California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division I Championships

By Brian Savard

WALNUT, California, May 17. WHILE the national swimming community focused on the events at the Charlotte UltraSwim on May 15, Southern California's high school aquatic aficionados turned their attention toward a highly-competitive California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division I Championship meet.

Team Scores
Edison ran away with the women's team title, avenging a second-place finish last year. Edison scored 275 points throughout the meet, which included two relay victories and two individual triumphs. Hart finished in second with 187 points while Fountain Valley rounded out the top three (144).

After an epic battle on the men's side, Capistrano Valley emerged victorious, accruing 188.5 points throughout the meet. Loyola scored 169.5 points and took second while Yucaipa, winners of the 2008 title, wound up in third (165).

Women's Individual Results
Swimming World five-star recruit Cindy Tran of Edison captured two individual events, leading the double-event winners on the women's side. Tran touched at 24.81 at the halfway point of the 100 butterfly and staved off Canyon High School's Kearsten Livingstone for first with a final time of 54.31. Later in the meet, she successfully defended her 100 backstroke crown, winning by 1.5 seconds with a blistering time of 53.73.

Silken Jones from San Clemente garnered individual titles in both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. She extended her lead slightly with each passing 50 in the shorter of the two freestyle events that she swam and eventually won by .72 seconds, clocking an event-best 1:49.71. In the 500 freestyle, she overcame a two-second deficit at the 400 mark and reeled in Rheanna Vaughn from Aliso Niguel in the final five meters, winning by .08 seconds with a 4:50.78.

Fountain Valley's Cynthia Fascella outperformed the sprint competition, winning the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle. Fascella covered the two-lap splash and dash in 23.04 before snagging the 100 freestyle by more than a second (50.21).

Edison picked up victories in two of the three relays. The 200 medley relay contingent of Tran, Sarah Moss, Monique Wilson and Danielle Warde chiseled down the Division I meet record, winning with a sizzling 1:43.60. Irvine's 2002 squad owned the former mark of 1:43.71. Tran roped in Hart during the anchor leg of the 400 freestyle relay as her 49.34 split helped guide the Edison quartet (Alli Gillespie, Ellie Morrissey, Warde and Tran) to a first-place finish (3:28.18).

Men's Individual Results
Tom Shields of Edison, a Swimming World five-star recruit bound for the University of California next year, offered a display of sheer athleticism, winning the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly in breathtaking fashion. Shields took out his first 100 faster than his national-record swim two days prior during prelims, but he faded in the back end, settling for a winning time of 1:34.35. Notably, his performance would have bested the former national record.

Austin Brown of Redlands nipped at his heels in the 100 butterfly, but Shields held his future teammate off, earning the event's title in record time. His 47.55 swim reset his 2008 standard by .02 seconds. In the final event of the evening, the 400 freestyle relay, Shields erased nearly a three-second margin anchoring the Edison foursome, splitting an unheard-of 42.88. Brown, a Swimming World five-star recruit, is also headed north to the University of California next year.

Yucaipa's Trevor Hoyt flirted with the national high school record in the 200 IM but fell just short, stopping the clock at a meet-record 1:46.96. After hitting a split of 50.82 at the 100 mark, he unleashed an eye-popping 30.12 breaststroke split, which shot him well out in front of the field. Hoyt's time obliterated the former Division I standard of 1:49.02, which renowned Olympian Aaron Peirsol of Newport Harbor set back in 2000. He returned to the pool for the 100 breaststroke where he won in convincing fashion, tapping in at 55.21. John Criste from Mission Viejo's division record (54.15), one of the faster records on the books, remains solvent. Hoyt is a Swimming World three-star recruit who, according to The San Bernardino Sun, is attending the University of Southern California this fall.

Finally, Tony Cox of Alemany doubled up, capturing titles in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. He held onto his top qualifying spot coming out of the 50 freestyle, muscling out a 20.69, and nipped Brown in the 100 backstroke as well (48.51). In the 200 medley relay, he elicited cheers from the crowd after he slammed the touchpad at 22.02 leading off. According to the Daily News, Cox will suit up for Auburn University next season.

Newport Harbor's men combined for two relay championships. David Linden, Blake Kelly, Jack Yeager and Ikaika Sarme teamed up in the 200 medley relay, coming in first with a time of 1:33.73. The four kept the same order for the 200 freestyle relay as they each turned in times below the 22-second barrier, edging the field in 1:24.83.

Diving Results
Paulina Guzman from Millikan claimed the women's diving title, boasting a score of 569.20. Haley McNamara of Mission Viejo settled for runner-up honors (550.20) while Kelsey Heiken from San Clemente took third (527.50).

Newport Harbor's Clay Pickney gained the top honor on the men's 1-meter board with a score of 594.90. Ryan Smith of El Toro placed second (582.90) while Kyle Kolar slipped into the third-place spot with a score of 566.40.

Cindy Tran

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