CIF-SS Preview: Division I – Santa Margarita Girls, University Boys Headline The Big Meet

Girls’ Meet

It was a heated battle for the CIF-SS Division I title last year, pitting JSerra against Corona del Mar and Santa Margarita. This year all eyes are on the JSerra-Santa Margarita showdown, as National Junior Teamer Katie McLaughlin moved from the former school to the latter.

McLaughlin’s not the only big name with scoring potential at Santa Margarita; they’ve also got seniors Lizzie Devitt and Raquel Remick, junior Sydney Franzen, and senior divers Annie Whelan and Payton Gabris.

JSerra is loaded with talent, too: juniors Kaitlyn Albertoli, Brittany Kahn, and Karli Thuen can all be counted on under pressure, and freshman Katie Glavinovich was a great addition to the team.

Foothill is a young team and features sophmores Courtney Mykkanen and Rachel Thompson, both of whom are potential event winners. Junior Emily Konishi adds depth to the roster.

Girls Standings

1. Santa Margarita
2. JSerra
3. Foothill
4. Flintridge Sacred Heart
5. Edison
6. Valencia/Valencia
7. Tesoro
8. Hart
9. Capo Valley
10. Ventura

Must-See Events

200 free: This is like the Who’s Who of Southern California 200 freestylers. Santa Margarita junior McLaughlin set the D1 record (1:45.39) at last year’s meet. This time around she’ll be joined by top-seeded Thompson of Foothill, 2013 runner-up Brooke Lorentzen of Capo Valley (who will swim for Minnesota next year), Woodbridge junior Daniela Georges, seniors Emily Jiang of Irvine (Princeton-bound) and Devitt of Santa Margarita (a Duke commit), Santa Margarita junior Franzen, and Fountain Valley freshman Carly Perri.

200 IM: There was only one senior in the top eight last year so we should have another good show in 2014. Valencia freshman Nikol Popov comes in with the fastest seed time, followed by Edison freshman Nora Deleske, Foothill’s Mykkanen, and Hart junior Mik Ranslem. Last year’s winner, Thuen of JSerra, can’t be overlooked, nor can Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Kirsten Vose.

500 free: For all the same reasons we like the 200, we think the 500 will be an exciting race. Capo Valley’s Lorentzen is hoping to repeat after her 2013 victory but Mater Dei’s Brittany Kampfer has the top seed time. Corona del Mar junior Megan Popp, Woodbridge’s Georges, JSerra’s Kahn, and Santa Margarita’s Franzen are all factors in this race as well.

100 back: Last year Foothill freshman Courtney Mykkanen won this event by over two seconds. This year it could be a tighter race with Mater Dei sophomore Aislinn Light, JSerra freshman Glavinovich, and Ventura junior Solie Laughlin all looking to dethrone the reigning champion.

50/100 free: *record watch* Not that we expect these to be close races, but anything featuring Abbey Weitzeil is going to be fun to watch. The Saugus junior set the meet record in the 50 free (22.25) last year against a whole lot of seniors. JSerra’sAlbertoli will give her a run for her money this year, coming in with the fastest 50 seed time. Weitzeil also set the D1 100 free mark (48.83) in 2013 and is entered with a 48.90 in this meet so we could see a new record here. She might even give Dagny Knutson’s 2009 national high school record a scare; it still stands at 48.15.

Boys’ Meet

2013 was a Capo Valley blowout. The boys of San Juan Capistrano won by more than 60 points, leaving Corona del Mar, Loyola and University to fight it out for second. Corona del Mar ended up on top of that grouping, but both they and Capo Valley lost some big point-getters to graduation. By contrast, University had a fairly young roster and most of them are back and ready to take on their rivals.

The 2014 University team consists of seniors Corey Okubo (on his way to Princeton) and Michael Schiffer (a Notre Dame commit), juniors Ken Takahashi, Danny Tran, and William Hofstadter, and freshman George Horvath, just to name a few.

Barring a couple of relay DQs (and it would probably take a couple) it’s hard to imagine anyone could beat University this year.

Edison and Loyola will do their best, though. Edison is led by sophomore Thomas Smith, and seniors Wade Nelson and Alec Niederland. Loyola boasts freshman Sean Lee and seniors Samuel Jo, Corey John, and Nick DeVito.

Boys Standings

1. University
2. Edison
3. Loyola
4. Dos Pueblos
5. Tesoro
6. Valencia/Valencia
7. Hart
8. Corona del Mar
9. Santa Margarita
10. Capo Valley

Must-See Events

200 IM: *record watch* This just might be the race of the meet. Defending champion Okubo of University missed Trevor Hoyt’s 2009 record (1:46.96) by .11 last year. And he was only .26 ahead of future Princeton teammate and current Corona del Mar senior Liam Karas. If those two weren’t enough, there’s also the pair of juniors from University: Takahashi and Tran. Corona del Mar junior Tyler Lin and Loyola freshman Lee should also be taken seriously.

100 free: *record watch* Kyle Gornay (senior, Redlands) set the D1 record in the 100 fly in 2013 but this year he’s taking on the 100 free. He missed the current mark (43.85 by Derya Buyukuncu in 1994) by .04 leading off the 400 free relay last year so he’ll be shooting for it this time. It won’t be easy, though; Corona del Mar’s Karas, Hart junior Cole Cogswell, and Santa Margarita sophomore Grant Shoults will be gunning for the title as well.

100 back: Current record-holder Gornay of Redlands is likely to encounter tough competition from Edison’s Smith and University’s Tran.

Psych sheets and results can be found here.