Eastlake High School swim coach Jacquie Cheek (formerly Kimmel) turned in a stellar high school career while competing for the Titans. She held San Diego Section records in the 50-yard freestyle, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay, recording All-American times.
She earned MVP honors each year of her four-year career at EHS.
Now she’s coaching a new generation of champions.
Eastlake swept the team titles at last Saturday’s Mesa League championship meet at Mater Dei Catholic High School. It was the fourth consecutive year the Titans have swept both gender titles.
Eastlake tallied 494 points to win this year’s boys team title and 588 points to win the girls team title.
Olympian was second in the boys field with 344 points; Otay Ranch was second in the girls field with 369 points.
“It feels awesome,” Cheek explained about the Titans’ latest championship sweep. “Starting out the season was a little nerve-racking because Eastlake has such a legacy to uphold. But ultimately the swimmers are the ones who make the team go.”
Individual event champions for Eastlake included senior Angelika Yngson, who repeated as champion in the girls 200-yard individual medley in 2:13.55 and 100 breaststroke in 1:11.61; junior Cade Erickson, who repeated as the boys 500 freestyle champion in 5:03.62; Jack Fischer, who won the boys 50 freestyle in 22.55; and Cayden Pangelinan, who captured the boys 100 breaststroke finals in 1:02.14.
Erickson claimed runner-up individual finishes in both the 200 freestyle (1:51.46) and 100 backstroke (1:51.46) this year and also swam a leg on a victorious relay team to finish the meet with four medals (two gold medals and two silver medals) to earn the meet’s male sportsmanship award.
Erickson won the 500 freestyle event in 2015 and 2016. He shaved more than nine seconds off his prelim time in winning this year’s event.
Fischer, who has made huge strides since joining the team, finished third in the 100 backstroke in 59.75 while Pangelinan touched third in boys 200 IM (2:12.62).
The Titans won four of the six relay events: girls and boys 200 medley, girls 200 freestyle and boys 400 freestyle.
Eastlake timed 1:54.69 in the girls medley relay (legs swam by Elisabeth Lundgren, Yngson, Emily Hong and Valerie Chin), 1:44.18 in the boys medley relay (legs swam by Fischer, Pangelinan, Skylar Kinney and Emiliano Camarillo), 1:46.52 in the girls 200 freestyle relay (legs swam by Chin, McKenzie Surrey, Hong and Brenna Pangelinan) and 3:28.34 in the boys 400 freestyle relay (legs swam by Esteban Rascon, Josh Randall, Erickson and Camarillo).
The medley relay legs include, in order, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
Eastlake finished runner-up in the boys 200 freestyle relay (1:35.49) after being out-touched by Hilltop (1:35.38) in a dramatic finish. The Lady Titans finished runner-up in the girls 400 freestyle relay (3:46.61) after being nosed out by rival Otay Ranch (3:44.73).
While not winning individual events, there were a number of other excellent swims turned in by Eastlake swimmers:
Lundgren took second place in both girls 200 freestyle (2:00.98) and 100 backstroke (1:01.83).
Chin recorded second-place finishes in both the girls 50 freestyle (25.58) and 100 freestyle (55.39).
Pia Davila finished second in the girls 100 butterfly (1:02.16) and third in the 100 backstroke (1:03.38).
Camarillo placed second in both the boys 200 IM (2:05.53) and 100 freestyle (50.75) while Kinney finished second in the boys 100-yard butterfly (55.97).
Esteban Rascon placed second in the boys 500 freestyle (5:10.70) and third in boys 100-yard butterfly (57.92).
Also boosting Eastlake’s scoring potential were Laura Estrada with third-place finishes in the girls 200 freestyle (2:04.56) and 100 butterfly (1:04.67); Katie Mercer with a third-place finish in the girls 100 breaststroke (1:17.45); Brenna Pangelinan with third-place finishes in the girls 50 freestyle (25.84) and 100 freestyle (56.68); and Sofia Lopez with a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:41.14).
“We have a lot more CIF times this year,” Cheek noted. “We had a lot of kids who dropped times. Jacob Norton — it’s his senior year — he dropped 18 seconds in the 500 (freestyle); Stephanie Clifton also dropped a bunch.”
Cheek can still remember the feeling of winning a CIF individual championship. “At the time that was awesome,” she said. “I was on top of the world.”
The Titans will be competing in Saturday’s Division I finals at Granite Hills High School. Maybe another Titan or two might just get that same feeling this weekend.
Swimmers of the Year
Bonita Vista sophomore Julissa Arzave and Mar Vista junior Oscar Vargas earned honors as the 2017 Mesa League Swimmers of the Year.
Arzave captured individual championship titles in the girls 200- and 500-yard freestyle events at last Saturday’s league finals while Vargas won the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly in the boys competition.
Arzave timed 1:56.26 to win the 200 freestyle event, blasting nearly three seconds off her prelim time of 1:59.33. She won the 500 freestyle event in dominating fashion with a time of 5:03.82, again blasting her prelim time of 5:09.19.
Arzave finished 29 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger in the 500 event in successfully defending the title she won last year as a freshman.
“I just hope I can win it all four years,” she said. “I’m just hoping I can keep it going for the next two years.”
Arzave recorded a highly decorated freshman season. She placed fifth in the San Diego Section Division I finals and then went on to become the Metro Conference’s first place-finisher at the state swim championships at Clovis West High School when she placed 16th in the 500 event.
Vargas captured the 200 IM title in 2:04.04, shaving nearly five seconds off his prelim time of 2:08.90. He won the butterfly event in 54.46 — more than a second ahead of his prelim clocking.
Vargas won the 200 freestyle event in upset fashion in 2015.
Horse power
Otay Ranch’s girls team won gold medals in four individual events and one relay event to highlight a very successful showing on a rainy day.
Kristine Tapia won individual championships in the 50 freestyle (25.49) and 100 freestyle (54.93) while Itzel Villa emerged with the gold medal in the 100 butterfly (1:01.71) and Julie Parsons repeated as the 100 backstroke champion (59.06).
The Lady Mustangs also captured first place in the 400 freestyle relay (3:44.73). Swimming legs on the relay were Parsons, Villa, Irene Reyes and Tapia.
Parsons finished second in the 200 IM (2:18.93) while Villa finished second in the 500 freestyle (5:32.85). Otay Ranch also notched a runner-up finish in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:59.10).
Soaring Eagle
Olympian senior Garrett Wesley captured this year’s individual title in the boys 100 freestyle in 49.23 while finishing runner-up in the 50 freestyle (23.04). Wesley, who won last year’s 200 freestyle title as a junior, shaved a second-and-a-half off his prelim time in the 100 to record this year’s winning margin of 1.52 seconds.
His 100 freestyle title this year added to titles in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle he won in 2016.
A multi-purpose swimmer, Wesley competed in the 200 medley relay, 50 and 100 freestyle and 4×100 freestyle relay this year.
He finished second in both the 500 freestyle (5:00.38) and 400 freestyle relay (3:32.44) at last year’s finals.
He hopes to make the time cut in the 50 freestyle at this year’s CIF finals.
“I hope to go as far as I can, do the best I can,” he said.
Teammate Zedric Soriano, last year’s 100 backstroke champion, finished second in this year’s 100 backstroke finals (58.99) while Sean Sebree finished third in the event (1:07.26).
Olympian’s Naomi Sanchez received the girls sportsmanship award at this year’s meet.
Three’s Company
The Bonita Vista trio of Arzave (girls 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle), sophomore Jon Ibarguren (boys 200 freestyle) and Ezra Aguimatang (boys 100 backstroke) captured individual titles at last Saturday’s league finals.
Ibarguren timed 1:50.73 to win his event, dropping nearly seven seconds off his prelim time, while Aguimatang timed 58.32 (nearly three seconds faster than his prelim time) to win his event.
Aguimatang placed second in the backstroke last year.
Go Green
Hilltop won a dramatic battle with Eastlake on the last touch to capture the championship title in the boys 200 freestyle relay. The Lancers bested the Titans by a mere 0.11 second at the wall.
The Hilltop order included Mark Estrada, Daniel Ryan, Skylar Garces and Sydney Aki.
Hilltop finished runner-up in the girls 200 freestyle medley relay in 1:50.82.
Aki, who won the 50 freestyle at last year’s league finals in 22.86, finished third this year in 23.14. He did capture second place in this year’s 100 breaststroke finals (1:04.47).
Ruby Chavez (1:17.07) finished runner-up in the girls 100 breaststroke event.
Dive finals
Montgomery’s Bryanna Estrada (South Bay League) and Eastlake’s Britnee Beilstein (Mesa League) repeated as league champions in the Metro Conference diving finals last Friday at the Loma Verde pool.
Estrada recorded the highest mark of 189.05 points among the 13 girls in competition while Beilstein scored 167.90 points.
In the boys competition, Castle Park’s Jovan Macias (South Bay League) and Mar Vista’s Luis Godinez (Mesa League) emerged as league champions among the six male competitors.
Godinez, a first-year diver, scored 161.90 points to edge Olympian’s Xavier Sanchez (156.50 points). Macias out-pointed fellow Trojan Axel Velazquez 62.70 to 59.35 to win the South Bay League title.
Beilstein was hampered by a lack of practice time this season but put it together to edge Hilltop’s Veronica Sanderlin (145.00 points) and Mar Vista’s Sydney Snaith (136.05 points) at the league finals.
Snaith and Godinez finished regular season competition undefeated in league dual meets. They received recognition as the Mesa League’s Divers of the Year.
Estrada, Beilstein, Macias and Godinez were recognized as divers of the meet.
“Hopefully with more board time next year I will be able to perfect my dives and increase my levels of DDs (degree of difficulties),” Beilstein said.
“My friend Sydney thought I would be a good diver and convinced me to compete,” Godinez related. “I’m thinking about coming back to defend my title. I’m looking forward, ready to win.”
South Bay League Swim Championships
Saturday, May 6
Mater Dei Catholic High School
Girls Event Champions
200 medley relay: Montgomery 2:20.44
200 freestyle: Nicole Moran (Sweetwater) 2:18.39
200 individual medley: Alicia Thompson (Chula Vista) 2:57.91
50 freestyle: Natalie Ramirez (Chula Vista) 28.24
100 butterfly: Allison Simon (Chula Vista) 1:10.44
100 freestyle: Natalie Ramirez (Chula Vista) 1:03.67
500 freestyle: Nicole Moran (Sweetwater) 6:08.74
200 freestyle relay: Chula Vista 2:06.90
100 backstroke: Xcaret Avalos (Chula Vista) 1:19.81
100 breaststroke: Allison Simon (Chula Vista) 1:23.86
400 freestyle relay: Chula Vista 4:34.28
Boys Event Champions
200 medley relay: Chula Vista 2:05.82
200 freestyle: Hector Nevarez (San Ysidro) 2:13.67
200 individual medley: Edwin Inzunza (San Ysidro) 2:09.22
50 freestyle: Errick Santos (Castle Park) 26.13
100 butterfly: Oscar Aaron (Montgomery) 1:03.97
100 freestyle: David Macias (Chula Vista) 57.23
500 freestyle: Edwin Inzunza (San Ysidro) 5:09.86
200 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 1:45.25
100 backstroke: Manuel Banda (Montgomery) 1:11.31
100 breaststroke: Daniel Macias (Chula Vista) 1:17.50
400 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 4:02.63
Individual awards
Swimmers of the Year
Girls: Nicole Moran (Sweetwater)
Boys: Edwin Inzunza (San Ysidro)
Sportsmanship Award
Girls: Shantal Piedra-Guido (Southwest)
Boys: Oscar Aaron (Montgomery)
Girls Team Standings
Points: 1. Chula Vista 415, 2. Montgomery 401, 3. Sweetwater 329, 4. Southwest 304, 5. San Ysidro 118, 6. Castle Park 37
Boys Team Standings
Points: 1. Chula Vista 378, 2. San Ysidro 316, 3. Southwest 295, 4. Castle Park 261, 5. Sweetwater 205, 6. Montgomery 201
