California Interscholastic Federation North Coast Section High School State Championships

By Brian Savard

WALNUT CREEK, California, May 28. A few national records nearly fell at the CIF North Coast Section Championships, which stands as one of the nation's fastest meets this season.

Kasey Carlson, a Las Lomas sophomore, stunned the swimming community as the first high school female to crack the one-minute barrier in the 100 breaststroke this season as she clocked a meet-record 59.94 in the preliminary heats. Her time reset her 2007 mark of 1:01.97. Carlson went on to win the championship final heat in a slightly slower time of 1:01.14. Carlson also won the 100 freestyle in 50.25 and notably swam a preliminary time of 49.89.

Catherine Breed of Amador Valley posted two impressive times as a freshman, winning the 200 freestyle (1:47.29) and the 500 freestyle (4:47.47).

The meet's defining moment was in the 200 medley relay. Las Lomas' Alex Madsen kicked off the relay with a 26.70 backstroke, nearly a second behind the eventual 100 backstroke champion, Karen Wang of Foothill (Pleasanton). Carlson easily gained the lead with a 27.40 breaststroke split while Shelley Harper split a 24.90 butterfly leg. Natalie Smith brought home the final 50 in 23.77, putting the Las Lomas women's relay .06 off of the 2005 national high school record set by Hartland Arrowhead (Wis.). The women did, however, break the 2002 meet record of 1:44.77 set by Campolindo.

Las Lomas also claimed the other two relay titles. The 200 freestyle relay team (Chrissy Thomas, Jaclyn Amog, Shaila Yoder and Smith) beat out Monte Vista (Ncs) by .10, clocking a 1:37.86. Las Lomas' quartet of Madsen, Yoder, Harper and Carlson won the championship final of the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.04, but the preliminary squad, consisting of the same four girls, set a meet record of 3:26.57. That time bettered the former mark of 3:28.76, which a Natalie Coughlin-led Carondelet team set in 1998.

Katie Thralls of Granada took the diving gold with a score of 395.50. Holly Micheff from Foothill (Pleasanton) placed second (373.40) while Terra Linda's Molly McElrath scored a 362.35 and took third.

Men's Individual Results
Brandon Fischer, a Granada senior who is a Swimming World three-star recruit bound for the University of Wyoming next season, corralled two wins and set a meet record in one of the two. Fischer demolished the competition in the 200 IM, finishing in a time of 1:51.18. He also took the 100 breaststroke title as well, mounting a comeback against Jon Denton-Schneider from Marin Academy with a time of 56.11. Fischer's preliminary swim of 55.31 eclipsed the former record of 55.90 set by Nick Ferrif from Acalanes earlier this season.

Sean Reilly, a Clayton Valley senior who will head west to swim at the University of Hawaii next year, took both sprint freestyle events. Reilly started out by clocking a 20.39 50 freestyle and then went on to set a meet record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.62. His mark erased the 1999 record of 44.66 set by Trent Holsman of Ygnacio Valley. Reilly is a Swimming World two-star recruit.

Clayton Valley nabbed two of the three relay wins. The 200 medley relay contingent of Matt Bishop, Brendin Brown, Reilly and Kyle Tully turned in a first-place standard of 1:35.19 while the 200 freestyle relay team (Bishop, Brown, Tully and Reilly) clocked a gold-medal 1:25.01, which bettered the previous meet record of 1:25.43 that they set in the preliminary heats.

Kristian Ipsen of De La Salle scored a jaw-dropping 618.00 in the men's diving competition, taking out the ancient meet record of 551.60 set by Scott Reich of Acalanes in 1972. Cody Sunkel from Las Lomas took the second-place spot with a score of 455.55 while Thomas Rugg of San Ramon Valley placed third (442.80).

Team Scores
Propelled by the relay sweep and unmatched depth, Las Lomas took the women's championship with a final point total of 293. Monte Vista (Ncs) scored 199 points and placed second while the women from Foothill (Pleasanton) accumulated 188 points and took third.

In the men's meet, Campolindo emerged as the section champion, raking in 262 points throughout the course of the meet. De La Salle took the runner-up spot with 191 points while San Ramon Valley beat out Las Lomas 169-161 for third.

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