2016 CIF-SS Division III Prelims: Poly Pasadena and Gabrielino Leading

2016 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Swimming & Diving Championships

• Diving: Monday, May 9, 2016
• Swimming: Prelims – Wednesday, May 11; Finals – Thursday, May 12, 2015
• Location: Riverside City College
• Defending Champions: Poly Pasadena girls, Rio Mesa boys (2015 D3 Results)
• Psych Sheet: Division III
• Live Results: Available
• Championship Central

The Poly Pasadena girls and Gabrielino boys led the standings after the preliminary session of the CIF-Southern Section Division III (smaller schools) Championships on Wednesday afternoon. In the girls’ meet, Marlborough and Mark Keppel had successful prelims performances, while Camarillo and Walnut didn’t do as well as expected. Walnut had a tough afternoon in the boys’ meet, too; their psych sheet seedings put them out front by a large margin, but now they sit alone in second place, about 50 points behind Gabrielino and 40 ahead of the next wave of teams competing for third place.

Girls’ Meet

Beverly Hills senior Amy Okada is expected to pick up her fifth and sixth individual CIF titles on Thursday night. As a freshman, in Division II, she finaled in the 100 fly and 100 breast. The following year she won the 50 free and 100 breast. Last year, Beverly Hills High moved into Division III and Okada won the 100 fly and 100 breast. As a senior, Okada is top seed by a country mile in both the 50 free (with 23.43) and 100 fly (54.32).

Camarillo junior Cailey Renken is top seed in the 100 breast with a reasonable chance of breaking the division record of 1:01.75, set by Ella Eastin in 2014. Renken came in seeded with 1:02.30 and swam a 1:02.74 in prelims. Renken is second seed in the 200 free as well, with 1:52.97 in prelims. Walnut junior Emily Honng put up a 1:03.64 in the 100 breast to qualify second and is top seed in the 200 IM with 2:07.24.

The 500 free should be a good final, with Nipomo senior Alayna Gocke (5:04.92), Saddleback Valley senior Casey Cunningham (5:05.84), and Sierra Canyon freshman Marissa Johnson (5:06.08) all within striking distance of each other. Also, in the 100 free the middle lanes will be competitive with Immaculate Heart senior Meghan Go (52.68), South Torrance junior Katelyn O’Connor (52.71), and Royal senior Alisa Cooke (52.93). Poly Pasadena’s Susannah Laster leads the field in the 200 free (1:52.78) and 100 back (57.11). Also in the backstroke are Sierra Canyon junior Deanne Umbay (57.30) and Heritage sophomore Katelyn Thomas (57.32).

Boys’ Meet

The boys’ meet is likely to begin with a bang, as the top six qualifiers in the 200 free, led by Santa Fe sophomore Bryan Perez, all went between 1:44.5 and 1:45.9 in prelims. Perez is seeded third in the 100 fly with 51.19, behind Windward sophomore JP Mortenson (50.87) and Kennedy senior Rodrigo Baca (51.15).

Mortenson is second in the 100 back (51.57) behind Walnut senior Jerry Chen (50.21). Chen was also the top qualifier in the 200 IM with 1:54.20. Flintridge Prep sophomore Andreas Langen put up the top prelims times in the 50 free (21.48) and 100 free (46.50).

Nipomo freshman Wyatt Marsalek qualified first in the 500 free with 4:35.27. Valencia (Placentia) junior Jacob Christensen led the field in the 100 breast with 56.72.