2023 CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- April 28 – May 5, 2023
- April 28-29: Diving
- May 3-5: Swimming
- Elk Grove Aquatics Complex — Elk Grove, CA
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Meet Results: “2023 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section” on MeetMobile
The Davis girls and Jesuit boys were victorious on Friday at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championships, earning repeat titles to set themselves up for the State Championships this weekend.
GIRLS RECAP
Leading the charge for the Davis High School girls was senior Sarah Bennetts, who earned repeat victories in both the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.
Bennetts, a UCLA commit, claimed the 100 breast in a time of 1:00.93, downing the CIF Sac-Joaquin meet record of 1:01.70 set by Gianni Pitto in 2018.
Bennetts was just shy of her lifetime best of 1:00.87, set in March at the Speedo Sectionals in Novato. She won the 2022 title in 1:02.18, showing a sizeable improvement over the last year.
In the 100 free, Bennetts defended her title in 50.00, again just missing her personal best time. At the Delta League Championships in late April, Bennetts clocked a new PB of 49.74, having cracked 50 seconds for the first time at Winter Juniors – West in December (49.80).
Also setting a new meet record was Whitney High School’s Jada Duncan, who clocked 53.38 in the 100 fly to lower the previous mark of 53.51 set by Mary Griffith in 2012.
Duncan also won the 50 free in 23.00. She owns best times of 22.71 and 53.12 in the 50 free and 100 fly, respectively.
St. Francis senior Ava Chavez, a Cal commit who was the runner-up to Duncan in the 100 fly (53.97), earned a win in the 200 free in a time of 1:47.85, inching under her previous best of 1:47.88.
Chavez’s sophomore teammate Erica Jaffe also had an impressive performance, winning the 100 back (54.53) and taking second in the 200 IM (2:01.57), with Del Oro sophomore Melanie Quinto winning the latter in a lifetime best of 2:01.35.
Davis’ Ava Portello set a PB en route to victory in the 500 free (4:55.25), and she also added a second-place finish in the 200 free behind Chavez.
Davis won two of the three relays, with Bennetts swimming breaststroke on the 200 medley relay (1:43.99) and then leading off in 50.50 as they topped the 400 free relay (3:26.29) in a razor-thin battle with St. Francis (3:26.37).
In the 200 free relay, Chavez (23.57) and Jaffe (23.19) gave St. Francis a formidable front half to ultimately earn the win in 1:35.37.
Team Scores – Top 5
- Davis, 418
- St. Francis, 355
- Granite Bay, 246
- Oak Ridge, 177
- Lodi High, 125
BOYS RECAP
Del Oro junior Louie Fasani and Granite Bay freshman Brody Chandler were the top performers on the boys’ side with two individual wins apiece, while Jesuit won two of three relays and ultimately cruised to the team title.
Fasani set sizeable personal best times in the prelims of the 100 back (48.70) and 100 fly (49.04), and went on to claim the final in times of 49.40 and 49.35, respectively.
Chandler also set two best times, clocking 21.01 in the 50 free and 45.57 in the 100 free to earn the sprint sweep.
Another standout performance came from Granite Bay senior Landon Nava, who brought his best time down from 55.67 to 54.92 to win the 100 breast by well over a second. The performance also seeds him fourth for this weekend’s CIF State Championships.
Also winning individual events was Rio Americano junior Charlie Franz in the 500 free (4:29.10), and Saint Marys juniors Owen Bohi in the 200 IM (1:50.78) and Nate Rasmussen in the 200 free (1:38.80).
For Jesuit, the team won the 200 free relay by over two and a half seconds in 1:24.58, and followed up by claiming the 400 free relay (3:06.42) in an exciting battle with Davis (3:06.66), with Brady Calkins anchoring Jesuit home in 45.81.
Calkins, a sophomore, was among the team’s top point scorers, placing second in the 100 back (49.65) and sixth in the 200 free (1:40.83).
Jesuit’s leading scorer was Emiliano Zamudio, who set new best times to take second in the 500 free (4:31.29) and third in the 200 free (1:39.47). He also split 20.92 on the 200 free relay and led off in a PB of 46.93 in the 400 free relay.
Team Scores – Top 5
- Jesuit, 318
- Davis, 252
- Granite Bay, 245
- Del Oro, 168.5
- St. Marys, 165