Teagan O’Dell Among Big Names Missing From 2024 CIF State Championships Psych Sheets

2024 CIF Swimming & Diving State Championships

• May 9-11, 2024
• Fresno, California
• Clovis Olympic Swim Complex, Clovis West High School
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets

Some of the top high school swimmers in California won’t be contesting the state championships this year, with World Junior champion Teagan O’Dell the most high-profile name opting to sit out.

MISSING NAMES

A junior at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, O’Dell has a perfect record at the CIF State Championships through her first two seasons, winning the girls’ 100 back and 200 IM in both 2022 and 2023 to go along with two team titles for Santa Margarita.

This past weekend, O’Dell won the 100 fly (52.12) and 200 IM (1:53.63) at the CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS) Division 1 Championships, both times that would seed her 1st by a wide margin at the state meet, including by nearly eight seconds in the 200 IM.

O’Dell will be a contender at the U.S. Olympic Trials next month, so it stands to reason she’s sitting out of the state championships in order to start keying in on long course with less than six weeks to go until Trials.

Other notable names missing from the psych sheets on the girls’ side include Saratoga sophomore Kelsey Zhang, who won the 100 fly title last season as a freshman, Mira Costa junior Bella Brito, who topped the 100 breast at the CIF-SS D1 meet last weekend, and Fountain Valley freshman Alyssa Ton, who won the 200 free at CIF-SS D1.

The boys’ meet is missing Fountain Valley sophomore Peter Vu, who was the runner-up in the 100 breast at CIF-SS D1.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

There will only be three defending champions in the field, all of whom compete in the Southern Section: Santa Margarita junior Gracyn Aquino, Poly-Riverside sophomore Ava DeAnda and San Marino senior Daniel Li.

Aquino won the girls’ 50 free title last season and is coming off winning the event at CIF-SS D1, setting a PB of 22.65. She is the #2 seed for the state championships behind Whitney High School’s Jada Duncan, who ripped a time of 22.64 at the CIF Sac Joaquin Section Championships.

DeAnda is the defending champion in the girls’ 200 free and is coming off winning the 100 free at CIF-SS in a time of 48.82, just .02 shy of her best time. Aquino was the runner-up in 50.12.

In the 200 free, DeAnda placed 2nd to Ton at CIF-SS D1, but holds the top seed in both of her events for the state championships in Ton’s absence.

Li enters the boys’ 100 breast as the big favorite, holding the top seed after firing off a time of 53.05 at the CIF-SS Division 1 meet. He’s also the #2 seed behind Santa Margarita senior Daniel Verdolaga in the 200 IM, as they went 1-2 in the Southern Section with respective times of 1:46.07 and 1:46.29.

Li and Verdolaga were 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the event last season behind seniors Colin Geer and Humberto Najera.

SECTION STANDOUTS

DeAnda is the only female swimmer owning two top seeds for the state championships, while the boys’ side has two: Nordhoff senior Quin Seider and Torrey Pines senior Logan Noguchi.

Seider, an ASU commit, was on fire at the CIF-SS Division 3 Championships, setting D3 records and personal best times in the 100 free (43.36) and 200 free (1:35.27) to earn two #1 seeds.

As a junior, Seider was 5th in the 50 free and 7th in the 100 free.

Headed to Princeton next season, Noguchi dominated the 100 fly (46.66) and 100 back (47.55) at the San Diego Section meet, giving him top seeds at state. He was 4th in the 100 fly and 5th in the 100 back last season.

Making his high school state championship debut will be Luka Mijatovic, the age group sensation who is in his freshman year at Foothill High School. Mijatovic leads the field in the 500 free (4:21.94) and sits 5th in the 200 free (1:36.25) after winning both events at the North Coast Section Championships.

Mijatovic’s lifetime bests sit at 1:35.39 in the 200 free and 4:14.83 in the 500 free.

Another standout in the North Coast Section is Carondelet senior Maddie O’Connell, who swept the 100 free and 100 back Section titles and comes into the state championships as the top seed in the 100 back by over a second at 53.58.

Another swimmer to watch for the girls is La Jolla senior Arielle Brotman, who is the top seed in the 100 fly (53.07) and sits a close 2nd to Liberty Christian freshman Bianca Nwaizu (1:01.03) in the 100 breast at 1:01.07 after performing in the San Diego Section meet.

Nwaizu produced her time at the CIF-SS Division 4 Championships, moving her to #8 all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group.

EVERY TOP SEED

Girls

• 1 meter – Gianna Kendrick (Mater Dei), 544.00
• 200 medley relay – Santa Margarita, 1:40.07
• 200 free – Ava DeAnda (Poly Riverside), 1:46.70
• 200 IM – Maren Byrne (Los Altos), 2:01.49
• 50 free – Jada Duncan (Whitney), 22.64
• 100 fly – Arielle Brotman (La Jolla), 53.07
• 100 free – Ava DeAnda (Poly Riverside), 48.82
• 500 free – Samantha Hamilton (Woodrow Wilson), 4:46.63
• 200 free relay – Santa Margarita, 1:33.64
• 100 back – Maddie O’Connell (Carondelet), 53.58
• 100 breast – Bianca Nwaizu (Liberty Christian), 1:01.03
• 400 free relay – Santa Margarita, 3:20.57

Boys

• 1 meter – Nolan Rooker (San Clemente), 610.85
• 200 medley relay – Santa Margarita, 1:29.08
• 200 free – Quin Seider (Nordhoff), 1:35.27
• 200 IM – Daniel Verdolaga (Santa Margarita), 1:46.07
• 50 free – Miles Blackson-Dunbar (Crossroads), 20.25
• 100 fly – Logan Noguchi (Torrey Pines), 46.66
• 100 free – Quin Seider (Nordhoff), 43.36
• 500 free – Luka Mijatovic (Foothill), 4:21.94
• 200 free relay – Loyola, 1:22.57
• 100 back – Logan Noguchi (Torrey Pines), 47.55
• 100 breast – Daniel Li (San Marino), 53.05
• 400 free relay – Northwood, 2:59.15