Catalina Foothills Sweeps Arizona 4A High School Titles

TEMPE, Ariz. , Nov. 12. GUIDED by coach Nicole Penkalski, both the Catalina Foothills girls' and boys' teams repeated as champions at the Arizona State High School 4A Swimming and Diving Championships, held Nov. 3 at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe.

The Catalina Foothills girls amassed 353 points to outdistance Arcadia (285), Rincon/University (271) and Chaparral (234). The CF boys team racked up 288 points, 50 more than Thunderbird in second (238), as Chaparral took the third spot (205).

Girls' Meet; Keller, Thompson Win Two
Arcadia's Kalyn Keller and Paradise Valley's Emily Thompson were the only girls to win two individual titles.

Keller, a junior who has won USA Swimming national titles in the 800m free and 5K open water, stroked to easy victories in the 200 yard IM (2:05.13) and 100 yard backstroke (56.90).

Thompson, also a junior, took the 50 yard free (23.91) and 100 yard fly (56.80).

Catalina Foothills set a state 4A mark in the 200 yard freestyle relay, clocking 1:38.73 to break the record of 1:40.04 set by Sabino in 1998. The Catalina Foothills team was composed of Kathryn Elofson, Kara Zumbusch, Meghan Krapp and Kate Polich.

Chaparral took the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke, with senior Brittany Trinberger leading the way in 1:05.09 (1:04.80p), followed by sophomore Lezah Huff in 1:05.20 and junior Danielle Hildebrandt in 1:05.96.

Boys' Meet: Oman, Owen Lead the Way

In Swim Info's article about the Arizona 4A State championship results the following was included;

Boys' Meet: Oman, Owen Lead the Way
Rincon/University'sPaul Oman, a junior, and Saguaro's Matt Owen, a senior, were the only boys to win two individual events, with Oman setting state 4A marks in both his wins and Owen setting one and barely missing another.

Oman, who swims for Ford Aquatics in Tucson when he's not representing his high school, first lowered the state 4A marks in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke in prelims, then took them both down a notch in finals. In the medley, Oman clocked 1:53.86 in prelims to shave a tenth of a second of the 4A mark set by Chaparral's Evan Raehauser last year. In the finals, he lowered his time to 1:52.56.

In the 100 breast, Oman clocked 57.92 in prelims, to erase Quentin Byma's 4A standard of 57.96. In the finals, Oman reduced his time to 57.91.

Owen became the first Arizona 4A swimmer to crack 1:40 in the 200 yard freestyle, zipping to an impressive 4A standard of 1:38.81, breaking the record of 1:41.37 he set last year. In the 500 free, he touched in 4:29.41, just a tad slower than the 4A record of 4:29.13 by Jamie Richardson of thunderbird

In a notable achievement, Flagstaff's Aaron Bernard, a junior, won the 100 fly in 51.55, making him the first Flagstaff swimmer ever to win a 4A state title. That's impressive because this was the first year Flagstaff fielded a boys team.

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