Wong Dominates Distance Events, Lopez Leads Mt. Whitney Boys to CIF Central D2 Title

CIF Central Section Division II Championships

• May 1-4, 2024
• Sierra Pacific High School Pool
• Hanford, Calif.
• SCY (25 yards)
• PDF results
• CIF State preview

Girls Team Scores

1. Tulare Western – 215.5
2. Reedley – 185.5
3. Porterville – 168
4. Sierra Pacific – 149
5. Shafter – 134

Coalinga senior Alexa Wong is gearing up to race the 200 freestyle and 500 free at the CIF State Championships this weekend following a distance sweep of the Central section Division II titles last week in Hanford.

The USC commit won the 200 free (1:50.93) and 500 free (4:56.08) in her penultimate high school meet, opting to forgo the 200 IM after breaking the meet record in the event (2:04.25) last year. Wong earned a runner-up finish in the 500 free last year with a personal-best 4:52.63 before going on to place 6th at CIF States (4:54.97). She’s seeded 13th in the 500 free this weekend. Wong is seeded 23rd in the 200 free, where she has been as fast as 1:50.59 a couple months ago.

Bakersfield freshman Katie Kaff announced her arrival with victories in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.13) and 200 IM (2:10.41). She knocked more than half a second off her previous-best 100 breast time of 1:05.88 from last month, making her the No. 23 seed at CIF States this weekend. Kaff was exactly half a second shy of her best 200 IM time of 2:09.91 from last month.

Templeton junior Kylie Bell was the other double winner among the girls, taking home titles in the 100 back (57.33) and 100 free (54.02). She reclaimed the 100 back crown after triumphing as a freshman (59.59) and placing 2nd last year (57.50). Bell shaved almost a tenth off her previous-best 100 back time of 57.41 from CIF States last May. She’s seeded 20th in the event this weekend. Bell also dropped more than two seconds in the 100 free off her previous-best 56.05 from last February. It was her first time contesting the 100 free at this meet as she chose the 200 IM as her second event her first two seasons.

Shafter freshman Sarah-Jane Osborne secured an individual title in the 100 butterfly (57.23) to help her squad break into the top 5 in the team standings. She dropped almost a second off her previous-best 58.01 from December, positioning her as the 23rd seed at CIF States this weekend. Osborne also collected a runner-up finish in the 100 back (1:00.15) behind Bell. She posted a personal-best 59.88 in prelims.

Exeter Union senior Haven Rich rounded out the list of individual winners with a 50 free victory in 24.89. It was her first time under 25 seconds with her previous best standing at 25.03 from last month. Rich also placed 2nd in the 100 free (54.26), dropping more than two seconds off her previous-best 56.71 from 2022.

Team champion Tulare Western didn’t boast any individual winners, but the program did top the podium in the 200 free relay (1:43.80). Unfortunately, relay lineups for finals were not made available on the PDF results or on the MeetMobile app. However, the Tulare Western sprint duo of Lauren Starr (25.57) and Olivia Machado (27.11) were both finalists in the 50 free individually.

Reedley won the final 400 free relay (3:49.90) to clinch 2nd place in the team standings (185.5 points) ahead of Porterville (168) and Sierra Pacific (149).

Boys Recap

Team Scores

1. Mount Whitney – 250
2. Reedley – 175.5
3. Exeter Union – 174
4. Edison – 161
5. Porterville – 158

Mount Whitney junior Tanner Lopez dominated the sprint freestyle events to carry his team to the CIF Central section Division II championships last week.

Lopez pulled out victories in the 50 free (21.57) and 100 free (47.05) after posting lifetime bests in both events during prelims (21.08/46.78). He dropped almost a second in the 50 free off his previous-best 22.06 from prelims last year and more than two seconds in the 100 free off his previous-best 49.40 from her 4th-place effort last year. Relay lineups were not made available for finals, but Lopez’s Mount Whitney squad also prevailed in the 200 free relay (1:30.11) and 400 free relay (3:18.55).

Taft Union junior Cooper Golling captured a pair of individual titles in the 500 free (4:46.44) and 200 IM (1:58.11), both in lifetime bests. He reclaimed the 500 free crown after winning in 2022 with his previous-best 4:52.13 and placing 2nd last year (4:54.86). Golling also knocked more than a second off his previous-best 200 IM time of 1:59.33 from last month.

Cabrillo junior Gustavo Delgado Flores came away with wins in the 100 fly (52.26) and 100 back (54.88). He shaved over a second off his best 100 fly time from February (53.46) while coming within half a second of his best 100 back time from February (54.43). Flores placed 5th in the 100 fly (54.55) and 7th in the 100 back (57.83) last year as a sophomore.

Madera junior Behr Cordero broke the one-minute barrier in the 100 breast for the first time en route to the section title. He reached the wall in 59.69, taking more than a second off his previous-best 1:00.87 from his runner-up finish last year. Cordero also placed 2nd in the 200 IM this year behind Golling, dropping more than two seconds off his previous-best 2:05.98 from his 5th-place effort last year.

Strathmore junior Canyon Johnson had a huge time drop in the 200 free with his winning time of 1:46.75. He crushed his previous-best 1:50.24 from last year’s 6th-place finish by more than three seconds.