Rhee, Nguyen, Santana Break San Diego D2 Section Records

CIF SAN DIEGO DIV. 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 7-10, 2017
• Granite Hills High School, El Cajon, CA
• Results on Meet Mobile (‘CIF – San Diego Section – Division II – 2017’)

Cathedral Catholic nearly made a sweep on both the girls’ and boys’ side, finishing with the girls’ crown and as runners-up in the boys’ meet.

Jessica Pentlarge was a big reason why the CC girls ended up on top last week. The senior, who will swim for the University of Nebraska starting in the fall, took home two individual wins and anchored the CC 400 free relay to a victory, too. She nearly broke the 50-second barrier in the 100 free, finishing at 50.12, then returned in the 100 back to stop the clock at 56.01 for another win there. To cap the meet, Pentlarge split a 50.75 on the end of CC’s 400 free relay to secure a tight victory for her team over Mt. Carmel. She also had a monster 22.33 anchor leg on CC’s 200 free relay.

The meet started out with a very close race for the 200 medley title, as Mt. Carmel (1:48.28) just snuck ahead of La Costa Canyon (1:48.45) and CC (1:48.81). Mt. Carmel’s big leg was a 25.51 fly split from Juliana Fox, while Teagan Preston delivered a 29.10 breast split for La Costa Canyon. Fox, a junior, won the 100 fly in 56.43.

La Costa Canyon went out to a very hot start in the meet after touching 2nd in the medley relay. Rachel Rhee, who led off their medley relay in 27.85, came right back to win the 200 free (1:49.02) one event later. Preston followed that with a 2:03.52 to blow away the field in the 200 IM, and Rhee got up on the blocks yet again, setting a section record to win the 50 free (23.19) by a hair over Mt. Carmel’s Leanna Gharbaoui (23.23). Gharbaoui also touched 2nd in the 100 free (50.96). Rhee, Preston, and Gharbaoui are all sophomores, and Preston would later take the 100 breast title (1:03.29).

The Del Norte boys didn’t get a win until the 500 free, where Jacob Sauter, a junior, dropped a 4:29.76 for the victory after touching 2nd in the 200 free to La Jolla‘s Dominick Wallace, 1:38.29 to 1:39.07. Del Norte got another victory in the 100 breast, where senior Austin Nguyen touched at 55.74 for a new section record, the only finisher under 57 seconds. That marked Nguyen’s third-straight section title in this race.

Meanwhile, La Jolla‘s Wallace was one of several double-winners on the boys’ side, coming back for gold in the 100 back (49.94) as the only swimmer under 50 seconds. His teammate Parker Seale took home two, as well– the pair contributed big points to La Jolla‘s third place finish. Seale denied Nguyen a third-straight title in the 200 IM, going 1:52.21 to Nguyen’s 1:52.71, with Cathedral Catholic sophomore Josh He (1:52.92) not far behind. He was victorious again in the 100 free (45.76).

University City senior Brendan Santana was the third double-winner of the day, taking both the 50 free (20.55) and the 100 fly (48.08), the latter of which set a section record. Santana is a Notre Dame commit.

Other winners

• The Bishop’s School took the boys’ 200 medley relay in 1:34.91
• Danielle Nowaski, a sophomore out of West Hills, took the 500 free (4:53.39).
• Classical Academy won the girls’ 200 free relay in 1:38.68.
• La Costa Canyon won the boys’ 200 free relay in 1:25.01, followed right behind by Del Norte (1:25.26), The Bishop’s School (1:25.68), and La Jolla (1:25.69). All four teams were under the old section record.
• The Del Norte boys secured their team title with a win in the 400 free relay (3:07.56) in a close finish with La Jolla (3:07.80).

Team Scores

Girls

1. Cathedral Catholic 336
2. Mt. Carmel 329
3. La Costa Canyon 267
4. Valhalla 218
5. La Jolla 178

Boys

1. Del Norte 278
2. Cathedral Catholic 254
3. La Jolla 221
4. The Bishop’s School 207
5. La Costa Canyon 206.5