Southern California Swimming Wins Pacific Coast All-Stars

Combined Team Scores:  Southern California (1115), Pacific Swimming (851), Pacific Northwest Swimming (621.5) and Oregon Swimming (362.5) 

January 06, 2013

SANTA ROSA, California – Southern California Swimming’s top flight swimmers blazed at this weekend’s short course competition at the 2013 Pacific Coast All-Stars Meet at the Quinn Aquatic Center in Santa Rosa.  The Pacific Coast All-Stars Meet is a representation of the top eight athletes in each gender for the 11-12 & 13-14 age groups from Oregon Swimming, Pacific Swimming, Pacific Northwest Swimming and Southern California Swimming. 

11-12

Opening day of competition saw Southern California Swimming’s Elise Garcia, Jessica Epps, Samantha Shelton and Eva Merrell race to victory in the girl’s 200 free relay (1:39.02).  Pacific Swimming’s Aaron Kuo, Christopher Jhong, Brian Copley and Nicholas Tan joined them with a sizzling swim to win the boy’s 200 free relay in 1:37.02.  Pacific Northwest and Southern California Swimming boys staged an exciting 200 free duel from start to finish with the SCS team of Hunter Hitchens, David Wang, William Huang and Shawn Lou leading at the first half, but PN’s team of William Zhou, Ivan Graham, Henry Lucco and Zack O’Haver quickly seized control on the later half and turned on the speed for the win 1:37.63 to 1:37.98.

In the individuals SCS set the pace early with Jessica Epps taking the win in the 100 IM event cruising first touch with a 1:01.65.  She beat out compatriot Lauren Vitort, who took second in 1:02.53 and Bianca Preciado claiming third in 1:03.45.  On the boy’s side Pacific Northwest sept the 100 IM as Ivan Graham charted a time of 57.87 for the win, while Pacific Swimming’s Nicholas Tan and Brian Copley placed second and third with times of 59.12 and 59.15.

SCS’s Eva Merrell then clinched the 100 free title (53.08) in a battle with team member Samantha Shelton clocking second in 54.31, shile PN’s Gabby Dang took third in 54.81.  Zack O’Haver performed a touch out triumph ahead of PS’s Aaron Ku 52.06 to 54.13, while PN’s Nathan Shao placed third with 55.10 in the 100 free.

SCS’s Eva Merrell topped the girl’s 100 back in 58.85, while PS’s Vivian Wang grabbed second place honors in 1:00.19.  PNS’s Gabby Dang took third in 1:00.95.  SCS’s Hunter Hitchens locked down first in the 100 back with a 59.18, breaking his own mark of 59.37 for the season, while PC’s Brian Copley earned second in 1:00.04, and SCS’s Daniel Kim touched third in 1:00.71.

SCS’s Lauren Vitort secured the win in the 100 breast victory clocking in at 1:09.01, while PN’s Bindi Pedersen and PS’s Vivian Wang placed second and third in 1:09.54 and 1:09.72.  Vitort jumped to 14^th in the National Age Group rankings (age 12) this season with the swim.  PN’s Ivan Graham finished first in the 100 breast with a 1:02.90, while PS’s Michael Brannan (1:07.47) and Nicholas Tan (1:07.47) earning second and third titles.

SCS dominated the top three spots in the girl’s 500 free with Jessica Epps touching first in 5:16.24, while Elise Garcia placing second in 5:22.26.  Lauren Vitort picked up third in 5:23.19.  Tearing through the water, SCS’s Hunter Hitchens swept the 500 free stopping the clock in 5:04.04 with his second triumph for the meet.  PS’s Brian Copley captured second place honors in 5:05.82, and PN’s Zack O’Haver wound up third in 5:09.90.

SCS went 1-2 in the girl’s 50 fly, with Eva Merrell leading with a 26.25, and Samantha Shelton claiming second in 26.74, while PN’s Gabby Dang raced to third in 26.85.  PN’s Ivan Graham won the 50 fly in 25.60, while SCS’s Hunter Hitchens earned second in 26.58.  PS’s Tyler Lu grabbed third in 27.07.

SCS’s Jessica Epps cleared 59.42 in the girl’s 100 fly placing first, while PN’s Bindi Pedersen and Gabby Dang went 2-3 in 1:01.03 and 1:02.47.  On the boy’s side PN’s Ivan Graham claimed first in 55.46 with SCS’s Hunter Hitchens touching second in 57.90, and PS’s Christopher Jhong rounded third place in 58.38.

SCS surfaced victorious in the girl’s 400 medley relay with Eva Merrell, Jessica Epps, Samantha Shelton and Elise Garcia with a time of 4:04.44.  PN’s Gabby Dang, Bindi Pedersen, Olivia Tungate and Emily Zacharias placed second in 4:10.20.  PS’s Nicole Oliva, Vivian Wang, Sian Yongyuth, and Cathy Teng claimed third in 4:12.91.  On the boy’s side PS’surged to victory with Brian Copley, Nicholas Tan, Christopher Jhong and Aaron Kuo wound up third in 4:02.09 in what proved to be a great race.

Second day action saw SCS’s girls going out hard in the 200 medley relay, holding onto a lead down the stretch for a winning finish in 4:04.44 by Eva Merrell, Jessica Epps, Samantha Shelton and Elise Garcia.  PN’s Gabby Dang, Bindi Pedersen, Olivia Tungate and Emily Zacharias worked hard in coming together to make it a team effort for the second spot in 4:10.20.  PS’s Nicole Oliva, Vivian Wang, Sian Yongyuth and Cathy Teng rounded third place in 4:12.91.  Ringing in the New Year PS’s Aaron Kuo, Christopher Jhong, Brian Copley and Nicholas Tan posted the top time winning the 200 medley relay (1:37.02).  Following in second was PN’s William Zhou, Ivan Graham, Henry Lucco and Zack O’Haver with a time of 1:37.63, while SCS’s Hunter Hitchens, David Wang, William Huang and Shawn Lou clocked in at 1:37.98 for third.

Southern California Swimming’s girls snared top three in the 200 free titles with Eva Merrell touching first in 1:57.45, while Elise Garcia showed some sprint versatility with a second place winning time of 1:57.61 and Samantha Shelton finishing third in 1:58.28.  PN’s Zack O’Haver took the 200 free win in 1:51.70, with SCS’s Hunter Hitchens placing second in 1:52.16 and P

13-14

First day action saw PS’s girls Isabella Barattolo, Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou, Caitlyn Koo and Malorie Han cruise to victory in the 200 medley relay with a 1:38.10, while SCS’s Emily Eastin, Brittany Kampfer, Amy Okada and Heather MacDougall touched second in 1:38.25.  PN’s Lia Campbell, Reva Zacharias, Sabrina Kwan and Elisa Fang held onto third with a 1:39.81.  PS’s Maxime Rooney, Keven Shang, Grant Watson and Tristan So turned in a strong time in the morning in this event who led the way with a 1:39.13.  SCS’s Samuel Jo, Tyler Ocasio-Pare, Joshua Kim and Kevin Dai checked in with a second winning 1:39.89, while PN’s Thomas Anderson, Mitch Hovis, Aaron Elhajj and Kevin Dang pocketed third in 1:41.67.

SCS’s posted the top three rankings in the 200 IM with Emily Eastin winning in 2:04.39.  Following second was Courtney Mykkanen with a time of 2:05.01.  Katie Glavinovich placed third in 2:09.76.  PN’s Maxime Rooney, a new NAG Record holder in the 200 free, continued his success with another big time this morning in the 200 IM.  He popped a 1:54.60 which ranks him #1 in the top 10 NAG list this season for 14 year olds.  SCS’s Kevin Dai surged to a 1:56.96 for second, while SCS’s Timmy Hanson claimed third in 1:57.62.

SCS’s Heather MacDougall dominated the 100 free surging to the top time of the morning with a 52.47.  PC’s Malorie Han held onto second with a 53.35, while PN’s Lia Campbell come from behind swim clocked in third in 54.02.  On the boy’s side PN’s Thomas Anderson gunned for first touch with a smooth time of 48.78, while SCS’s Kevin Dai snared the second spot in 49.33 away from a very close race against PC’s Grant Watson who set a time of 49.43 for third place.

SCS’s Courtney Mykkanen backstroke standout marked the top time in the girl’s 200 back with a 1:59.14 for the victory over teammate Emily Eastin who checked in with a second time 2:01.66, while PC’s Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou stretched to touch in 2:03.44.  PS’s Maxime Rooney turned up the heat in the 200 back with a blistering time of 1:52.08, which was off on his previous best time for the season but still astonishing to watch.  SCS’s Kevin Dai surged to a 1:58.03 for the second spot, while SCS’s Tyler Ocasio-Pare tracked down third with a 1:59.22.

PC’s amazing breaststroker Stefanie Ting powered in a victory and crushed the field with 2:22.97 in the 200 breast.  Both PN’s Mark Crawford and SCS’s Heather MacDougall tied for second in 2:27.25.  The boys race was the same way with Tyler Ocasio-Pare controlled from start to finish a blazing 2:09.14.  Tyler is currently the 2^nd fastest breaststroker on the NAG top 10 for 14 year olds with his seed time of 2:04.72.

SCS’s Brittany Kampfer demonstrated some range with a 4:56.68 to 5:04.02 trumph ahead of teammate Nikol Popov in the girl’s 500 free.  Oregon’s Caitlyn Wilson rounded out the top three in the event with a 5:05.57.  Pacific Swimming swept the 500 free as Maxime Rooney charted a time of 1:52.08 in the boy’s 500 event for the win, while SCS’s Roger Kriegl and Timmy Hanson went 2-3 in  4:41.79 and 4:53.74.

SCS’s Emily Eastin claimed the girl’s 200 fly crown in 2:05.49, while PN’s Sabrina Kwan (2:08.59) and SCS’s Amy Okada (2:08.75) finished second and third.  The boy’s followed that up with PS’s Maxime Rooney ripping a stellar 1:51.58 in the 200 fly.  That swim improved his #1 ranking on the NAG top 10 in the country for 14-year olds by 2.88 seconds.  SCS went 2-3 with Kevin Dai (4:12.26) and Roger Kriegl (4:17.10) taking second and third.

In the 400 medley finale the SCS team of Courtney Mykkanen, Courtney Hanson, Emily Eastin (younger sister of Ella) and Heather MacDougall who blitzed the field with a winning time of 3:52.22, while Christie Chong, Stefanie Ting, Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou and Malorie Han brought home the second place title to Pacific Swimming in 4:00.27.  SCS’s Katie Glavinovich, Amy Okada, Nikol Popov and Brittany Kampfer took third in 4:02.86.  PS’s Maxime Rooney, Keven Shang, Grant Watson and Tristan So crushed the field in finale event placing a top time of 3:34.15.  Second and third title honors went to SCS’s Samuel Jo, Tyler Ocasio-Pare, Joshua Kim and Kevin Dai (3:38.89), while compatriot’s Jarod Yoshihara, Edgar Chin, Timmy Hanson and Roger Kriegl ended the afternoon with a 3:47.61.

Full meet results available here.