California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division IV High School State Championships

By Brian Savard

LONG BEACH, California, May 21. MARK Keppel won both the men's and women's championships in the CIF Southern Section Division IV Championships and was the only team to sweep both genders in the four Southern Section division championships.

Team Scores
Mark Keppel took home the women's title, compiling 211 points. Gabrielino picked up a second-place finish with a 164-point outing while Marlborough finished out in third (134).

The Mark Keppel men won by a larger margin than their female counterparts, winning with a final point total of 271.5. Charter Oak shored up second place with 202 points while Montebello took third (122).

Women's Individual Results
Mary Hanson of Immanuel Christian bested the field in each of her individual event swims while setting a division record in one of her victories. She improved upon the former division record in the 100 backstroke, taking down a record that she shared with a swimmer who swam the same time a few years prior. Her 100 backstroke win (56.75) erased the former mark of 57.31 set by Sarma Zemjanis of Carpinteria and her in 2004 and 2007, respectively. In addition, Hanson took the 50 freestyle (23.86).

Kirstie Chen from Whitney (Cerritos) also chalked up two gold-medal performances, and she also emerged with a division record. Chen clocked a 56.16 100 butterfly, taking down the 2003 record of 57.32 in the event set by Brett Shiflett of Oaks Christian. Chen also mined gold in the 200 IM (2:06.37).

Mark Keppel grabbed two of three relay wins. The 200 medley relay contingent of Megan Chiu, Chatherine Lu, Iris Wang and Katherine Tse combined stroke talents to win in 1:54.63 while the sprint team of Wang, Joanna Chan, Tiffany Chung and Tse clocked the fastest 200 freestyle relay time of 1:42.97.

Men's Individual Results
Ryan Chiu, a Mark Keppel senior, snared two individual event victories. Chiu set a division record in the 500 freestyle, checking in with a 4:31.45 while edging out Ethan Bradley of Charter Oak by .12. Chiu's time bettered the former division standard of 4:31.64, which he set last year. Chiu also won the 200 freestyle (1:41.54), falling just .13 short of his 2007 record.

Quartz Hill's Daniel Colvin placed first in each of the sprint freestyle events, taking the 50 freestyle in 21.25 and the 100 freestyle in 47.09.

Mark Keppel took the top spot in two of the three relays. The 200 medley relay quartet of Perry Lee, Christopher Luu, Chiu and Kevin Wang checked in with a 1:38.46 while the 400 freestyle relay (Lee, Brandon Chiu, Luu and Ryan Chiu) easily took first with a time of 3:15.39.

Diving Results
Bailey Westerhoff from Charter Oak scored a 400.35 and took first in the women's diving competition. Liana Diamond of Buckley placed second (383.55) while Ashlyn Haigh from Bonita settled for third (294.70).

Citrus Hill's Derek Earl won the men's title with a score of 347.45. Andrew Guynn of Santa Ynez claimed the silver medal with a 312.20 score while Danny Luu from Alhambra scored a 305.45 and took third.

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