CIF Central Division II Championships
- May 5-6, 2023
- Clovis West High
- Fresno, CA
- SCY (25 yards)
- PDF results
Coalinga junior Alexa Wong took down the CIF Central Division II record in the girls’ 200-yard IM on her way to the section title last weekend in Fresno.
Wong clocked a winning time of 2:04.25, lowering the previous record of 2:05.02 set by Tulare Union senior Ava Olson last year. Heading into this meet, Wong’s lifetime best was a 2:05.14 from March. She’ll return to Clovis West High this week for the CIF State Championships, where she’s seeded 16th in the 200 IM.
Wong also enjoyed a thrilling head-to-head battle with Olson in the 500 free. Olson, a UNLV commit, touched first in 4:52.51, just about a tenth ahead of Wong’s 4:52.63. Olson and Wong both dropped over a second to secure the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively, at the CIF State meet. Claire Tuggle set the Division II record at last year’s meet with a 4:44.46.
With Tuggle now out of the picture, Olson cruised to a victory in the 200 free (1:52.10) by more than 10 seconds. Her best time in the event is 1:51.61 from December. Tuggle demolished the meet record last year with a 1:46.33.
Garces Memorial freshman Charlie Potter claimed a pair of individual titles to lead his squad to the team title with 283 points over Santa Ynez (226). Potter shaved over six seconds off his best time in the 200 IM with a 1:54.61, narrowly missing the meet record (1:53.89) posted by Nathan Roodzant in 2019. He also placed first in the 500 free with a time of 4:42.53, marking a massive 13-second drop off his previous best from February.
Potter wasn’t the only Garces Memorial freshman to win an individual section title in Fresno. Jett Kalmikovs had a huge drop to win the 100 back in 52.68 as his previous-best time heading into the meet was 56.75 from April.
Boys’ Team Scores
- Garces Memorial – 283
- Santa Ynez – 226
- Kingsburg High – 209
- Porterville High – 162
- Centennial High – 160
Runner-up Santa Ynez was led by senior Landon Lassahn, who captured titles in both the 100 free (46.68) and 200 free (1:44.03). He dropped about half a second in the 100 free and missed his best 200 free time by about a second. Fellow Santa Ynez senior Bennett Thorne also brought home an individual title in the 100 fly (52.47), shaving almost a second off his best time from last month.
Back on the girls’ side, Central Valley Christian senior Ella Bettencourt broke two meet records in the 100 free (51.17) and 100 back (57.18). She took .17 seconds off the previous Division II standard in the 100 free belonging to MacKenzie Garza from 2019 (51.34) while shaving over half a second off of the former record in the 100 back (57.72) set by Paige Taber in 2019. Bettencourt is seeded 15th in the 100 free at this week’s CIF State meet.
Garces Memorial eked out the team title on the girls’ side, even without boasting an individual champion, to complete its Division II sweep. Runner-up Kingsburg High topped the podium in both 50 free sprints as junior Sydney Wilson won the girls’ race in 23.93 and freshman Lucas Huckabay led the boys with a 21.70.
Girls’ Team Scores
- Garces Memorial – 205
- Kingsburg High – 201
- Santa Ynez – 172
- Bullard High – 158
- Centennial High – 154
