesday, April 22
Otay Ranch 121, Hilltop 64
Thursday, April 23
Eastlake 107, Otay Ranch 67
BOYS SWIM MEET SUMMARIES
Hilltop 94, Otay Ranch 92
April 22 at Parkway pool, Chula Vista
Notable: First time that Hilltop has ever beaten Otay Ranch in boys swimming, ending a period of 13 years of dominance by the Mustangs.
200 medley relay: 1. Hilltop (Wyatt Schmidt, Sidney Aki, David Saiadan, Jovanny Astorga) 1:47.24; 2. Otay Ranch 1:51.31; 3. Otay Ranch 1:58.03
200 freestyle: 1. Sidney Aki (Hilltop) 1:59.55; 2. Mitchell Kim (Otay Ranch) 2:09.46; 3. Emilio Maldonado (Hilltop) 2:09.55
200 individual medley: 1. Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 2:06.07; 2. Wyatt Schmidt (Hilltop) 2:06.43; 3. Andy Uribe (Hilltop) 2:37.28
50 freestyle: 1. Jovanny Astorga (Hilltop) 23.62; 2. Jose Nobles (Otay Ranch) 26.21; 3. Leo Martin (Otay Ranch) 24.55
Diving: 1. Jesus Martin (Otay Ranch) 144.65; 2. Josh Fischer (Hilltop) 142.85; 3. Elliott Osborn (Hilltop) 122.80; 4. Angel Soto (Hilltop) 118.10; 5. Matt Olimski (Otay Ranch) 79.85
100 butterfly: 1. David Saiadan (Hilltop) 58.76; 2. Mitchell Kim (Otay Ranch) 1:01.73; 3. Leo Martin (Otay Ranch) 1:05.00
100 freestyle: 1. Bryan Thai (Otay Ranch) 54.33; 2. Jovanny Astorga (Hilltop) 54.38; 3. Cooper Mestre (Otay Ranch) 57.48
500 freestyle: 1. David Saiadan (Hilltop) 5:46.60; 2. Andy Uribe (Hilltop) 6:22.80; 3. Conor Takesuye (Otay Ranch)6:29.09
200 freestyle relay: 1. Hilltop (Sidney Aki, Jovanny Astorga, Wyatt Schmidt, David Saidan) 1:39.00; 2. Otay Ranch 1:41.41; 3. Otay Ranch 1:49.87
100 backstroke: 1. Wyatt Schmidt (Hilltop) 59.75; 2. Bryan Thai (Otay Ranch) 1:02.14; 3. Jose Nobles(Otay Ranch) 1:05.64
100 breaststroke: 1. Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 1:03.40; 2. Sidney Aki (Hilltop) 1:06.05; 3. Cooper Mestre (Otay Ranch) 1:09.46
400 freestyle relay: 1. Otay Ranch (Bryan Thai, Ryan Gagarin, Chris Balderas, Ivan Hernandez) 3:53.59; 2. Hilltop 3:54.73; 3. Hilltop 4:25.34
Eastlake 112, Otay Ranch 62
April 23 at Loma Verde pool
200 medley relay: 1. Eastlake 1:48.03; 2. Otay Ranch 1:48.59; 3. Eastlake 1:56.49
200 freestyle: 1. George Peterson (Eastlake) 1:57.08; 2. Cade Erickson (Eastlake) 1:59.62; 3. Zack Randall (Eastlake) 2:02.69
200 individual medley: 1. Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 2:06.69; 2. Alex Lopez (Eastlake) 2:17.39; 3. Cayden Pangelingan (Eastlake) 2:19.33
50 freestyle: 1. Tristan Yam (Eastlake) 23.36; 2. Kyle DeAlva (Eastlake) 23.73; 3. Nate Niehaus (Eastlake) 24.54
Diving: 1. Jesus Martin (Otay Ranch) 242.99 points; 2. Matt Olimski (Otay Ranch) 116.68 points
100 butterfly: 1. Alex Lopez (Eastlake) 58.01; 2. Matthew Hong (Eastlake) 1:00.54; 3. Jose Nobles (Otay Ranch) 1:01.20
100 freestyle: 1. Kyle DeAlva (Eastlake) 52.52; 2. Bryan Thai (Otay Ranch) 53.87; 3. Zach Randall (Eastlake) 54.61
500 freestyle: 1. George Peterson (Eastlake) 5:08.84; 2. Cade Erickson (Eastlake) 5:09.43; 3. David Faketty (Eastlake) 5:30.57
200 freestyle relay: 1. Eastlake 1:38.98; 2. Otay Ranch 1:40.89;3. Eastlake 1:44.52
100 backstroke: 1. Tristan Yam (Eastlake) 1:00.29; 2. Bryan Thai (Otay Ranch) 1:01.54; 3. Joey Jepson (Eastlake) 1:10.09
100 breaststroke: 1. Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 1:01.27; 2. Cayden Pangelingan (Eastlake) 1:06.07; 3. Cooper Mestre (Otay Ranch) 1:06.63
400 freestyle relay: 1. Eastlake (Nate Niehaus, Tristan Yam, Zach Randall, Alex Lopez) 3:33.23; 2. Otay Ranch (Jose Nobles, Bryan Thai, Ivan Hernandez, Ryan Gagarin) 3:40.59; 3. Eastlake 3:49.11
GIRLS SWIM MEET SUMMARIES
Eastlake 117, Otay Ranch 67
April 23 at Loma Verde pool
200 medley relay: 1. Eastlake 1:56.69; 2. Otay Ranch 1:59.00; 3. Eastlake 2:04.30
200 freestyle: 1. Morgan Hartley (Eastlake) 2:04.16; 2. Katie Mercer (Eastlake) 2:06.88; 3. Sofia Lopez (Eastlake) 2:13.34
200 individual medley: 1. Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 2:17.75; 2. Michelle Park (Otay Ranch) 2:20.39; 3. Paola Rivas (Eastlake) 2:27.88
50 freestyle: 1. Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 25.79; 2. Valerie Chin (Eastlake) 26.35; 3. Jana Miclat (Eastlake) 26.79
Diving: 1. Faith Pearson-Wyatt (Otay Ranch) 162.33 points; 2. Angelica Sandoval (Otay Ranch) 139.11 points; 3. Moren Lechner (Otay Ranch) 103.63 points
100 butterfly: 1. Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 1:04.66; 2. Paola Rivas (Eastlake) 1:05.44; 3. Natalie Bautista (Eastlake) 1:05.46
100 freestyle: 1. Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 57.18; 1. Elisabeth Lundgren (Eastlake) 57.21; 3. Katie Mercer (Eastlake) 59.18
500 freestyle: 1. Morgan Hartley (Eastlake) 5:43.42; 2. Sofia Lopez (Eastlake) 5:54.70; 3. Stephanie Clifford (Eastlake) 6:02.73
200 freestyle relay: 1. Eastlake 1:51.25; 2. Eastlake 1:56.01; 3. Otay Ranch 1:57.80
100 backstroke: 1. Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 1:00.62; 2. Elisabeth Lundgren (Eastlake) 1:05.03; 3. Jana Miclat (Eastlake) 1:07.01
100 breaststroke: 1. Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 1:11.97; 2. Renee Lanswick (Eastlake) 1:16.74; 3. Michelle Park (Otay Ranch) 1:17.62
400 freestyle relay: 1. Eastlake 3:53.92; 2. Eastlake 4:01.33; 3. Otay Ranch 4:03.10
Otay Ranch 121, Hilltop 64
April 22 at Parkway pool
200 medley relay: 1. Otay Ranch 2:05.40; 2. Otay Ranch 2:15.24; 3. Hilltop 2:21.93
200 freestyle: 1. Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 2:11.20; 2. Michelle Green (Otay Ranch) 2:24.33; 3. Jackie (Hilltop) 2:39.11
200 individual medley: 1. Michelle Park (Otay Ranch) 2:25.04; 2. Adrianna Meza (Otay Ranch) 2:37.52; 3. Karina Espinoza (Otay Ranch) 2:39.41
50 freestyle: 1. Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 24.21; 2. Ivana Reyes (Otay Ranch) 27.80; 3. Milie Monsivias (Hilltop) 29.07
Diving: 1. Kennedy Miranda (Hilltop) 193.90 points; 2. Marissa Alfaro (Hilltop) 148.45 points; 3. Veronica Sanderlin (Hilltop) 122.5 points; 4. Angelica Sandoval (Otay Ranch) 88.87 points
100 butterfly: 1. Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 1:08.05; 2. Cassandra Hildalgo (Hilltop) 1:10.77; 3. Andrea Beha (Otay Ranch) 1:10.90
100 freestyle: 1. Breana Pence (Hilltop) 1:02.33; 2. Ivana Reyes (Otay Ranch) 1:02.35; 3. Michelle Green (Otay Ranch) 1:05.44
500 freestyle: 1. Abby Beha (Otay Ranch) 6:28.60; 2. Vanessa Trovato (Otay Ranch) 6:59.61; 3. Breana Pence (Hilltop) NT
200 freestyle relay: 1. Otay Ranch 1:56.90; 2. Otay Ranch 2:06.79; 3. Hilltop 2:17.19
100 backstroke: 1. Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 1:02.60; 2. Adriana Meza (Otay Ranch) 1:08.00; 3. Cassandra Hildago (Hilltop) 1:16.14
100 breaststroke: 1. Michelle Park (Otay Ranch) 1:18.25; 2. Karina Espinoza (Otay Ranch) 1:20.59; 3. Pricilla Rude (Hilltop) 1:21.10
400 freestyle relay: 1. Otay Ranch 4:15.73; 2. Otay Ranch 4:28.07; 3. Hilltop 4:36.70
