Maxime Rooney, Madelyn Murphy Set Records at North Coast Section Finals

2016 CALIFORNIA INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION NORTH COAST SECTION SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP

• Prelims: Friday, May 13th, 10:30 AM (Pacific)
• Finals: Saturday, May 14th, 10:30 AM (Pacific)
• Concord Community Pool, Concord, CA
• Defending Champions: Boys- Northgate, Girls- San Ramon Valley
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Swimming Prelims Results
• Boys Diving Results: Finals

The 2016 North Coast Section Championships in California saw the San Ramon Valley Wolves sweep the overall team titles. Meanwhile, A pair of swimmers from Granada, while the team overall didn’t have the depth to contend for the overall awards, had big days that included a National High School Record from senior Maxime Rooney.

GIRL’S MEET:

On the girls’ side, both Granada’s Miranda Heckmann and Carondelet’s Madelyn Murphy swept their individual events. Heckmann, a freshman, got things started with a 1:47.54 to win the 200 free. She was arguably even better in the 500, where she posted a 4:43.79 to win by over 9 seconds. Murphy’s wins came back to back, first in the 50 free where she swam a 22.49. She followed that up with a blazing 52.15 in the 100 fly to set a new NCS meet record.

Tamalpais’ Miki Dahlke, Carondelet’s Samantha Coloma, and Terra Linda’s Halle Morris each won the 100s of their respective strokes. Dahlke dipped under 50 seconds in the 100 free to win the event with a 49.95. In the 100 back, Coloma posted a 54.14 to edge out San Ramon Valley’s Gianna Garcia (54.28) for the win. Morris, a sophomore, shredded to the 100 breast win in 1:00.85.

A fast 200 IM field saw San Ramon Valley’s Christina Chong come out on top for her team’s only individual win, paired with a 200 medley relay victory at the meet’s open, as overall team depth won the day. Chong led the race from start to finish, winning the race in 2:00.69.

The women’s 200 medley relay came down to the wire between San Ramon Valley and Monte Vista. Abigail Miller (26.08), Sarah Klass (29.57), Gianna Garcia (24.28), and Alexa Fusari (22.92) combined for a 1:42.85 to give San Ramon Valley the win, less than a tenth ahead of Monte Vista (1:42.93). Monte Vista’s Zoie Hartman had the fastest overall 50 breast split with a 28.01.

Carondelet High School swept the girls’ freestyle relays. In the 200 free relay, their quartet posted a 1:33.28. Allison Carr (24.45) and Kelsey Whitkay (23.77) got things started, followed by a 23.07 from Malorie Han on the 3rd leg and a quick 21.99 from Madelyn Murphy on the anchor. Murphy led off their 400 free relay in 48.62, followed by Whitkay (52.27), Han (51.06), and Samantha Coloma (51,84) for a combined 3:23.79.

Top 10 Final Team Scores:

1. San Ramon Valley- 298
2. Monte Vista- 208
3. Carondelet High School- 201
4. Campolindo- 170
5. Granada- 141
6. Miramonte- 117
7. Las Lomas- 1112
8. Terra Linda- 110
9. California- 107
10. Mission San Jose- 81

BOY’S MEET:

The big story of the boys’ meet was Florida Gator commit and Granada senior Maxime Rooney. Rooney broke Tom Sheilds’ National High School Record of 1:33.83 to win the 200 freestyle, setting the new standard at 1:33.70 until it was broken by Grant Shoults later in the day. He followed that up with a 2nd win in the 100 fly, swimming slightly off his prelims time with a 47.66.

Also earning double individual event wins was San Ramon Valley’s Hank Poppe. Poppe took his first win in the 50 free, where he swam a 20.80 to finish a nail ahead of Terra Linda’s Nathaniel Cunnan (20.87) and teammate Brannan Haket (20.89). Poppe and Cunnan’s teammate Michael Williams was also sub-21 to finish just off the podium in 20.90. Poppe went on to win again in the 100 breast, where his 53.87 put him nearly 2 seconds ahead of the field.

In the 200 IM, Redwood’s Emillio DeSomma and Amador Valley’s Chris Jong battled for the win. Jhong started to catch up with a surge in the final 50, but DeSomma held on for the win in 1:49.19 to Jhong’s 1:49.62. After taking the silver in this event, Jhong won the 500 free in a personal best 4:27.62.

Northgate’s Maxwell Bottene clocked a sub-45 to win the 100 free in 44.51. Williams came back to medal in this event with a 45.52 for 2nd, just ahead of Cunnan (45.62). Bottene also swam the 100 back, where he was a 49.67 for 4th. Campolino’s Jolen Griffin took the title in that event with his 48.74 to win over Foothill’s Jonah Cooper (49.17) and De La Salle’ Forrest White (49.53).

San Ramon Valley swept all 3 relays on the boys’ side. They won the 200 medley relay in 1:30.68 with Jake Rollo (23.32), Brannan Haket (24.97), Hank Poppe (22.04), and Michael Williams (20.35). They set a new NCS meet record with a 1:22.38 to win the 200 free relay, getting 20-low splits on the back half from Poppe (20.23) and Williams (20.20).

Williams (44.48) and Rollo (46.54) swam the back half of the 400 free relay, where they teamed up with Jackson Cardinal (46.37) and Teagan Cheney. Cheney flat started a 45.64 to help the team to their overall winning time of 3:03.03. Redwood (3:05.91) took 2nd place with a 45.03 leadoff from Emilio DeSomma. Granada (3:09.81) was the fastest out of the gate with Maxime Rooney‘s 43.81, but wound up 6th overall.

Rooney also led off the 200 free relay, where he posted a 20.41 on the way to the team’s 2nd place finish in 1:25.12. That was the fastest overall flat start split. In the 200 medley relay, Campolindo’s Jolen Griffin was the fastest backstroker with a 22.88. Forrest white split 22.76 for De La Salle, but the team was disqualified. Griffin’s teammate Nicky Erickson had the fastest fly split, posting a 21.48.

Top 10 Final Team Scores:

1. San Ramon Valley- 328
2. Campolindo- 206.5
3. Granada- 159
4. Amador Valley- 148
5. Redwood- 131
6. Foothill- 129
7. Clayton Valley Charter- 111
8. De La Salle High School- 106
9. Northgate- 103
10. Castro Valley- 95