CIF-SS Division I Recap: Teagan O’Dell Breaks Her Own 100 Back Meet Record (51.45)

2023 CIF-SS SWIMMING AND DIVING DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • April 27-May 6, 2023
  • Riverside Aquatic Complex
  • SCY (25 Yards)
  • Results
  • Defending Champions:
    • Girls: Santa Margarita
    • Boys: Santa Margarita

Teagan O’Dell took down her own 100 back meet record from prelims and helped break another in the 200 free relay as her Santa Margarita squad cruised to its ninth CIF-Southern Section (SS) Division I title in a row on Friday night.

O’Dell delivered a new meet record during prelims with a 51.63, resetting Cindy Tran’s previous standard of 51.85 from 2010. During the finals session, the Santa Margarita sophomore blazed a 51.45 to break the meet record once again. Before this week, O’Dell’s best time was a 51.86 from December.

O’Dell also won the 200 IM with a 1:54.75, missing her own meet record from prelims (1:54.07) by less than a second. Before this week, her lifetime best was a 1:55.15 from last year’s CIF State Championships.

She capped off the session by helping Santa Margarita lower the Division I meet record in the 200 free relay with a 1:31.15, lowering the team’s own mark from 2018 (1:31.47). O’Dell’s leadoff split of 22.68 was less than a tenth off her personal-best 22.60 from December of 2021. Sophomore Chloe Stinson (23.13), senior Asia Kozan (22.96), and sophomore Gracyn Aquino (22.38) joined O’Dell on the record-breaking relay.

Kozan also brought home a pair of individual titles in the 100 free (49.78) and 200 free (1:46.62), although the UCSD commit was about a second off her best time in each event.

Aquino triumphed in the 50 free with a 22.77, nearly giving Santa Margarita girls a sweep of the freestyle events at the Riverside Aquatic Complex. It was Aquino’s first time under the 23-second mark.

Hart junior Lily Dormans prevented a complete Santa Margarita freestyle sweep with her victory in the 500 free (4:50.08).

In other highlights from the girls’ side, Corona del Mar senior Maggie Schalow captured the 100 fly title in 53.50 while also earning a runner-up finish in the 500 free (4:50.26). The Virginia commit was about a second off her best time in the 100 fly and about two seconds off her personal best in the 500 free. Fountain Valley sophomore Kaitlyn Nguyen claimed the 100 breast title in 1:01.56, shaving a few hundredths off her previous best from March.

Santa Margarita dominated the girls’ side of the standings with nearly 300 more points than any other team.

Girls’ Team Scores

  1. Santa Margarita – 494
  2. Hart – 194.50
  3. JSerra – 161
  4. Corona del Mar – 147.50
  5. San Marcos – 140

The battle for the girls’ team title may have been a blowout, but the top two boys teams were separated by just three points in the standings. Santa Margarita still pulled out a victory to pull off the sweep, but Rex Maurer’s Loyola squad was close behind.

Maurer claimed Division I titles in the 200 free (1:33.54) and 500 free (4:12.70), the latter representing a new national high school record, while also contributing to meet records on the 200 and 400 free relays. The Stanford commit split 20.19 and 43.28, respectively.

Maurer wasn’t the only one to take down a meet record on the boys’ side.

Long Beach Poly senior Colin Geer broke a nine-year-old CIF-SS Division I mark in the 200 IM with a 1:44.76, dropping over a second off his previous-best time from December. The former meet record belonged to Corey Obuko from 2014 (1:45.42). Geer, a Michigan commit, also placed second in the 100 fly with a 46.69, shaving a couple tenths off his previous best from December.

The first boys’ race of the day proved to foretell the final team result. In the 200 medley relay, Loyola finished under its own previous meet record (1:29.80) with a 1:29.57, but Santa Margarita stole the title with a 1:29.30. Senior Humberto Najera (22.35) junior Nathan Wu (25.20), junior Daniel Verdolaga (21.43), and junior Ramon Jiang (20.32) combined for the winning time, just barely edging out Loyola’s quartet of sophomore Ray Liu (22.67), junior Aleksos Binder (25.83), senior Max Cahill (21.16), and senior Abraham Lee (19.91).

Najera also captured an individual title for the Santa Margarita boys in the 100 back with a school-record 47.36.

Boys’ Team Scores

  1. Santa Margarita – 405
  2. Loyola – 402
  3. Northwood – 236
  4. JSerra – 176
  5. La Canada – 157

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Eagle Fan
10 months ago

CAW CAWWWWW

Eagle fan
10 months ago

CAW CAWWWWWW🦅🦅🦅

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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