2015 CIF-SS D2 Finals – Eastin National Record Propels Crean; Laguna Boys Win

2015 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Swimming & Diving Championships – Division II

• Diving: Results
• Swimming: Results │ Team Scores
• Photo Vault
• Location: Riverside City College
• Defending Champions: Glendora (girls), Los Osos (boys) – 2014 Results
• Live Results: Available on SwimPhone
• Championship Central

Division II – Finals

Girls’ Meet

“Shock and awe from the very beginning. That was our plan.” – Crean Head Coach, Craig Brown

And what a plan it was. The Crean Lutheran girls were down by 3 points to Glendora heading into finals, and knew they needed to do a little better in every event than they had done in prelims to get the team win.

Neither Crean nor Glendora had any divers so they began the meet on even footing. The diving points went to Martin Luther King, Laguna Beach, and Whitney. King senior Raina Brommer won the event with 482.55 points; she was followed by Liv Mitchell of Laguna Beach (469.00) and Rachel Reeves of El Toro (459.20).

When the swimming finals began, as soon as the Crean girls stepped up to the blocks in the very first event, it was clear they meant business. Glendora had paced the prelims, but Crean made some adjustments to their lineup and blasted a 1:43.53, bettering their earlier swim by 4.3 seconds and setting the CIFSS Division II record by 3.1 seconds. The winning combination consisted of Emily Eastin (25.02), Rachel Taylor (30.69), Ella Eastin (23.80), and Katia Young (24.02). Glendora (Katie Sulkevich, Amelia Feick, Alexis Margett and Gisel Olvera), who also made some changes to their relay order, finished second in 1:46.12, more than a half-second under the previous meet record.

In the 200 free, sophomore Taylor Ault of Sonora, one of the best back-halfers in the business, defended her title and crushed the meet record in the process, going a lifetime-best 1:46.07. The old record (1:48.01) had belonged to Stacy Shupe of Gahr since 1982. Ayala’s Kenisha Liu took it out quickly in 51.90, 7/10 ahead of Ault. But Ault’s relatively easy 52.61 up front allowed her to come back in 53.56, while Liu finished in 55.3 for 1:47.22. Third place went to Catherine Sanchez of Glendora (1:50.04).

Up next was the 200 IM, with national private school record-holder Ella Eastin in the middle lane. Eastin split a 24.98-28.30-32.89-27.73 for a new national record of 1:53.90. Eastin missed the overall national record by 8/100; it was set by Dagny Knutson in 2009. The battle for second place was exciting; Sunny Hills’ Courtney Tseng (2:03.77) held off Mikki Thompson of Ayala (2:03.81) owing to her strong first half.

Freshman Elise Garcia of Crean won the 50 free in 23.08. King’s Claire Fisch (23.45) and Melissa Pepper of Redlands (23.88) rounded out the podium. And just like that, with three victories in four events, Crean had taken control of the meet.

After the diving break, Crean kept up the assault as junior Emily Eastin took the 100 fly in 54.24. She had qualified third, and was trailing Glendora’s Margett by .3 at the 50. But Eastin came off the third wall with a monster streamline and the rest was history. Glendora’s Sanchez eked out second place with 54.51, just ahead of teammate Margett (54.73). Talking about her underwater on the last 25, Eastin admitted after the race, “it was painful, but I knew I had to do it to win.” Emily also won the 100 back, albeit in much less dramatic fashion. She touched in 53.81, a mere .04 off the meet record. Madison Frederick of Chaparral (56.76) and Emily Chung of Peninsula (57.01) were second and third.

Ayala’s Liu took down Jill Sterkel’s 1979 meet record in the 100 free (49.77) with a blazing 49.72. Crean’s Garcia placed second in 50.17, and King’s Fish was third in 51.37.

In the 500 free, Ault of Sonora led wire-to-wire, splitting a 2:21.0/2:22.4 to get the win in 4:43.46. Glendora’s Sulkevich (4:55.18) and Ayala’s Mikki Thompson (4:55.85) took second and third.

The quartet from Ayala won the 200 free relay in record-breaking time. Megan Delgado (24.97), Shannon Steele (24.62), Thompson (23.88), and Liu (22.83) combined for 1:36.30, 9/10 faster than the D2 record set by a 2013 Ayala team, which included Delgado and Liu.

In her last individual event, Ella Eastin finished with a lifetime-best 1:00.39 to win the 100 breast. Lauren Wood of Chaparral (1:03.64) and Glendora’s Jackie Basham (1:04.09) rounded out the podium.

Crean Lutheran closed the meet as they had begun: with shock and awe. Emily Eastin (51.44), Tianna Jorgenson (51.83), Garcia (50.13), and Ella Eastin (49.27) combined for a 400 free relay time of 3:22.67, 7.4 seconds under the previous meet record.

Boys’ Meet

Redlands East Valley opened the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay when Fernando Duenas (23.31), Jack Moyles (25.90), Benji Duenas (23.32), and Kyle Acevedo (21.41) combined for 1:33.94, missing the meet record by 6/10. Laguna Beach took second with 1:34.38; Murrieta Valley finished third in 1:34.97.

The 200 free was a dogfight from start to finish, as the leading pack traded stroke for stroke for 8 laps. Chino Hills junior Michael Tenney, who was fourth at the 100 and third at the 150, came home in 25.3 to win with 1:40.72. Tenney passed Laguna Hills freshman Matt Hales over the last 25; Hales placed second in 1:40.86. Third place went to Santiago’s Tanner Shore (1:41.00).

Arcadia’s Tenny Chong won the 50 free with 20.87. Michael Jones of Vista Murrieta was second in 21.00. Donny Hadden from Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana went 21.29 for third. Hadden was runner-up in the 100 free, touching in 46.26 behind Westlake senior Puczkowski, who clocked a 45.15 to win. Ben Blevins-Boor of Sonora took third with 46.69.

Daniel McArthur at the start of the 100 back at CIFSS D2 finals. Photo: Anne Lepesant

Defending 200 IM/100 back double champion, senior Daniel McArthur of Lakewood, went out with a bang, breaking the meet records both events. In the 200 IM, he came in under the D2 mark by 9/10 with a 1:46.91. Erik Juliusson of Laguna Beach had pulled even with McArthur after the breaststroke leg, splitting a 31.8, but McArthur came home in 25.4 to shut down the field. Juliusson finished second in 1:48.16, just ahead of sophomore Trenton Julian from Glendale (1:50.64). McArthur then went on to crush his 2014 record of 48.48 in the 100 back with a new time of 47.31. David Puczkowski from Westlake was second in 48.80; Juliusson went 50.43 for third.

Julian was the outside smoke in the 100 fly, winning from lane 8 of 9 with a wicked second half. Javier Lopez of San Marino had been the leader at the 50, out in 23.27, while four others including Julian turned together in 23-mids. Julian came home in a 25.9, though, more than a half-second faster than anyone else. His final time was 49.39. Lopez was second with 49.85. Redlands East Valley’s Duenas took third in 50.05.

Another surprise winner was 100 breast champion Brian Whittington of Los Osos, who had the fourth-fastest time in prelims but took control of finals from the outset. Whittington was even with Moyles of Redlands East Valley at the halfway point, just a tad in front of Max Morgan of Laguna Beach. Whittington left everyone behind over the second half, finishing nearly a half-second ahead of Moyles and Morgan (57.21-57.68-57.75).

The most exciting come-from-behind victory took place in the most unlikely event: the 500 free. Sonora freshman Simon Lamar was trailing the leader, La Canada senior Dane Bell, for 450 yards; down a second at the 150, 1.2 at the 200, and 1.4 at the 250, Lamar began to gain ground over the second half. At the last turn, Bell still held a .27 lead over the freshman. Both boys turned on the jets and when they hit the wall… it was a tie. They both touched in exactly 4:29.63. Laguna Hills freshman Hales picked up a bronze with 4:31.95.

Redlands (Tom Frye 22.39, Tyler Ocasio-Pare 21.26, Shea Macready 21.29, and Collin Green 21.45) won the 200 free relay in 1:26.39 ahead of Redlands East Valley and Los Osos. In the 400 free relay it was Laguna Beach (Cameron Karkoska 46.82, Morgan 46.98, Cade Baldridge 46.80, and Juliusson 45.15) in 3:05.75 over Santiago/Corona and Redlands.

Crean Lutheran sophomore Colten Young won the 1-meter diving with 589.30 points. Matt Casillas of El Modena took second with 576.10, just in front of Jenner Pennock of Great Oak (519.75).