Teagan O’Dell’s 1:54.73 200 IM Among Highlights Of CIF-Southern Sectional Division 1 Prelims

2025 CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 8-10, 2025
• Mt. San Antonio College – Walnut, California
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2025 CIF-SS Division 1”

The 2025 CIF Southern Section Division 1 Swimming & Diving Championship prelims kicked off on Thursday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

Santa Margarita, the defending champion on both the boys’ and girls’ sides, looked strong through prelims, with the Northwood boys’ team also looking particularly impressive with their top-end performances.

• The Southern Section of the CIF has four divisions, with Division 1 generally being the biggest and fastest schools and Division 4 generally being the smallest schools.

Girls’ Prelims Highlights

Cal commit Teagan O’Dell, a senior at Santa Margarita, claimed a pair of top seeds on the day in both the 200 IM and 100 back. She kicked things off in the 200 IM, where she clocked a time of 1:54.73, clearing the rest of the field by nearly six seconds as the only swimmer under the two-minute barrier.

O’Dell has been as fast as 1:52.61 in her career, a time she recorded at the Winter Junior Championships in Austin this past December. She currently holds the national high school record in this event thanks to her 1:53.38 from the 2023 CIF Championships.

In the 100 back, she hit the wall with a time of 51.98, signaling that her personal best of 50.70 may be within reach, either in the final or at next weekend’s state championship meet.

Fountain Valley sophomore Alyssa Ton posted two 1st–place finishes in the prelims, showcasing her middle-distance talents in the 200 and 500 freestyle. In the 200—the first individual event of the day—she checked in with a time of 1:45.71 before logging a 4:44.54 in the 500.

Like O’Dell, Ton’s best time in the 200 comes from Winter Juniors, where she clocked a time of 1:45.37. Her 500 effort today marked a new lifetime best though, eclipsing her previous standard of 4:45.33 from November’s CA RMDA Kevin Perry Senior Invitational.

Ton is the defending champion in the 200 free, having won the event last year in 1:45.96. The 500, however, is a new addition to her lineup this season, replacing the 100 fly, in which she finished 7th a year ago.

Santa Margarita senior Gracyn Aquino—O’Dell’s current teammate and future one as well, as she’s also committed to Cal—was the only swimmer to break the 23-second barrier in the 50 free, notching a 22.85. She later ranked 2nd overall in the 100 free prelims with a time of 49.58, trailing only Poly-Riverside junior Ava DeAnda, who clocked a 49.47 to lead the field. They were the only two swimmers to dip under 50 seconds.

In relay action, Mira Costa secured a spot in lane four for Saturday’s final in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:43.06, with no competitors within two seconds of them. The foursome included Delaney Herr (24.97), Bella Brito (28.51), Andi Taylor (25.43), and Maya Manasfi (24.15).

The free relays were a different story, as Santa Margarita made their presence known by claiming the top seeds in both. In the 200 relay, Chloe Stinson (23.46), Victoria Mori (23.46), Gracyn Aquino (22.35), and Teagan O’Dell (22.47) teamed up for a time of 1:31.74 to hold about a four second cushion over the rest of the teams. In the 400, O’Dell (49.12), Eileen Song (52.17), Valentina Delgado (51.40), and Samantha Cummins (51.99) logged 3:24.68 for about the same lead margin.

Other Top Qualifiers:

• Valencia junior Tori Yamamura checked in with a time of 53.15 to top the 100 fly prelim standings. The Missouri commit owns a lifetime best of 52.92 from just two weeks ago and looks primed to move up from her runner-up finish a year ago.
• Mira Costa senior, USC commit, and defending champion Bella Brito leads a trio of 1:01 swimmers into the 100 breast final with a 1:01.55. Corona del Mar sophomore Sofia Szymanowski and Fountain Valley senior Kaitlyn Nguyen are in close pursuit with times of 1:01.66 and 1:01.81. Brito has been as fast as 59.09 in this event and will head into Saturday as the clear favorite.

Boys’ Prelims Highlights

The boys’ meet featured the top three teams from last year’s California High School State Championship meet: #1 Santa Margarita, #2 Northwood, and #3 Loyola.

They opened the session with the 200 medley relay, where Loyola posted the fastest time of 1:31.11 to claim the top seed by 1.46 seconds. Mira Costa slotted into the 2nd seed, while Santa Margarita and Northwood landed third and fifth, respectively. Loyola’s quartet featured John Mastandrea (23.27), Gavin Santoso (24.43), Edward Kim (22.45), and Chase Nam (20.96).

Arguably the race of last year’s state meet, the showdown between Loyola and Santa Margarita came down to just 0.02, with Loyola narrowly edging out the win to claim the state title. Northwood finished third in that thrilling final.

Northwood junior Andrew Maksymowski recorded two top seeds in the morning prelims, dominating both the 200 and 500 free. In the 200, he cleared the field by about a second and a half with a time of 1:36.76, then returned to the pool to lead the 500 with a 4:26.28—holding roughly a one-second edge over the next closest competitor. The Texas commit owns lifetime bests of 1:35.51 and 4:22.64 from this same meet last year, where he secured titles in both events.

Maksymowski was in the pool for two relay events as well, helping Northwood earn top seed status in both free relays. He contributed a 20.64 third leg split on the 200 relay, with Will Chen (20.81), Derek Hitchens (21.12), and Eli Siniak (21.09) rounding out the squad with a final clocking of 1:22.66.

That same lineup, with Michael Wang substituting for Siniak, touched in 3:03.52 to hold a half-second advantage over Jserra heading into the final. Chen led off in 45.42, with Hitchens cruising a time of 48.20 on the second leg. Maksymowski logged a 45.14 on the penultimate split, and Wang anchored with a swift 44.76.

Hitchens, a senior, also qualified 1st in both the 100 free (44.37) and 100 back (49.24), positioning himself as a potential multi-event winner for Saturday’s finals. The Columbia commit has personal bests of 43.73 in the 100 free and 47.99 in the 100 back, and he’s aiming for his first-ever individual win at this meet in his final year.

A hotly contested battle is shaping up in the 200 IM, where Loyola senior Ray Liu (1:49.37) leads a trio of sub-1:50 times. Juniors Lucas Jue (1:49.51) and Peter Vu (1:49.82) are close behind, ready to challenge for the top spot.

Liu, a Stanford commit, holds a best time of 1:46.38 from this meet last year, where he finished 3rd behind two now-graduated athletes. A time anywhere near that mark will likely garner him the gold medal.

Other Top Qualifiers:

• Newport Harbor junior Connor Ohl sprinted to the fastest 50 free time of the morning with a 20.39—a personal best that eclipsed his previous mark of 20.48 from his bronze medal swim last year. He later qualified 6th in the 100 free with a 45.24, going 2-for-2 on personal bests for the day.
• Liam Mulroy, a senior at Tesoro, leads a stacked 100 fly field into the final with a 49.31. The top six swimmers all broke the 50-second barrier. The Penn State commit has been as fast as 47.54 in the event.
• Mater Dei junior Elonzo Santos (54.26) leads Gavin Santoso (54.46) and Anderson Bennett (54.89) into the 100 breast final, with a potential 53-second swim on the docket for Saturday.