Olympian High School sophomore Alicia Cota Arellano stole the show — and the scorecard — during the Eagles’ Mesa League swim and dive dual meet against Hilltop High School last Thursday, March 15, at the Parkway pool.
Arellano out-pointed the field of four divers with 165.05 points, finishing ahead of Hilltop’s Veronica Sanderlin, Larissa Contreras and Riana Vazquez.
Despite performing in her first season in high school, Arellano is an accomplished diver. She competed eight years in club diving in Mexico, reaching the Mexican Junior National championships in 2015 as a member of the Baja California team.
She placed 11th at the Mexican Junior National meet. This is her first year back in competitive diving.
So far, things have gone well in her high school debut.
“It’s fun, I like being in the air,” she said.
Arellano said she enjoyed the competitive atmosphere during her days as a club diver, which culminated in her appearance in the Mexican Junior National championships.
“It was really fun, exciting,” she said.
The Olympian diver said her goals are just to be competitive on this side of the border.
“I want to make CIF,” she said.
Making a splash
Hilltop defeated Olympian, 116-66, in the girls meet to improve to 3-0 on the young season while the Eagles out-pointed the Lancers, 104-68, in the boys meet to remain undefeated in two dual meets to start the spring sports season.
Hilltop’s girls team previously defeated Calvary Christian Academy (120-5 on March 6) and Mar Vista (104-83 on March 8) while Olympian’s boys team topped Otay Ranch before defeating Hilltop.
“It’s a good start,” Hilltop coach Ernie Medina said. “Hilltop has a strong tradition and we’re trying to keep that going. It gets tougher every year against larger schools that are (known as) swimming schools. But my kids have a lot of heart.”
Hilltop took first-place finishes in all events with the exception of the diving competition.
Jordan Carpadakis (200-yard freestyle and 500 freestyle), Yzatis Silva (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke) and Alejandra Lopez (50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke) each won two individual events.
Silva timed 1:06 in the 100 backstroke and 1:07 in the 100 butterfly while Lopez timed 26.56 in the 50 freestyle and 1:15 in the 100 breaststroke.
The Lancers also won all three relay events — 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay (4:27).
Hilltop out-pointed Olympian in 10 of the 12 events overall, conceding scoring edges only in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle events.
Olympian’s boys team captured first-place finishes in six of the 11 swimming events (there was no boys diving contested). Team depth kept the Eagles afloat in the meet, however, as Olympian out-pointed Hilltop in seven events and tied in another.
New Olympian coach Zach Bradley is very optimistic about what he’s seen so far this season from his team.
“We’ve had two meets,” he said. “We’re just looking forward to continuing the season and getting better every week.”
Kevin Schwartz (200 freestyle, 2:02), Zedric Soriano (200 individual medley, 2:16), Nate Cabrera (1:03 in the 100 butterfly and 1:08 in the 100 breaststroke) and Yad Hasan (500 freestyle, 5:22) each touched first in individual events for the Eagles.
Soriano also finished second in the 100 backstroke (0:59) while Schwartz finished second in the 500 freestyle (5:29). Hasan also finished second in the 100 breaststroke (1:09).
Sean Sebree claimed a pair of second-place individual finishers for Olympian in the 200 freestyle (2:05) and 100 freestyle (0:54).
The Eagles also won the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay (3:41).
Hilltop claimed first-place finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:49) and 200 freestyle relay (1:42). The Lancers took first-place individual finishes in three other events: James Xiadong in the 100 freestyle (0:52) and 100 backstroke (0:57) and Mark Estrada in the 50 freestyle (0:24).
Lorenzo Rodriguez finished second in the 100 butterfly (1:04) while Hilltop teammate Skylar Garces finished second in the 50 freestyle (0:25).
Upcoming meets for the Lancers include April 5 against Eastlake at the Las Palmas pool in National City, April 12 against Mater Dei Catholic at the Parkway pool, April 17 against Otay Ranch at the Loma Verde pool and April 26 against Bonita Vista at the Parkway pool.
Olympian has a pair of upcoming dual meets at the Parkway pool on April 5 and April 12 and a dual meet at Mar Vista on April 19. The Eagles host Eastlake in a Mesa League dual on Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at the Parkway pool.
The Mesa League prelims are scheduled May 3 at Mater Dei Catholic High School, followed by the conference diving championships May 4 at Parkway pool. The league swim finals are May 5 at Mater Dei Catholic.
The San Diego Section swim and dive championships are May 9-12.
Metro Conference Swim/Dive Results
Non-league
Tuesday, March 6
Boys: Hilltop 78, Calvary Christian Academy 56
Girls: Hilltop 120, Calvary Christian Academy 5
Mesa League
Thursday, March 8
Girls: Hilltop 104, Mar Vista 83
Boys: Mar Vista 101, Hilltop 67
Thursday, March 15
Boys: Olympian 104, Hilltop 68
Girls: Hilltop 116, Olympian 66
