California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Section High School State Championships

By Brian Savard

PALO ALTO, California, June 5. SPRINT phenom Liv Jensen of Palo Alto finished up her senior season in record-setting fashion, posting two swift times at the CIF Central Coast Section Championships.

Jensen snipped down her former section record of 22.52 in the 50 freestyle with a 22.39 performance in finals. Notably, the second-place finisher, freshman Maddy Schaefer from St. Francis, clocked a 22.99. Jensen swam a 49.03 100 freestyle in the preliminary heats, which improved upon the former mark of 49.76 set by Carrie Steinseifer of Saratoga in 1983. In the championship final heat, Jensen swam a slightly slower time of 49.27, which was good enough for first place. Jensen has received a spot among the top Swimming World recruits with a six-star honor and will attend the University of California this fall.

Colleen Fotsch, who also hails from Palo Alto, etched her name in the record books twice as well. Fotsch touched the wall in 54.13 in the 100 butterfly, shaving time off of the former mark of 54.35 set by Nilasha Ghosh of Lynbrook in 2005. Fotsch placed herself among the fastest backstrokers in the country with a 53.96 100 backstroke. Her time reset her former mark of 54.00, which she set in the preliminary heats.

Monta Vista set a section record in the 400 freestyle relay, as the quartet of Chelsea Fong, Emma Drysdale, Audrey Kwong and Megan Fisher-Colbrie pounded out a time of 3:26.89. The foursome bettered the standard of 3:27.75 set by Palo Alto in the preliminary heats. Palo Alto, while taking second, had a noteworthy anchor split by Jensen, who clocked a 47.94.

Michela Fossati-Belani from Palo Alto claimed the women's diving championship with a score of 475.15. Willow Glen's Lindsay Lester finished up in second with a 452.55 score while Christina La of Homestead took third (434.10).

Monta Vista finished up as the section champions with a final point total of 233.5. Archbishop Mitty slighted Palo Alto for second, beating the star-studded Vikings team by a final of 218-214.

Men's Results
Matt Murray from Saratoga battled Nick Trowbridge of Mountain View in the 100 backstroke, as both men slid under the former record of 49.72 set by Geoff Cronin of Bellarmine. Trowbridge flipped first at the 50 mark, posting a 24.15 split to Murray's 24.25. Murray, however, overtook Trowbridge on the final half of the race, taking the event in a time of 49.50. Murray also tore up the pool with a first-place 100 butterfly performance, cracking the 50-second barrier with a 49.90 swim.

Shayne Fleming of Valley Christian destroyed the 50 freestyle competition, winning by nearly a second with a time of 20.33. Fleming torched the 100 freestyle field later on in the meet with a time of 45.29.

Saratoga's Ben Hinshaw also won two individual golds, putting up two quick marks in the 200 IM (1:49.29) and the 500 freestyle (4:25.72).

Valley Christian won the rubber match against Bellarmine in the 400 freestyle relay, taking two of the three relays. Valley Christian's 200 medley relay team of Kevin Parizi, Alex Higgenbotham, Joshua Shemeta and Fleming won the first event of the meet, clocking a 1:34.99. In the meet's final event, the Valley Christian 400 freestyle relay contingent of Higgenbotham, Daniel Tan, Fleming and Parizi teamed up to clock a meet-best 3:05.55.

In the men's diving event, Robbie Taylor of Bellarmine took home the gold with a score of 484.60. Brian Peters from Fremont scored a 464.50 and placed second while Carmel's Grayson Huston rounded out the top three divers with a 395.30 score.

Bellarmine's depth trumped Saratoga's star power in the end, winning handily with a tally of 357 points. Saratoga settled with second-place laurels with 232 points while Valley Christian secured a third-place finish with a final point total of 193.

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