2016 CIF State Meet: Crean Girls and Oak Ridge Boys Earn Team Titles

2016 California Interscholastic Federation Swimming & Diving Championships

• May 20-21, 2016
• Location: Clovis Olympic Swim Complex
• Meet program
• Final results
• Championship Central

The second annual CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships took place on May 20-21 at Clovis Olympic Swim Complex at Clovis West High School in Clovis. The state meet, bringing together the 10 sections that make up the high school sports scene in California, was full of excitement despite the absence of some of the state’s biggest names. There was more depth in the meet this year than in the inaugural version in 2015, and it should be even more competitive next year without an Olympic Trials looming in the horizon.The Crean Lutheran Saints earned the team title in the girls’ meet while the Oak Ridge Trojans were the boys’ champions.

Girls’ Meet

Crean Lutheran moved from runner-up at the 2015 meet to girls’ champions in 2016 thanks to its overall depth. Sophomore Elise Garcia was the only event winner for the Saints, going 22.75 to win the 50 free over Palo Alto’s Izzy Henig (22.82) by 7/100. Both were a touch off their prelims times, in which Garcia set the meet record with 22.64. Garcia was also fourth in the 100 free with 50.01, while Henig picked up her second silver medal with 49.16.

Crean senior Emily Eastin had two A-final finishes: she came in third in the 100 fly (54.12) and fifth in the 100 back (54.74). Her teammate Brittany Kampfer was seventh in the 200 free (1:50.59) and third in the 500 (4:47.95). Kampfer, Tianna Jorgensen, Eastin, and Garcia took third in the 400 free relay as well.

Ayala senior Kenisha Liu won the 200 free in 1:46.17, a mere .03 off the meet record she set last year. Liu did lower the mark in the 100 free, though, winning with 49.01 over Henig (49.16). Presentation senior Chloe Isleta claimed victory in the 200 IM (1:59.27) and was third in the 100 back (54.02). Touching second in the IM was Glendora junior Alexis Margett in 1:59.78. Margett went on to set the meet record in the 100 fly with 52.77. Pioneer junior Lauren Green was runner-up in both the 100 fly (53.65) and 200 free (1:48.08).

Granada freshman Miranda Heckman thrilled the crowd with a sprint-to-the-finish win in the 500 free. Having been out front early on, Heckman got outsplit by Sunny Hills junior Courtney Tseng over the second half of the race and the two received the bell together as they made their penultimate flip turn. Heckman came home .38 faster and got the win, 4:46.45 to 4:46.87. Santa Clara junior Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou won a tight race in the 100 back, going 53.50. Terra Linda junior Halle Morris won the 100 breast with a superb back half, winning in 1:01.30. Tulare Western senior Mallory Korenwinder was second with 1:01.40, touching just ahead of Paly’s Grace Zhao (1:01.54).

Palo Alto (Zoe Lusk, Zhao, Katie Francis, and Claire Lin) won the 200 medley relay in 1:42.41. Zhao, Lusk, Peyton Wang, and Lin won the 200 free relay with a new meet record time of 1:33.64. Martin Luther King (Courtney Vincent, Anissa Barroso, Lauren Vitort, and Claire Fisch) combined for 3:24.77 to win the 4×100 free relay.

Boys’ Meet

Oak Ridge, who finished third in the team standings in 2015, edged San Ramon Valley by 6 points to earn the team title this year. TheTrojans jumped out to the early lead with a win in the 200 medley relay from Colby Mefford, Ethan Dillard, Bryce Mefford, and Leon Kassianenko (1:32.29). Senior Dillard put Oak Ridge further ahead with a win in the 200 IM, going 1:47.58. Bryce Mefford, a junior, won the 100 fly with 47.89; he was defending champion in the 200 free and placed eighth this year with 1:39.14.

Palo Alto junior Alex Liang doubled with wins in the 200 free (1:36.65) and 500 free (4:23.41). He set meet records in both events. Sobrato junior Jarod Hatch was runner-up in the 500 (4:26.73) and third in the 200 (1:37.49). Bella Vista senior Liam O’Haimhirgin came in second in the 200 free by a mere .02 (1:36.67); he then went on to win the 100 free with 43.86, robbing Los Altos senior Albert Gwo of the 50/100 free double. Gwo won his second consecutive title in the 50 free with 20.07 and was runner-up in the 100 with 44.05.

Aptos senior Chistopher Staka won the 100 back with a new meet record of 47.39, coming to the wall nearly a second ahead of St. Francis senior Benjamin Ho (48.45). San Ramon Valley senior Hank Poppe (54.97) repeated his 2015 title in the 100 breast although he didn’t match his meet record time from last year. Seniors Scott Tolman of Sierra (55.21) and Karl Arvidsson of Woodside (55.30) were just behind.

Clovis won both freestyle relays. Graham Hauss, Jacob Rolih, Jesse Serpa, and Zach Koch set the meet record in the 200 free relay with 1:23.12, coming to the wall .74 in front of San Ramon Valley’s Teagan Cheney, Carl Taibl, Jackson Cardinal and Poppe. In the 400 free relay, Hauss, Rolih, Seth Nabors and Koch combined for 3:03.35, beating Oak Ridge (Dillard, Mefford, Kassianenko, and Mefford) by 9/10, despite Bryce Mefford’s 43.9 anchor.