Teagan O’Dell Clocks 1:53.43 In 200 IM, Nearly Breaks HS Record At CIF-SS D1 Championships

2025 CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 8-10, 2025
• Mt. San Antonio College – Walnut, California
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2025 CIF-SS Division 1”

The 2025 CIF Southern Section Division 1 Swimming & Diving Championship finals took place on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

The boys and girls from Santa Margarita High School continued their reign of dominance in swimming & diving in the CIF Southern Section. The Eagles swept the girls’ and boys’ state titles for the 5th-consecutive season, with the girls winning a 11th-straight SoCal crown.

• The Southern Section of the CIF has four divisions, with Division 1 generally being the biggest and fastest schools and Division 4 generally being the smallest schools.

GIRLS’ HIGHLIGHTS

Cal commit Teagan O’Dell, a senior at Santa Margarita, claimed a pair of titles in the 200 IM and 100 back, both in Division I meet record times.

She opened her meet with a commanding performance in the 200 IM, stopping the clock in 1:53.43—just five-hundredths off her own national high school record of 1:53.38. The swim ranked among her fastest ever, just eight tenths off her lifetime best of 1:52.61 from Winter Juniors in Austin this past December.

She won the race by more than six seconds over Fountain Valley senior Kaitlyn Nguyen, a USC commit, who posted the only other sub-2:00 swim of the final with a 1:59.63. That time was just shy of her personal best of 1:58.87, also from Winter Juniors.

In the 100 back, O’Dell logged a winning time of 51.09, coming close to her best time of 50.70. Her back half was particularly impressive, with less than a second separating her splits—opening in 25.17 and closing in 25.92.

Another double event winner of the session was Fountain Valley sophomore Alyssa Ton, who secured two 1st-place finishes, showcasing her middle-distance talent in the 200 and 500 freestyle.

In the 200 free—the first individual event of the day—Ton clocked a personal best of 1:44.12, smashing her previous time of 1:45.37 and successfully defending the section title she won last year in 1:45.96. She followed that up with a 4:43.39 in the 500 free, earning her first section win in the event.

Her 500 was a new career best, taking down her prelim swim of 4:44.54, which had already eclipsed her previous PB of 4:45.33 from November’s CA RMDA Kevin Perry Senior Invitational.

Last year, she opted for the 100 fly instead of the 500, where she placed 7th. 

The splash-and-dash saw Mira Costa senior Delaney Herr upstage fellow senior Gracyn Aquino of Santa Margarita, the top seed. Herr, a Princeton commit, touched in 22.51 to edge out Aquino, a Cal Berkeley commit, who posted a 22.68. Herr narrowly missed her personal best by just 0.01, while Aquino improved on her 22.85 prelims PB.

Valencia junior Tori Yamamura won the 100 fly with a best time of 52.83, moving up from her runner-up finish last year. She outpaced Santa Margarita senior Chloe Stinson (54.62) and Ventura senior Sarah Bechman (54.62), who tied for silver. Yamamura, a Missouri commit, clipped her lifetime best of 52.92 from just two weeks ago after hitting a quick 53.15 in the prelims.

Poly-Riverside junior Ava DeAnda threw down in the 100 free, winning in 48.92 after placing 4th in the 200 free earlier (1:48.36). She owns career bests of 48.27 and 1:45.98 in the two events—times that will undoubtedly serve the Cal Bears well when she arrives on campus in the fall of 2026.

DeAnda didn’t stop there, recording a 22.62 lead-off leg on her team’s 5th-place 200 free relay. That split ranked 4th-fastest among all 50 frees on the day, trailing only O’Dell’s 22.17 lead-off and the gold and silver medalists from the individual 50 free.

Mira Costa senior and USC commit Bella Brito, the defending champion, won the 100 breast in 1:00.47, a bit shy of her 59.09 personal marker. Corona del Mar sophomore Sofia Szymanowski claimed silver in 1:00.79, with both swimmers representing as the only ones to dip under 1:02.

Both free relays were claimed by Santa Margarita. In the 200 relay, Teagan O’Dell (22.17), Chloe Stinson (22.91), Victoria Mori (23.27), Gracyn Aquino (22.37), teamed up for a time of 1:30.72 to hold about a four second cushion over the rest of the teams. In the 400, O’Dell (48.01), Eileen Song (51.78), Valentina Delgado (50.99), and Samantha Cummins (50.66) logged 3:24.68 to touch out Mira Costa by just 0.21.

Final Team Scores:

1. Santa Margarita — 418.5 points
2. Mira Costa — 201 points
3. Fountain Valley — 168 points
4. San Marcos — 130 points
5. Valencia — 118 points

BOYS’ HIGHLIGHTS

The boys’ meet featured the top three teams from last year’s California High School State Championship meet: #1 Santa Margarita, #2 Northwood, and #3 Loyola.

The session commenced with the 200 medley relay, where Loyola captured gold in 1:30.82. Their winning quartet featured John Mastandrea (22.92), Gavin Santoso (24.05), Edward Kim (22.33), and Chase Nam (21.52).

Santa Margarita (1:31.80) and Mira Costa (1:31.83) rounded out the podium, with Northwood finishing 5th in 1:32.82. 

Northwood junior Andrew Maksymowski secured two victories, dominating both the 200 and 500 freestyle to successfully defend his titles in each event. In the 200 free, he pulled away from the field to win by nearly two seconds, stopping the clock in 1:35.61—just off his personal best of 1:35.51 from this same meet last year.

The 500 was a tighter battle, but he once again came out on top, touching in 4:23.91. Poly-Long Beach junior and Louisville commit Lucas Jue made a strong push, but settled for silver in 4:25.09, finishing well behind his lifetime best of 4:21.66 from November.

Maksymowski also contributed to a relay victory, helping Northwood grab the 200 free relay title. He anchored in 20.12, teaming up with Derek Hitchens (20.67), Eli Siniak (21.08), and Will Chen (20.81) for a final time of 1:22.47—just out-touching Jserra by 0.01 at the wall.

That same lineup, with Michael Wang subbing in for Siniak, posted a 3:01.04 to claim silver behind Jserra in the 400 free relay. Jserra hit the wall in 3:00.75, with Nolan Baker leading off in 44.83, followed by splits of 46.16 from Noah Ryznar, 45.21 from Connor Colman, and 44.55 from Taylor Bell.

Hitchens, a senior, also won individual titles in the 100 free (43.79) and the 100 back (47.19), the latter marking a new career best, as he walked away with three gold medals. The Columbia commit entered the meet with bests of 43.73 in the 100 free and 47.99 in the 100 back—and had never won an individual event at this meet until today.

In the 200 IM, Loyola senior Ray Liu took control, notching a time of 1:46.54 to lead five sub-1:50 performances. The aforementioned Jue (1:48.86) and Peter Vu (1:49.17) rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd.

Liu, a Stanford commit, just missed his personal best of 1:46.38 from this meet last year, where he collected bronze behind two now-graduated swimmers. While he didn’t surpass that time, he upgraded to gold this year—a worthy consolation.

Newport Harbor junior Connor Ohl sprinted to a lifetime best of 20.04 to win the 50 free, dipping under his previous mark of 20.39 from prelims and improving on his 20.48 from last year, where he earned bronze.

Liam Mulroy, a senior at Tesoro and Penn State commit, won the 100 fly with a time of 48.43, edging out Newport Harbor senior Aiden Arie, who nabbed silver in 48.59, the only other swimmer under 49 seconds. Mulroy has been as fast as 47.54 in the event.

Mater Dei junior Elonzo Santos was too quick to catch in the 100 breast, posting a 54.09 to top a deep field that included four swimmers under 54 seconds.

Final Team Scores:

1. Santa Margarita — 321.5 points
2. Northwood — 265 points
3. Loyola — 264 points
4. Mira Costa — 170 points
5. Newport Harbor — 146 points