CIF-SS Preview: Division IV –Cerritos Poised to Sweep both Boys and Girls Meets

Girls’ Meet

Last year’s contest couldn’t have been any closer; Cerritos beat Orcutt Academy by three slim points. This year, Cerritos leads the way with more than a dozen girls expected to score points in individual events. Juniors Kiri Harvey and Roxanna Yu, freshman Maya Valdoria, and sophomore Megan Ma are among the more prolific point-getters. The team’s depth is most evident when you look at its relays: all three are seeded either first or second.

Orcutt Academy is also fielding a strong team this year, including senior Emily Mathis, juniors Emily Ayers and Alexandria Kwong, and three of the top eight divers.

We expect Woodcrest Christian and Garden Grove to have a close battle for third. Woodcrest Christian will be led by seniors Jenna Frazer, Sarah Mossman, and Tori Kimsey, while Garden Grove will get help from senior Raquel Licea and juniors Hannah Caskey and Natalie Contreras.

Girls Standings

1. Cerritos
2. Orcutt Academy
3. Woodcrest Christian
4. Garden Grove
5. Citrus Valley
6. Temescal Canyon
7. Chino
8. Nordhoff
9. Mission Prep
10. La Quinta/Westminster

Must-See Events

200 free: Alverno senior Kali Kearns won this event by nearly four seconds in 2013. This year she’ll have tougher competition, notably from freshmen Samantha Le (La Quinta/Westminster) and Farah Stack (Malibu).

500 free: *record watch* Cerritos junior Harvey won’t have anyone to pace her but she should still be able to break the D4 record of 4:59.31, given that she put up a 4:55 at NASA Juniors in March.

100 back: It’s the battle of the freshmen, with Malibu’s Stack, Victoria Kirshner (Santa Clarita Christian), and Arina Yu (Cerritos) seeded at the top of the psych sheet. Orcutt Academy junior Kwong will be hoping to avenge her second-place finish of 2013 with a victory this time around.

Boys’ Meet

Fourth-place finishers from last year’s meet, Cerritos fields a deeper squad this year and is looking to join the girls on the podium. Junior Angel Alcala and his younger brother Alex Alcala, a freshman, are top-eight hopefuls in the fly and back; senior Joshua Kartawinata, junior Richard Nguyen, and sophomore Joseph Gomez should also add key points.

2013 runner-up Citrus Valley could give Cerritos a run but it will take a lot of strong swims in prelims to move lower-seeded swimmers into scoring position. They will be counting on strong performances from junior Justin Quiroga, sophomore Harrison Stuckey, and senior Grant Garcia to keep up with Cerritos.

Also in the mix will be Malibu, led by juniors Logan Hotchkiss, Owen Franz, and Alec Wilimovsky, and Temescal Canyon with seniors John Trenary and Alex Danylo and junior Logan Gallagher.

Boys Standings

1. Cerritos
2. Citrus Valley
3. Malibu
4. Temescal Canyon
5. Notre Dame/Riverside
6. Nordhoff
7. San Dimas
8. Ocean View
9. Woodcrest Christian
10. Orcutt Academy

Must-See Events

50 free: The top ten seeds all come in with sub-23s and represent all different schools. This should be a fun race that could put a lot of new faces on the podium.

100 fly: Seeded after Cerritos’ older Alcala is a whole group of butterflyers with very similar times. They include Josh Frazer (senior, Woodcrest Christian), Stucky (Citrus Valley), Christian Estiamba (junior, Ocean View), and Jacob Sustayta (freshman Covina). 54.80

100 breast: *record watch* Coast Guard Academy commit Chassé Sodemann of Ontario Christian will be looking to repeat his 200 IM/100 breast double this year. He could give the D4 record a scare in the breast.

Psych sheets and results can be found here.