The Mesa League and South Bay League swimming championship meets took place Saturday, May 2, at the Mater Dei Catholic High School pool. Competition was fierce in both the boys and girls fields in both leagues.
In fact, Southwest High School coach Jon Carson, who is serving as the league representative this year, noted it was the closest competition in the South Bay League girls field in his 18 years of coaching as San Ysidro nosed out Southwest by just 10 points to win this year’s girls team title.
In the Mesa League, the Eastlake Titans swept both the boys and girls team titles by commanding margins. The Eastlake racked up 604 points to squash the seven-school field, with runner-up Otay Ranch totaling 388 points and third place Mar Vista collecting 300 points. The Titan boys also turned in a power-packed performance by totaling 577 points to runner-up Hilltop’s 334 points.
In the South Bay League, San Ysidro won the boys team title with 503 points, with runner-up Southwest tallying 321 points to edge third place Chula Vista by three points in an otherwise tight field.
Eastlake swim teams make a splash at Mesa League finals
LADY TITANS DOMINATE FIELD, WIN SEVEN TITLES
The Eastlake High School girls swim team has run roughshod over its Mesa League competition all season, and it was no different at last Saturday’s league championship meet at Mater Dei Catholic High School. The Lady Titans captured the team title with an audacious 604-point total — 216 points ahead of runner-up Otay Ranch.
Eastlake swimmers captured seven first-place finishes in the 11-event meet, with the Lady Titans claiming victories in all three relay events and also securing first-place touches in four individual events.
Angelika Ygnson led the Lady Titans by winning the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.31 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.33. Other individual event winners included Morgan Hartley in the 200 freestyle (2:01.14) and Paola Rivas in the 100 butterfly (1:03.81).
Eastlake’s wins in the relay events bordered on the sensational.
Lady Titan foursomes combined to win the 200 medley relay in 1:56.56 (more than five seconds ahead of runner-up Otay Ranch), claim the 200 freestyle relay in 1:47.28 (nearly seven seconds ahead of runner-up Otay Ranch) and the capture the 400 freestyle relay in 3:47.50 (more than eight seconds ahead of runner-up Otay Ranch).
The reader quickly gets the picture: Eastlake turned in an awe-inspiring performance.
“It was nice to see that a lot of the swimmers worked hard to lower their times for CIF,” EHS coach Steve Wiggs explained. “They were able to taper and get a chance for CIF entry times.”
Two Lady Titans were duly recognized in the league’s individual awards ceremony.
Ygnson earned honors as the Mesa League Female Most Valuable Swimmer while teammate Jana Miclat was named the Mesa League Female Swimmer of the Year.
Wiggs said criteria for the swimmer of the year award included attitude, leadership ability and recognition of performance.
The league’s coaches agreed that Miclat embodied all three characteristics.
“To receive this award my senior year means a lot to me,” said Miclat, who placed third in both the 50 freestyle (26.20) and backstroke (1:04.06). “After four years of swimming on the team this is a fantastic way to end my senior year.”
Yngson continues on a roll after winning individual event league titles in the IM and breaststroke last year.
She won the IM by a margin of more than four seconds at this year’s league finals and also claimed the breaststroke by a winning margin of five seconds.
“Consistently awesome,” Wiggs noted in regard to Yngson, only a sophomore.
Rivas placed second to Yngson in the IM (2:20.97) to finish with an individual silver medal besides her individual gold medal.
Eastlake’s Elisabeth Lundgren also turned in a fine meet with second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (2:01.16) and backstroke (1:03.63).
Hartley won a hotly contested dual with Lundgren to capture the 200 freestyle title by a slim margin of 0.02 seconds.
Eastlake’s Valerie Chin recorded a pair of second-place finishes in individual events at this year’s league finals. She timed 25.84 in the 50 freestyle and 55.91 in the 100 freestyle.
Hartley also finished second in the 500 freestyle (5:23.19) to round out a solid showing in her individual events, while teammate Renee Lanswick placed second in the breaststroke (1:15.35) to add a strong one-two punch for the Lady Titans.
Horse power
Otay Ranch’s girls team turned in a scintillating performance despite finishing in second place to behemoth Eastlake.
Isabel Park won individual titles in the 50 freestyle (25.58) and 100 freestyle (55.90) while Michelle Park captured the 500 freestyle (5:21.84) and Julie Parsons won the 100 backstroke (1:01.72).
All four winning times bettered prelim times from the previous day.
Michelle Park and Parsons repeated as league champions in the 500 freestyle and backstroke, respectively, while Isabel Park repeated as the 50 freestyle champion.
Parsons also recorded a third-place finish at this year’s league finals in the butterfly (1:05.58) while Michelle Park finished third in the 200 freestyle (2:01.69).
Mar Vista recorded a meteoric third-place finish in the Mesa League girls team standings with 300 points. Ashley Macaskill led the Lady Mariners on the scoreboard with a second-place finish in the butterfly (1:05.10) and a third-place finish in the IM (2:29.87).
Hilltop finished in fourth place in the team standings with 236 points, followed by Bonita Vista in fifth place with 211 points, Olympian in sixth place with 140 points and Mater Dei Catholic in seventh place with 26 points.
TITAN BOYS TEAM REIGNS AT TOP, CLAIM SEVEN TITLES
When all was said and done, the Eastlake High School boys swim team had cemented its hold on the championship trophy for yet another year after scoring 577 points to reign at the top of the team standings at last Saturday’s Mesa League finals at Mater Dei Catholic High School.
The Titans out-distanced runner-up Hilltop by 243 points and nearly doubled the score on third place Otay Ranch. Hilltop finished the seven-team championship meet with 334 points, followed by Otay Ranch with 294.5 points.
This isn’t to say Eastlake wasn’t pushed, because the Titans were. Swimmers from Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Mesa League newcomer Mar Vista all presented strong challenges to make for a very exciting meet.
The Titans won seven of the 11 events —four individual events and three relay events — to claim the team title.
Tristan Yam led the charge with four gold medals after capturing first-place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle (50.05) and 100-yard backstroke (55.80) while also swimming legs on Eastlake’s victorious 200 medley (1:43.44) and 400 freestyle (3:28.33) relay teams.
Alex Lopez and Cade Erickson provided the Titans with individual titles in the 100 butterfly (55.63) and 500 freestyle (4:56.53), respectively.
Eastlake also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:33.64.
The boys 50 freestyle sprint proved to be the highlight of the meet — and one with easily the most controversial finish. Mar Vista junior Faux Mahan was judged to have out-touched Eastlake senior Kyle DeAlva at the wall even though DeAlva (22.75) had a faster hand-time than Mahan (22.79).
It was a bang-bang finish, with Mahan holding a visible lead until the final touch. The call could easily have gone either way.
“I had set my mind on winning this event, I wanted the gold medal more than anything,” said Mahan, who captured four gold medals at last year’s South Bay League championship meet. “I had lost to him all year, but I thought this time it would be mine. I just kept swimming as fast as I could. I didn’t even breathe the whole 50, I just kept going.”
It’s highly likely that the hard charging DeAlva — last year’s Mesa League Male Swimmer of the Year — would have emerged victorious if the race had gone another yard.
DeAlva won titles last year in the 200 and 500 freestyle distances but was denied at this year’s finals in both the 50 and 100 freestyle distances. DeAlva (50.91) finished third in the 100 freestyle behind teammate Yam and Mar Vista freshman Oscar Vargas (50.44), the upset winner in the boys 200 freestyle in 1:49.58.
DeAlva did win a pair of gold medals in relay events. He teamed with Nate Niehaus, Zack Randall and Will Johnston to emerge victorious over second place Hilltop (1:34.10) in the 200 freestyle relay and teamed with to Niehaus, Randall and Yam to win the meet-closing 400 freestyle relay.
Eastlake opened the meet as Yam, Cayden Pangelinan, Lopez and Johnston combined to win the 200 medley relay.
Mahan also had a fine meet. He finished with gold, silver and bronze medals along with a fourth-place finish. He placed second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:31.31), third in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.44) and fourth in the breaststroke (1:06.00).
“Moving up to a bigger league was challenging,” Mahan admitted. “There was more competition.”
Also for Eastlake, Erickson finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:53.14) as a prelude to winning the 500 freestyle ahead of teammate George Peterson (5:00.81) while Lopez finished second in the IM (2:10.94).
Honor roll
Hilltop senior Wyatt Schmidt earned honors as the Mesa League Male Swimmer of the Year while Otay Ranch junior Ryan Gagarin received this year’s Mesa League Most Valuable Male Swimmer award.
Schmidt helped the Lancers to one of their best seasons on record in recent years. He finished second in the backstroke (57.18) and third in the 500 freestyle (5:03.54) at last weekend’s league finals.
The award is based on several criteria that go beyond performance in the pool.
“It’s an honor to be named swimmer of the year by all the league’s coaches,” Schmidt said. “But I really owe this to all my teammates because they pushed me all year.”
Gagarin proved his talent in the pool by repeating as league champion in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.70) while also winning the 100 breaststroke (1:00.51), an event in which he placed second last year.
Gagarin finished undefeated in his individual events this season, according to Otay Ranch coach Sebastian Murillo.
“He was the leader on the team,” Murillo said. “All the other coaches voted for him. It’s nice to know he has respect from other teams.”
Almost famous
Hilltop’s Sydney Aki recorded a second-place finish in the breaststroke (1:02.72) and a third-place finish in he 200 freestyle (1:54.91) while Olympian’s Alan Gonzalez touched second in the butterfly (56.53).
Hilltop also finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:44.81).
Mesa League Swimming Championships
Girls Finals
Team Standings
- Eastlake 604 points
- Otay Ranch 388 points
- Mar Vista 300 points
- Hilltop 236 points
- Bonita Vista 211 points
- Olympian 140 points
- Mater Dei Catholic 26 points
Event winners
200 medley relay: Eastlake 1:56.56
200 freestyle: Morgan Hartley (Eastlake) 2:01.14
200 individual medley: Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 2:16.31
50 freestyle: Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 25.58
100 butterfly: Paola Rivas (Eastlake) 1:03.81
100 freestyle: Isabel Park (Otay Ranch) 55.90
500 freestyle: Michelle Park (Otay Ranch) 5:21.84
200 freestyle relay: Eastlake 1:47.28
100 backstroke: Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 1:01.72
100 breaststroke: Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 1:10.33
400 freestyle relay: Eastlake 3:47.50
Boys Finals
Team Standings
- Eastlake 577 points
- Hilltop 334 points
- Otay Ranch 294.5 points
- Mar Vista 287 points
- Bonita Vista 268.5 points
- Olympian 208 points
- Mater Dei Catholic 75 points
Event winners
200 medley relay: Eastlake 1:43.44
200 freestyle: Oscar Vargas (Mar Vista) 1:49.58
200 individual medley: Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 2:01.70
50 freestyle: Faux Mahan (Mar Vista) 22.79
100 butterfly: Alex Lopez (Eastlake) 55.63
100 freestyle: Tristan Yam (Eastlake) 50.05
500 freestyle: Cade Erickson (Eastlake) 4:56.53
200 freestyle relay: Eastlake 1:33.64
100 backstroke: Tristan Yam (Eastlake) 55.80
100 breaststroke: Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 1:00.51
400 freestyle relay: Eastlake 3:28.33
Swimmers of the Year
Girls: Jana Miclat (Eastlake)
Boys: Wyatt Schmidt (Hilltop)
Most Valuable Swimmers
Girls: Angelika Yngson (Eastlake)
Boys: Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch)
South Bay League Swimming Championships
Girls Finals
Team Standings
- San Ysidro 305 points
- Southwest 295 points
- Sweetwater 270 points
- Chula Vista 206 points
- Montgomery 177 points
- Castle Park 174 points
Event winners
200 medley relay: San Ysidro 2:30.00
200 freestyle: Paulina Wells (San Ysidro) 2:26.41
200 individual medley: Cassandra Couoh (San Ysidro) 3:03.11
50 freestyle: Steffy Chavez (Castle Park) 29.47
100 butterfly: Naomi Zuniga (Chula Vista) 1:24.78
100 freestyle: Brianna Sanchez (Sweetwater) 1:08.47
500 freestyle: Nayeli Morales (San Ysidro) NT
200 freestyle relay: Sweetwater NT
100 backstroke: Paulina Wells (San Ysidro) 1:16.91
100 breaststroke: Cassandra Couoh (San Ysidro) 1:33.25
400 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 4:52.50
Boys Finals
Team Standings
- San Ysidro 503 points
- Southwest 321 points
- Chula Vista 318 points
- Montgomery 245 points
- Sweetwater 216 points
- Castle Park 177 points
Event winners
200 medley relay: San Ysidro 2:04.31
200 freestyle: Rodrigo Espino (San Ysidro) 2:15.00
200 individual medley: Jose Guzman (San Ysidro) 2:28.31
50 freestyle: Eric Basa (Southwest) 24.81
100 butterfly: Hector Albanez (Castle Park) 1:05.47
100 freestyle: Eric Basa (Southwest) 57.22
500 freestyle: Jose Guzman (San Ysidro) 5:56.17
200 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 1:51.66
100 backstroke: Rodrigo Espino (San Ysidro) NT
100 breaststroke: David Macias (Chula Vista) 1:18.77
400 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 4:04.69
Swimmers of the Year
Girls: Mae Ibunes (Montgomery)
Boys: Hector Albanez (Castle Prk)
Sportsmanship Awards
Girls: Maria Gutierrez (Southwest)
Boys: Victor Carrasco (San Ysidro)
Divers of the Year
Girls: Karla Gonzalez (Castle Park)
Boys: Francisco Montes (Southwest)
