It was a fabulous showcase for the Eastlake High School swim team at last Saturday’s Mesa League championship meet at Mater Dei Catholic High School. Absolutely fabulous, if it needs repeating.
The youth-laden Titan boys team racked up 475 points to lead the seven-team field while the more veteran-savvy EHS girls squad tallied 567 points to easily out-distance the six other teams in the division.
By comparison, Otay Ranch finished second in both the boys and girls fields. The Mustangs totaled 349 points in the boys division and 401.5 points in the girls field.
Olympian gave Otay Ranch a good run in the boys field by placing third with 329 points. However, Hilltop finished well behind the Mustangs with 260 points in taking third place in the girls field.
Eastlake swimmers definitely displayed their talent and depth.
“This is one of the strongest girls teams we’ve had since I’ve been coaching here,” explained EHS head coach Steve Wiggs.
“On the boys side, what made it so much fun was being able to overcome the adversity of having such a young team. We only had one senior on the boys team, three juniors and the rest were freshmen and sophomores. For us to win with the young team we had, it left me speechless.”
It also left him with very little head hair, but that’s another story entirely.
Angelika Yngson clearly took the spotlight for the Titan girls team, and deservedly so. She captured four gold medals in the championship meet. It was the third consecutive year that she has accomplished the feat.
She was almost embarrassed about the notoriety; she remained humble in accepting the award.
“I feel pretty neutral about it; I think more people deserved it,” she explained. “It’s more like a team thing. I don’t win for myself; I win for my team.”
She looks to keep winning for her team. Amazingly, she’s only a junior.
“Angelika has been a double individual event winner ever since she was a freshman,” Wiggs said. “This year we’re focusing on CIF.”
Yngson captured first place touches in the girls 200-yard individual medley (2:15.15) and 100 butterfly (1:10.78) while swimming legs on two relay teams. She repeated as an individual league champion in the 200 IM and butterfly events.
Eastlake won all three relays, timing 1:56.31 in the 200 medley relay, 1:45.66 in the 200 freestyle relay and 3:50.44 in the 400 freestyle relay.
Eastlake’s girls team claimed first-place finishes in six of the 11 swimming events (and seven of 12, including diving).
Paola Rivas left the deck with four medals — three gold medals and one silver medal. She won the 100 butterfly event in 1:02.47 (repeating as a league champion) and also swam legs on the victorious 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. She finished second in the 200 IM (2:18.39).
Yngson and Rivas joined Elisabeth Lundgren and Valerie Chin in winning both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Lundgren finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:02.65) and third in the 200 freestyle (2:03.01) while Chin finished third in both the 50 freestyle (26.11) and 100 freestyle (56.72).
The Titans’ scoring potential proved devastating throughout the day.
Yngson, Renee Lanswick and Katie Mercer made it a 1-2-3 sweep in the girls 100 backstroke final while Sofia Lopez, Stephanie Clifton and Julian Walsh went 2-3-4 in the girls 500 freestyle. Yngson, Rivas and Natatalie Bautista finished 1-2-3 in the girls 200 IM.
Incredibly, it wasn’t all Eastlake.
Chinese exchange student Yichen Liu doubled in winning the girls 200 freestyle (1:55.46) and 100 freestyle (53.51) for Mater Dei Catholic.
Otay Ranch was not without its heroines: Kristine Tapia won the girls 50 freestyle sprint in 25.19 while Julie Parsons won the girls 100 backstroke in 1:00.00.
Parsons also finished second in the 100 butterfly (1:03.15) while Tapia and teammate Ivana Reyes (26.00) finished 1-2 in the girls 50 freestyle. Tapia was also just out-touched in the 100 freestyle by 0.23 seconds.
Bonita Vista’s Julissa Arvaze rounded out this year’s parade of champions by winning the girls 500 freestyle in 5:17.24.
There is also some unfinished business:
Parsons became Otay Ranch’s first section swim champion when she won the girls 100 backstroke event as a freshman with a then school record time of 58.43 seconds at the 2014 CIF finals.
Parsons bettered her school record in last year’s section finals with a 57.80 but finished third behind Torrey Pines’ Jordan Payne (56.43) and Rancho Bernardo’s Samantha Morris (57.76).
Yngson is also looking to move up after placing fourth at last year’s Division I finals in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.37) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:13.24).
Also, Eastlake’s 200 medley relay unit could be zeroing in on a state meet qualifying berth after placing second at last season’s Division I finals (1:53.65).
Boys finals
Though capturing first-place finishes in just four of the 11 swimming events, Eastlake’s swimmers exploited their competitive depth to capture the team points title. Besides the four first-place finishes, the Titans also recorded four second-place finishes and three third-place finishes.
Stephen Sterlitz won individual titles in the 100 butterfly (54.26) and 100 freestyle (49.33) while also swimming a leg on the team’s victorious 400 freestyle relay (3:29.73).
Sterlitz won by a blowout margin of nearly six seconds in the butterfly event and won by more than two seconds in his freestyle event.
Cade Erickson won gold medals in the 500 freestyle (4:59.64) and 400 freestyle relay while placing second in the 200 freestyle (1:51.78). He successfully defended his league title in the 500 freestyle event.
The Titans’ support group included Cayden Pangelinan, who placed runner-up in the breaststroke (1:01.46) and third in the 200 IM (2:09.53). Also, Jack Fischer finished second in the 50 freestyle (23.52) and fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:04.59).
The Titans also notched a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:37.46).
The king of the waves, however, was reserved for Otay Ranch’s Ryan Gagarin, who earned the boys MVP award after winning individual gold medals in the 200 IM (2:00.51) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.13).
Otay Ranch also sped to victory in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.65) while taking second in the 200 medley relay (1:47.46). Gagarin helped power the wining 200 freestyle unit.
Gagarin, who finished with three gold medals at this year’s league finals, repeated as league champion in both the IM and breaststroke events.
He placed fifth at last year’s CIF Division I finals in the breaststroke (1:00.48).
Otay Ranch coach Sebastian Murillo had nothing but praise for Gagarin. “He broke his own personal records at this meet,” the Mustang coach explained. “In this meet, he was faster than ever in his career.
“We’re hoping he does well at CIF. We’re hoping for him to make the state meet.”
Otay Ranch’s Ohj Nobles placed second in the 100 freestyle (51.46) and third in the 50 freestyle (23.67). Mustang Bryan Thai placed third in the 100 backstroke (1:03.40).
Olympian won three events and recorded three second-place finishes in an outstanding showing.
Junior Garrett Wesley led the Eagles with gold medals in the 200 medley relay (1:45.70) and 200 freestyle (1:50.03) and silver medals in the 500 freestyle (5:00.38) and 400 freestyle relay (3:32.44).
He has CIF automatic qualifying times in both the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle events.
“He’s been an all-star all season,” OHS coach Carolyn Lechner explained. “He’s been one of the most dedicated swimmers in practice. I love his enthusiasm and his positive energy before every single race.”
Wesley was not the only Eagle standout at the league finals.
Zedric Soriano won the 100 backstroke in 59.47 while teammate Kevin Reynoso finished second in IM (2:08.13). Reynoso has a CIF automatic time in the breaststroke event.
The Eagles finished 55 points ahead of fourth place Hilltop in the boys field and 54 points behind third place Hilltop in the girls field to record one of the team’s best finishes in recent years.
Overall, Olympian has six CIF qualifying times (automatic or consideration) in six individual boys events and one girls event and six relay consideration times.
The team’s showing at the league finals left Lechner impressed. “Definitely this was more successful than my first year last year,” she said. “This was one of our most successful seasons on record.”
But the success was spread around.
Hilltop’s Sydney Aki won the 50 freestyle in 22.86 and finished third in the breaststroke (1:03.85).
Bonita Vista’s Ezra Aguimagtang was second in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.13 while teammate Jon Ibarguren was third in both the 500 freestyle (5:10.14) and 200 freestyle (1:53.06).
Mar Vista’s Ian Jackson was second in the 100 butterfly (1:00.17) while Mater Dei Catholic’s Stephen Balensi was third in the 100 freestyle (52.34).
Team Points
Girls: 1. Eastlake 567, 2. Otay Ranch 401.5, 3. Hilltop 263, 4. Olympian 209, 5. Bonita Vista 197, 6. Mar Vista 196.5, 7. Mater Dei Catholic 192
Boys: 1. Eastlake 475, 2. Otay Ranch 349, 3. Olympian 329, 4. Hilltop 274, 5. (tie) Bonita Vista, Mater Dei Catholic 192, 7. Mar Vista 154
CIF schedule
The section prelims are scheduled Wednesday, May 11, for Division I teams and Thursday, May 12, for Division II teams. Both meets start at 3 p.m. at Granite Hills High School.
The section finals are May 14 at Granite Hills High School. Division I competition starts at 9 a.m. The Division II meet starts at 3 p.m.
Metro Conference Swim Championships
April 30 at Mater Dei Catholic High School
Mesa League
Girls Finals
200 medley relay: Eastlake 1:56.31
200 freestyle: Yichen Liu (Mater Dei Catholic) 1:55.46
200 individual medley: Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 2:15.15
50 freestyle: Kristine Tapia (Otay Ranch) 25.19
100 butterfly: Paola Rivas (Eastlake) 1:02.47
100 freestyle: Yichen Liu (Mater Dei Catholic) 53.51
500 freestyle: Julissa Arzave (Bonita Vista) 5:17.24
200 freestyle relay: Eastlake 1:45.66
100 backstroke: Julie Parsons (Otay Ranch) 1:00.00
100 breaststroke: Angelika Yngson (Eastlake) 1:10.78
400 freestyle relay: Eastlake 3:50.44
Boys Finals
200 medley relay: Olympian 1:45.70
200 freestyle: Garrett Wesley (Olympian) 1:50.03
200 individual medley: Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 2:00.51
50 freestyle: Sydney Aki (Hilltop) 22.86
100 butterfly: Stephen Sterlitz (Eastlake) 54.26
100 freestyle: Stephen Sterlitz (Eastlake) 49.33
500 freestyle: Cade Erickson (Eastlake) 4:59.64
200 freestyle relay: Otay Ranch 1:35.65
100 backstroke: Zedric Soriano (Olympian) 59.47
100 breaststroke: Ryan Gagarin (Otay Ranch) 1:00.13
400 freestyle relay: Eastlake 3:29.73
South Bay League
Girls Finals
200 medley relay: Montgomery 2:29.98
200 freestyle: Maria Gutierrez (Southwest) 2:47.23
200 individual medley: Nicole Moran (Sweetwater) 2:43.57
50 freestyle: Brianna Sterling (Southwest) 31.14
100 butterfly: Franiska Kunert (Castle Park) 1:07.54
100 freestyle: Bryanna Estrada (Montgomery) 1:10.84
500 freestyle: Nicole Moran (Sweetwater) 6:21.29
200 freestyle relay: Sweetwater 2:08.62
100 backstroke: Alicia Thompson (Chula Vista) 1:27.89
100 breaststroke: Nicole Santiago (Montgomery) 1:28.19
400 freestyle relay: Southwest 4:52.18
Boys Finals
200 medley relay: San Ysidro 2:00.86
200 freestyle: Alan Roldan (Montgomery) 1:57.44
200 individual medley: Edwin Inzunza (San Ysidro) 2:10.32
50 freestyle: Eric Basa (Southwest) 27.03
100 butterfly: Alan Roldan (Montgomery) 1:00.15
100 freestyle: Jose Ramirez (Southwest) 1:00.68)
500 freestyle: Edwin Inzunza (San Ysidro) 5:12.05
200 freestyle relay: Southwest 1:48.93
100 backstroke: Luis Zarzosa (Chula Vista) 1:16.41
100 breaststroke: David Macias (Chula Vista) 1:15.53
400 freestyle relay: San Ysidro 3:51.46
