Elite Swimmers Turn Heads at CIF Central Coast Section Championships

STANFORD, California, June 20. THE 2007 CIF Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships could have been a state itself with the number of quality performances seen at the meet. Every event contested for both men and women had at least one All-American Automatic qualifier, and some events had as many as five automatic cuts.

Team Scores

Archbishop Mitty topped the women's competition, scoring 244 total points. Monta Vista placed second with 223 points while Palo Alto claimed the third-place spot with 219 points. Bellarmine College Preparatory doubled up the men's competition, scoring 401 points. Palo Alto and Sacred Heart Preparatory tied for second place with 194 points apiece.

Women's Results

Liv Jensen of Palo Alto added her name onto the record board when she touched the wall for her 50 freestyle. Jensen's 22.84 time equaled the former record, set by Brooke Bishop of Mountain View in 2003. Jensen also won the 100 freestyle (50.60).

Presentation's Danielle Gong posted two first-place finishes in her events. Gong swam just over the two-minute barrier in her 200 IM, clocking a 2:00.02. She also won the 100 butterfly after pulling away from Monta Vista's Megan Fisher-Colbrie on the second 50 (55.21).

Courtney Monsees from Leland had no problem winning both of her individual events. Monsees took both longer-distance freestyle events, swimming a 1:48.25 200 freestyle and a 4:54.47 500 freestyle.

Michela Fossanti of Palo Alto set a section record with her diving performances, scoring 506.05 points. Fossant's score erased Newman Valley Christian graduate Jessi Newman's performance of 501.00 set in 2000. Jenny Reese of Palo Alto placed second (466.30) while Molly Hayes of Los Gatos came in third (442.90).

Men's Results

Bellarmine College Preparatory's relays fared excellent against the competition, earning two gold-medal finishes and one silver-medal finish. The 200 freestyle relay contingent of Brandon Shilling, Patrick Talbott, Danny Wall and Taylor Smith won in a section record time of 1:24.30. Bellarmine College Preparatory's 1999 relay held the former record of 1:24.34. Shilling, Talbott, Brian Schmidt and Smith posted a first-place time of 3:05.95 in the 400 freestyle relay as well.

Smith rewrote the record book in both of his events. Smith clocked a first-place 1:38.28 in his 200 freestyle. Brian Atkins of Cupertino set the previous record of 1:38.33 in 1999. Smith also edged out the 500 freestyle record with a 4:22.37 time. Eric Dilulio of Palo Alto set the former mark of 4:22.66 in 2001.

Austin Stahley of Sacred Heart Preparatory also notched two individual victories. Stahley stopped the clock first in both the 200 IM (1:50.58) and the 100 breaststroke (56.80).

Shayne Fleming of Valley Christian debuted in his first Central Section Championship meet, making his name known in both sprint events. Fleming finished first in both the 50 freestyle (21.19) and the 100 freestyle (45.85). Fleming clocked a 45.18 in the 100 freestyle in the preliminary heats.

Robbie Taylor of Bellarmine College Preparatory added to the school's domination of the field with a first-place finish in the diving competition (473.30). Brian Peters of Fremont finished second (441.25) while Blake Everhart from Saint Francis took third (390.70).

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