2015 Short Course Far Westerns Championships
- Dates: Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12, 2015
- Times: prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm (PDT)
- Location: Morgan Hill Swim Club Makos, Morgan Hill, California
- Live Results: (on Meet Mobile)
- Championship Central
The Far Westerns short-course championship meet is the end-of-season taper meet for a large number of teams in the Western Zone, and specifically so for their 14-and-under swimmers. The format is prelims/finals, but with only ten swimmers scoring in one heat of finals.
On Day Four, the scored events will be:
| 10/UNDER | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 |
| 100 IM | 400 IM | 400 IM | 500 free | 500 free |
| 50 fly | 50 free | 50 free | 200 IM | 200 IM |
| 50 free | 100 breast | 200 fly | 50 free | 50 free |
| 200 free relay | 200 fly | 1000 free (M) | 1000 free (M) | 1000 free (M) |
| 1000 free (M) | 800 free relay | |||
| 200 free relay |
500 Freestyle – Prelims
Moriah Simonds* of Pleasanton Seahawks was the top qualifier in the girls’ 17-18 prelims with 4:54.85; teammate Mary Woods* went 5:09.47 and Walnut Creek Aquabears’ Danielle Taylor* was 5:06.73. Santa Clara Swim Club’s Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou* and Reno Aquatics Club’s Mckenna Meyer topped the 15-16 girls with 4:58.04 and 4:58.06, respectively.
Christopher Miller of Lakeridge Swim Team was the fastest qualifier in the boys’ 17-18 division with 4:36.95. Daichi Matsuda* of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, at 4:37.21, was the second through. In the 15-16s it was Irvine Novaquatics’ Andrew Koustik out front in 4:41.76
400 Individual Medley – Prelims
Peak Swimming’s Vivian Wang* dropped 2.5 seconds to lead the 13-14 girls into finals with 4:25.75. Miranda Heckman of Pleasanton chopped a whopping 8.5 seconds off her seed time to qualify second with 4:26.87. Milan Hilde-Jones from Palo Alto Stanford qualified third in 4:29.52. On the boys’ side it was Irvine NOVA’s Kevin Tu out front with 4:11.70, followed by Nathan Yates* from Santa Clara (4:16.07) and Lucas Hess of Park City Swimming (4:16.26).
In the 11-12 age group, Bianca Yongyuth of Santa Clara Swim Club dropped 5.7 seconds to earn the middle lane for finals with 4:33.04. She will be surrounded by Santa Clara’s Nadia Bouraoui (4:39.32) and De Anza Cupertino’s Jessica Chu (4:43.01). Lars Hanna of Aces Swim Club (4:28.13), Alexander Pascual of Napa Valley Swim Team (4:33.99), and Theodore Makler of Palo Alto (4:34.02) were the top boys.
100 Individual Medley – Prelims
A trio of recent NAG record-breakers led the girls 10-and-under qualifiers for the final of the 100 IM, not too surprisingly. They were Miriam Sheehan of Phoenix Swim Club (1:04.91), Mia Tandingan of Pikes Peak Athletics (1:06.14), and Claire Tuggle of Yosemite Marlins (1:06.30).
The top three qualifiers in the boys’ 10&U race were Ronald Dalmacio of Rose Bowl Aquatics (1:04.05), Humberto Najera from NOVA (1:07.95), and Ricky Kurosawa of Boulder City Henderson (1:08.12).
200 Individual Medley – Prelims
Walnut Creek’s Brittany Usinger* beat her seed time by .6 to qualify first among 17-18 girls with 2:03.74, ahead of PASA’s Alex Grimes* (2:05.95) and Danielle Taylor* of Walnut Creek Aquabears. Palo Alto’s Chloe Isleta*, who won the 400 IM, put up the morning’s fastest 15-16 time with 2:02.39. Mckenna Meyer of Reno Aquatic Club went 2:04.79 to qualify second.
PASA’s Joe Molinari broke the boys’ 17-18 meet record in prelims with 1:50.27. Qualifying second and third were Alexander Kapphahn of Foothill Area Sharks Swim Team (1:54.12) and Daichi Matsuda* of PASA (1:54.13). Benjamin Ho*, also of Palo Alto, who set the meet record for 15-16 boys last year, qualified first in 1:51.58 ahead of Pleasanton’s Christopher Jhong* (1:53.48) and Lyon Zhang* of East Bay Aquatics Association (1:54.63).
50 Freestyle – Prelims
Usinger* of the Aquabears put up another best time in prelims, going 23.68 to lead the 17-18 girls in the 50 free. Teammates Taylor* (23.84) and Ariana Saghafi* (24.37) were right behind in second and third. The top 17-18 boys were PASA’s Albert Gwo* (20.67), Arjun Sharma* of Walnut Creek (21.58), and Nathan Wallace of Southern Utah (22.00).
In 15-16s, Emma Cottrill* from Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks went 23.56 to lead the charge, while Walnut Creek’s Isabella Barattolo* (23.79) and Santa Clara’s Krivokapic-Zhou* (23.89) rounded out the top three. Benjamin Ho* of PASA put up a PB of 20.95 to qualify first among 15-16 boys; Eric Tolman* of Ripon Aquatics (22.11) and Mark Tran* from Milpitas Tidal Waves (22.33) qualified second and third.
In the 13-14 girls, Isabelle Henig* of PASA went 23.26, a best time by 3/100, to lead the field. Foothill Aqua Sharks’ Chloe Clark (23.65) and Cathy Teng* of Santa Clara (23.97) qualified second and third. The boys featured a narrow band of qualifiers at the top, with Ethan Luc* of Valley Splash (21.92), Santa Clara’s Yates* (21.92) and Hunter Hitchens* of Irvine NOVA (22.11).
Ella Ristic of Mission Viejo Nadadores (24.57) was first among the 11-12 girls, followed by Pleasanton’s Mackenzie Lee (24.71) and Abby David from Solano Aquatic Sea Otters (25.35). Winn Aung of Redding Swim Team set the boys’ 11-12 meet record with a personal-best 22.22 in prelims. Justin Culetu (23.19) and Quicksilver Swimming’s Kevin Sichak (23.99) qualified second and third.
50 Butterfly – Prelims
Only the 10-and-under age group competed in the 50 fly today, but already it was exciting in prelims when both Miriam Sheehan of Phoenix Swim Club (27.45) and Mia Tandingan of Pikes Peak Athletics (28.13) qualified for finals under the previous meet record time. Sunn Swimming’s Yelin Tahk was third in 29.29.
The top boys were Anthony Fong from Terrapins Swim Team (29.64) and Irvine NOVA’s Humberto Najera (29.75) and Mitchell Schott (29.85).
100 Breaststroke – Prelims
Nadia Bouraoui of Santa Clara dropped 3/10 to lead the 11-12 girls in prelims with 1:07.51. Behind her were Walnut Creek’s Sophie Lurie (1:08.07) and Cayla Whetstone of Piranha Swimming (1:08.18).
Keane Alejandro of Canyons Aquatic Club put up the fastest morning time for the 11-12 boys with 1:04.22. Sean Swift of Foothill Aqua Sharks (1:05.14) and Napa Valley’s Pascual (1:05.60) will challenge him in finals tonight.
200 Butterfly – Prelims
Emily Lo* from Terrapins went 2:03.54, qualifying just ahead of Santa Clara’s Teng* (2:03.72) in the 13-14 race. Alex Aung of Redding Swim Team (1:58.19), NOVA’s Hitchens (1:58.28), and Park City’s Hess (1:58.31) set up an exciting final with their close prelims swims.
Mia Ristic of Mission Viejo (2:11.65) qualified just ahead of Stephanie Shao of Pleasanton (2:11.99) in the girls’ 11-12 prelims. DACA’s Chu went 2:14.58 to qualify third. At 2:03.63, Winn Aung of Redding was the fastest 11-12 boy in prelims. Aces Swim Club’s Hanna dropped 1.2 seconds to qualify second with 2:04.96, while Wasatch Front Fish Market’s Joshua Cho was right at his time with 2:09.34 for third.
50 Freestyle – Prelims
The NAG trio was at it again at the top of the pile for the girls 10-and-under 50 freestylers. Tandingan of Pikes Peak led with 26.01, then Sheehan from Phoenix (26.16) and Tuggle from Yosemite Marlins (26.20). Rose Bowl’s Dalmacio went 26.07 to lead the boys, with Schott of Irvine in second with 26.90, and Lorenzo Martinelli of Santa Clara third (27.09).
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*swimming unattached for high school season
