Tea Laughlin Snaps CIF-SS D3 100 Back Record in Prelims

CIF SOUTHERN SECTION SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS – DIVISION 3

Some of the big high school sectional championships are underway now in California, with the Southern Section meets being some of the larger draws of talent.

Prelims ran this morning for Division 3, with Ventura’s Tea Laughlin one of the headlining swimmers. She hit the top time of the morning in the girls’ 100 back, going 53.11. That time knocked almost half a second off of the D3 record, a 53.60 done in 2011 by former Stanford swimmer Lindsey Engel.

Laughlin, who won the 2018 CIF-SS D1 100 back title (Ventura is now in D3), also went 2:02.19 in the 200 IM for the 2nd seed going into Thursday afternoon’s finals. On relays, Laughlin was 25.16 leading off Ventura’s 200 medley relay and 51.73 leading off their 400 free relay.

Another standout swimmer was Justina Kozan. The high school freshman, who has been making headlines as an age grouper and broke Sippy Woodhead’s 40-year-old LSC record in the 13-14 200 free in November, took the top spot in finals in the 200 IM ahead of Laughlin. Kozan was 2:00.60 in the IM, and she added a 54.74 in the 100 fly. She’s not far off of Ella Eastin’s 2012 D3 record of 53.73 in the 100 fly.

Crossroads’ Katrina Mortenson and Crescenta Valley’s William Blake both came away with two top seeds, each, going into finals. Mortenson, a sophomore, was 23.59 to edge Crean Lutheran’s Mandy Brenner (23.61) in the 50 free as well as 50.36 in the 100 free. Brenner was 2nd again in 50.57. Blake, meanwhile, was 1:40.31 in the 200 free and 45.94 in the 100 free, the field’s quickest in both races.

Blake was a tick faster leading off Crescenta Valley’s 400 free relay in 45.81, though Cerritos edged out for the prelims top time of 3:09.99 to El Segundo’s 3:10.40 and Crescenta’s 3:11.05. Cerritos had a 45.77 anchor leg from Castro Cameron.

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About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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