2024 CIF-Southern Section Division 1 Championships
- May 2-4, 2024 (swimming)
- Mt. San Antonio College – Walnut, California
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2024 CIF-SS Division 1”
The Santa Margarita High School girls’ swim & dive team has been a dominant force in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section for the past decade, coming into the 2024 edition with a chance at a 10th straight victory.
The squad, led by World Junior champion Teagan O’Dell, is also entering the postseason with a shot at a fifth straight CIF state title, with that streak dating back to 2018 after the 2020 and 2021 editions were canceled.
The boys’ team also has a chance to make it four wins in a row in the Southern Section, coming off winning the state title last season.
GIRLS’ PREVIEW
O’Dell is the top seed in the 200 IM, the event in which she set the National High School Record in last season, and is also entered in the 100 fly, sitting down in 8th on the entry list.
O’Dell, a junior, is entered with a time of 55.69, but her best time sits at 52.16 from the 2023 Winter Junior Championships – West, which would put her #1 by more than a second and a half. Last year, she won the 200 IM and 100 back at both the Southern Section and state championship meets.
O’Dell is coming off setting a personal best time and nearing the Orange County Record in the 200 free (1:43.26) at the Trinity League Championships.
Santa Margarita has a second returning state champion in junior Gracyn Aquino, who won the 50 free last season and is the top seed in that event in 22.75. Junior teammate Chloe Stinson sits 2nd on the psych sheets at 23.26.
Aquino, who like O’Dell is a Cal commit, is also the #2 seed in the 100 free, where reigning state champion Ava De Anda from Poly-Riverside is ranked #1 after she rocketed to the CIF title last year as a freshman.
De Anda went 49.55 earlier this month for the top seed, while her best time sits at 48.80 from December ar Winter Juniors – West.
Another key name to watch on the girls’ side is Alyssa Ton, a Fountain Valley freshman who has made a name for herself in the age group ranks in the U.S. over the past few seasons.
Ton owns the top seed in the 200 free, where she’ll go head-to-head with De Anda, and she’s also in the 100 fly where she’ll battle O’Dell.
Ton’s junior teammate Kaitlyn Nguyen comes in as the defending champion in the 100 breast, while Hart senior Lily Dormans is the other returning winner in the field in the 500 free. Dormans is seeded 6th, with Wilson LB senior Samantha Hamilton establishing herself as the favorite after clocking 4:46.7 twice the past two months.
Another name to watch is Valencia sophomore Tori Yamamura, who is the top seed in the 100 fly after she was 6th as a freshman.
BOYS’ PREVIEW
Based on psych sheet scores, Santa Margarita is set to win its fourth straight boys’ Southern Section title, with projections indicating they’ll be well over 100 points clear of challengers Northwood and Loyola.
Last season’s individual winners were all seniors, opening the door for a new slate of winners this year.
Santa Margarita is spearheaded by seniors Hunter Cehelnik and Daniel Verdolaga, who were the team’s 2nd and 3rd highest point scorers at last season’s meet behind the graduated Humberto Najera.
Cehelnik is the top seed in the 100 free, with senior teammate Ramon Jiang sitting 2nd, and both are also entered in the 200 free where Northwood sophomore Andrew Maksymowski leads the field.
Maksymowski is also the top seed in the 200 free. As a freshman, he was 5th in the 500 free and 8th in the 200 free.
Verdolaga holds the top seed in the 100 fly after he was 3rd last year behind a pair of seniors, and he’s also the #2 seed in the 200 IM after he placed 4th in 2024.
Leading the 200 IM and the 100 breast is San Marino senior Daniel Li, who won both events at the Division 2 CIF-SS meet last year, with his 100 breast time of 52.43 more than two seconds faster than what won the D1 title.
Other names to watch are Woodbridge senior Jacob Wang, who is the top seed in the 50 free after he was the runner-up last season, and Northwood sophomore Derek Hitchens, who is ranked #1 in the 100 back after placing 5th in 2024. The only non-senior who finished ahead of him last year is Loyola junior Ray Liu, who is in the field as the #4 seed.
What a joke! When public schools are restricted to athletes within their strictly defined borders and the private schools can accept swimmers from anywhere.
Sad that Teagan O’Dell isn’t swimming the 100 back