Santa Margarita Breaks National HS Record with 1:29.61 Girls 200 Free Relay

LOYOLA INVITE @ USC

• Tuesday, March 28, 2023
• Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on MeetMobile

Loyola High School hosted a small invite at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center, featuring Santa Margarita, Harvard-Westlake, Chaminade, Marlborough, and Oakwood HS. Though it was a relatively small meet, it was as action packed as a non-championship high school meet could possibly be.

Santa Margarita, one of the premier high school programs in the country currently, broke a National High School Record at the meet, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The National HS Record came in the girls 200 free relay, where the Santa Margarita squad teamed up to swim a scorching 1:29.61, making them the first high school girls 200 free relay ever to break 1:30. Teia Salvino (22.77), Asia Kozan (22.57), Gracyn Aquino (22.46), and Teagan O’Dell (21.81) combined to get the job done, shattering Carmel High School’s National High School Record mark of 1:30.23, which they just set last month.

Here is a quick split comparison between Santa Margarita’s relay tonight and Carmel’s previous National HS Record performance from last month:

Kozan, a Santa Margarita senior and UCSD recruit, was on fire individually as well. Kozan won the girls 200 free in 1:45.82, dominating the event. Importantly, she was just 0.02 seconds off her personal best of 1:45.80, which she just swam at a Sectional meet at the beginning of the month.

Kozan also competed on the Santa Margarita 200 free relay, which won in a sizzling 3:16.84. She led the team off in 49.47. Aquino went second in 49.87, Salvin clocked a 49.60 on the third leg, and O’Dell came roaring home with a blistering 47.90 anchor leg. Notably, Santa Margarita also holds the National HS Record in the girls 400 free relay, having set the mark last year at 3:14.80. Salvino and O’Dell were on that relay as well, while Kozan’s older sister, Justina Kozan, was also a member.

O’Dell, just a sophomore at Santa Margarita, was another top performer at the meet. She won the girls 200 IM by ten seconds, roaring to a huge stunning high school dual meet swim of 1:57.32. O’Dell was out so fast, splitting 24.57 on fly and 28.82 on back, for a 53.39 on the opening 100. She then tacked on a very solid 34.89 breast split and came home in 1:57.32.

The breaststroke split was a preview of what was to come. O’Dell would go on to win the girls 100 breast in a massive personal best of 59.73. It was truly a huge swim for the 16-year-old, blowing away her previous personal best of 1:01.01, which she had swum in November of 2021.

Salvino, a junior, and Aquino, a sophomore, went 1-2 in the girls 50 free at the meet as well. Salvino won the race with a 22.90, touching 0.29 seconds ahead of Aquino (23.19). Salvino went on from the 50 free to win the 100 free in 52.19, while Aquino would come in third with a 52.60.

Santa Margarita sophomore Chloe Stinson had a very big swim in the girls 100 fly, winning the race convincingly with a 55.36. Stinson was just off her lifetime best of 55.30, which she swam at the CIF-SS Division I Championship last May.

Another Santa Margarita swimmer, Maggie McGuire, a senior, was a double event winner on the night. McGuire first won the girls 500 with a 4:55.41, marking her first time under 5:00 this high school season. She then won the girls 100 back in 56.70, touching first by nearly two seconds.

In the boys meet, Loyola senior Rex Maurer threw down some huge times as well. Those swims included a new lifetime best of 1:45.49 in the 200 IM, which Maurer swam to win the race by over three seconds. His previous best was a 1:45.78, which he had just swum in January of this year. Maurer was exceptional coming home, splitting 31.05 on breast and 25.33 on free for a 56.38 on the second 100 of the race. He was also out fast, splitting 23.00 on fly then clocking a very speedy 26.11 back split.

Maurer would go on from the 200 IM to win the boys 500 free in 4:29.31.

The Loyola boys won the 400 free relay, thanks in large part to a 44.15 lead-off leg from Maurer. Zachary Larrick went second in 45.70, Ray Liu was third with a 45.30, and James Cahill anchored in 45.95. They clocked a 3:01.10 to win the race.

Cahill, a Loyola senior, also won the boys 100 back in 48.60.

Santa Margarita junior Daniel Verdolaga won the boys 100 fly in 47.75, hitting a new personal best in the event. His previous top mark was a 47.94, which he just swam at a Sectional meet at the beginning of the month. He swam a great race, going out in 22.58 and coming home in 25.17.

Another Santa Margarita junior, Hunter Cehelnik, was a double event winner on the day. Cehelnik first won the boys 200 free in 1:38.65, taking 0.21 seconds off his lifetime best in the event. His previous best was set at the Speedo Winter Juniors West meet this past December.

Cehelnik then went on to win the 100 free in 44.68, also marking a new personal best for the 17-year-old. His previous best of 44.79 was also set at that Sectional meet at the beginning of the month.

Verdolaga and Cehelnik both helped the Santa Margarita boys 200 free relay to victory as well. Cehelnik led the team off in 20.97, and was followed by Allen Cai in 20.71, then Verdolaga in 20.67, and Ramon Jiang in 20.41. In the end, they clocked a 1:22.76 to claim the win.

Santa Margarita junior Nathan Wu won the boys 100 breast in 55.80. Wu just set his personal best of 55.32 at the Sectional meet at the beginning of the month.

OTHER EVENT WINNERS

• Girls 200 medley relay: Santa Margarita (Maggie Mcguire, Victoria Mori, Samantha Cummins, Linda Yu) – 1:47.52
• Boys 50 free: Abraham Lee (Loyola) – 20.92