2019 CIF-SS Division 4 – Prelims
- Prelims May 1st
- Finals May 3rd
- Riverside Aquatics Complex, Riverside, CA
- Short Course Yards
- Results on MeetMobile
CIF Division 4 sectionals kicked off with the prelims session on Wednesday, May 1st. Diamond Bar got off to a quick start, earning top seeds for Friday’s finals session in the first 3 events.
Diamond Bar’s KaiMin Tsuei (26.47), Valerie Chen (31.77), Caitlyn Kanemitsu (28.72), and Melanie Wu (25.01) combined to post a 1:51.97 in the girls 200 medley relay for the fastest time of prelims by over a second. The Diamond Bar boys 200 medley relay team of Nathan Chow (25.12), Kevin Vargas (26.13), Vincent Cheng (23.26), Timothy Jia (21.47) combined for a 1:35.98, breaking the Division 4 meet record of 1:36.78.
Kate Li, a Diamond Bar freshman, swam the fastest 200 free in prelims by over 2 seconds, clocking a 1:53.18 for a season best. She took the race out quick, hitting the wall in 54.32 at the halfway mark. OCVI senior Dominic Falcon blasted a 1:38.91 in the boys 200 free, taking the top seed for finals by nearly 5 seconds. Falcon closed in on the Division 4 meet record of 1:38.22, which he’ll have another shot to break on Friday. Falcon also went on to swim just under his seed time in the 500, clocking a 4:30.22. He took the top seed for finals by 10 seconds in that race, and is now within 3 seconds of the meet record of 4:27.45.
freshman Thea Leimone touched the wall first in the girls 200 IM, dropping 5 seconds from her seed of 2:13.41 to finish in 2:08.37. Leimone was the only swimmer in the field to crack the 2:10 mark, and was fueled by a fast first 100 split of 59.85. Leimone also went on to take the top seed in the girls 100 fly, where she dropped 3 seconds from her seed to post a 58.36. Diamond Bar senior Kevin Vargas was dominant in the boys 200 IM, taking the top seed for finals by a whopping 11 seconds. Vargas touched the wall in 1:50.47. shedding a second off his seed time and breaking the D4 meet record of 1:51.13. He swam a very well-balanced race, splitting 52.60 on the first 100 and 57.87 on the back 100. Vargas went on to touch the wall first in the 100 breast as well, finishing in 56.26. That time was just .04 seconds off his seed time, and is still a bit off the D4 meet record of 54.89.
Hemet senior Mya Jackson took the top seed in the girls 50 free, touching the wall in 23.33. Grand Terrace sophomore Destany Lewis was not far behind, finishing in 23.61. Jackson and Lewis were the only two swimmers in the field to break 24 seconds in prelims, setting up what should be an exciting race between them in finals. Jackson went on to claim the top seed in the 100 free, touching in 51.83. Kate Li, the fastest prelims swimmer in the 200 free, came in 2nd (52.21), and Lewis came in 3rd (52.74). West Valley senior Elikai Crompton swam away from the field in the boys 50 free, posting a 20.45 for the fastest prelims time by .83 seconds. His time came in under the meet record of 20.90. Crompton also posted the fastest 100 free of the prelims session, posting a 46.08.
Diamond Bar sophomore Vincent Cheng added 1.19 seconds to his seed time in the boys 100 fly, but still touched in 50.86, nearly 2 seconds ahead of the field. The Division 4 meet record of 49.47 is not far off Cheng’s seed time of 49.67. Cheng also posted the fastest 100 back of prelims. he swam a 53.13, taking the top seed for finals by 3 seconds. West Torrance sophomore Montana White took the top seed in the girls 500 free, touching in 5:18.37. That marked a huge 16 second drop from her seed time. 2nd place prelims finisher, Cheyanne Summers, came into the meet with a seed time of 5:16.83, which would have been the fastest time of the prelims session.
The South Torrance girls 200 free relay team of Sierra Suelzle (25.56), Carter Cait (26.83), Elaine Shin (25.47), Sohyeon Park (24.76) combined for a field-leading 1:42.62. The Diamond Bar boys team of William Tan (23.11), Dylan Hou (22.28), Brady Xie (22.13), and Timothy Jia (21.74) again took the top seed for finals, posting a 1:29.26. The Diamond Bar boys also posted the fastest 400 free relay of prelims. Dylan Hou (49.96), Kevin Vargas (47.15), Nathan Chow (47.74), and Vincent Cheng (49.58) combined to swim a 3:14.43, which was nearly 6 seconds off their seed time of 3:08.64.
Diamond Bar freshman KaiMin Tsuei swam a 56.66 to claim the top seed for finals in the girls 100 back. Her time was the best in the field by well over 2 seconds, and was .3 seconds under her seed. Tsuei was also amember of the Diamond Bar girls 400 free relay, which swam the fastest time of prelims by 6 seconds. Tsuei led the relay off in 53.65, and was followed by Melanie Wu (54.46), Alethea Gani (57.02), and Kate Li (53.94) for a time of 3:39.07.