2015 CIF-SS D3 Finals – Poly Girls, Rio Mesa Boys Crowned with Team Titles

2015 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Swimming & Diving Championships – Division III

Division III – Finals

The meet that kicked off the CIF-Southern Section championships on Thursday night -in the rain- was the Division III finals. Not one record fell on either the girls’ side or the boys’ side of the meet, but there were some exciting races, and some even more exciting team battles. Royal and Marlborough had the biggest gains in the girls’ meet, challenging perennial favorites Walnut and Mark Keppel. The boys from Calabasas, Moorpark and Kennedy all did better than expected, leading to extremely close finishes in the team standings. Calabasas, most notably, claimed the runner-up trophy by 2 tiny points.

Girls’ Meet

Division III Girls Finals +/- Psych +/- Prelims
Poly/Pasadena 293 -9 -10
Royal 219 51 3
Walnut 216 -5 7
Marlborough 204 42 11
Mark Keppel 173 -42 -3
Viewpoint 155 24 2
West Torrance 148 -30 17
Immaculate Heart 144 1 -5
Rio Mesa 132.5 -41.5 15.5
Beverly Hills 125 -21 -2

 

Immaculate Heart had three of the top five finishers in the diving event, including 2014 champion and meet record-holder Olivia Rosendahl, but it was Pasadena Poly freshman Daria Lenz who stole the show. The fourth sister in the Lenz diving dynasty won the event with 527.20 points. Rosendahl was runner-up with 524.95, ahead of teammate Anora Denison (484.05) who placed third.

Deanne Umbay, a sophomore from Sierra Canyon, was a two-time champion, earning titles in the 200 IM and 100 back. She began with a 2:05.00 in the 200 IM, coming to the wall 2.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Ksenia Afonicheva of West Torrance (2:07.70). Umbay then went on to win the 100 back in 56.09, .25 faster than her second-place finish last year.

Senior Jasmine Margetts of North Torrance placed second in the 100 back with 56.40. She also held onto her number one spot from prelims to win the 200 free in 1:51.24, 2.6 seconds ahead of Casey Cunningham from Saddleback Valley Christian (1:53.86). Cunningham was the 500 free champion, going 5:02.15.

Junior Amy Okada of Beverly Hills was the other double event winner. She clocked a 54.24 in the 100 fly, missing Emily Eastin’s meet record by a scant .31. Second in that race was Bianca Preciado of California (55.10). In the 100 breast, Okada earned her title with a 1:02.42. Cailey Renken of Camarillo took second in 1:03.18, while Preciado was third with 1:05.24.

Meghan Go of Immaculate Heart won the 100 free in 52.41 and was runner-up to Mark Keppel’s Michelle Martin (24.04) in the 50 free, with 24.22.

Pasadena Poly won the 200 medley relay; Mark Keppel, the 200 free relay; and Marlborough, the 400 free relay.

Boys’ Meet

Division III Boys Finals +/- Psych +/- Prelims
Rio Mesa 268.5 19.5 5.5
Calabasas 189 21 2
Walnut 187 -11 -9
Moorpark 174 35 1
Kennedy 173.5 21.5 3.5
Webb Schools 152.5 5.5 4.5
North, J.W. 126.5 25.5 -2.5
Viewpoint 111 21 -36
Santa Monica 109 -18 13
Cypress 108 54 -23

 

Pasadena Poly’s Tom Amsbry opened the score with a win in 1-meter diving, earning 431.50 points. Riverside Poly’s Brenden Brown was runner-up with 365.85.

The boys’ swimming featured several very close races, beginning with the 200 medley relay, when Walnut (Jerry Chen, Alex Neoh, Derek Wan, and Ashcon Dejbakhsh) came from behind to out-touch Moorpark (Roger Kriegl, Masinsin Nicholas, Weynand Luke, and Blake Harmon), 1:37.65 to 1:37.76.

Moorpark junior Kriegl dominated the 200 and 500 freestyles, winning both events by very significant margins. Kriegl clocked a 1:39.46 to claim the title in the 200 by 4.4 seconds over teammate Luke (1:43.84), and a 4:31.32 to win the 500 by 12.4. In a dramatic finish for second place in that race, Thomas Bunker of Rio Mesa edged Austin Simpson of Nipomo, 4:43.72 to 4:43.91.

Sophomore Nathan Ketcheside of Riverside Poly had quite an evening. He began with the 50 free, in which he came back from a slight deficit at the 25 to tie Webb senior Adrian Hui for first; both touched in 21.44. Aaron Bauer of Pacifica in Garden Grove went 21.66 for third. Ketcheside then won the 100 free, although in less dramatic fashion. He cracked a 46.70 to put a full second between himself and second-place Brandon Bertolino of Santa Monica (47.73). Bauer scored another third with 47.96.

JW North sophomore Javier Bernal won the 200 IM handily, touching in 1:53.27. Benjamin Hardin of Calabasas (1:56.48) eked out second place ahead of Calvin Giang of Gabrielino (1:56.62).

Rodrigo Baca of Kennedy went a lifetime-best 50.45 to win the 100 fly; he was 1.6 seconds faster than he had been last year at this meet. Webb’s Hui was second in 51.52, just out-touching Windward’s JP Mortenson (51.77).

Another very close race took place in the 100 back, where junior Jerry Chen of Walnut (52.21) came to the wall .02 ahead of Gabrielino’s Giang (52.23) and .10 ahead of Mortenson of Windward (52.31).

Moorpark junior Nicholas crushed the field in the 100 breast with 56.64. Second, third, and fourth were bunched together about 3 seconds back. Jacob Christensen of Valencia in Placentia led that group, coming in second with 59.01.

Rio Mesa won both the 200 free and 400 free relays. In the first contest, Artyem Shander (22.23), Bunker (22.67), Jacob Hunter (23.15), and Zander Lyskin (21.13) combined for 1:29.18, coming in just ahead of Webb Schools’ 1:29.35 (Ilya Petrov, David Albers, Richard Parnell, and Hui). Josh Monroe (49.47), Tyler Nesbit (48.89), Bunker (48.43), and Lyskin (47.64) clocked a 3:14.43 to win the 400, with Kennedy (Akili Allen, Nicholas Soukchareon, Baca, and Zachary Minott) placing second in 3:14.94.

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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