Monta Vista Girls, Bellarmine College Prep Boys Win Central Coast Section Titles

SANTA CLARA, California, May 17. THE Monta Vista High School girls and Bellarmine College Preparatory boys teams ran away with the team titles Saturday night at the Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships.

Sacred Heart Prep’s foursome of Ally Howe, Selby Sturzenegger, Kayla Holman and Kathryn Bower started off the night in record-breaking fashion with a new CCS record in the girls’ 200 medley relay. They posted a 1:43.25 to lower their own record of 1:44.10 from prelims. Mitty finished second in 1:44.84 while Pioneer took third in 1:46.77.

Gunn’s Jennifer Campbell got to the wall first in the 200 free as she hit the touchpads in 1:47.10, comfortably ahead of Willow Glen’s Catherine Ladd (1:48.33) and Mitty’s Sarah Shimomura (1:48.76). Ladd rebounded after the diving break with a win in the 100 free. She touched in 50.26 to beat Monta Vista teammates Carly Reid (50.44) and Sarah Kaunitz (50.59) to the wall. Reid and Kaunitz joined with Christina Cheng and Lisa Kaunitz to win the 200 free relay in 1:34.93, way ahead of Mitty (1:36.94) and Gunn (1:36.96).

Ally Howe of Sacred Heart returned two events later to win the 200 IM in a new CCS record of 1:57.75, erasing Jasmine Tosky’s 1:57.94 from 2009 from the books. Leah Goldman of Burlingame took second in 1:59.82, just a hair in front of Santa Clara’s Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou (1:59.85). Later in the meet, Goldman would capture the 100 fly in 54.06, four tenths ahead of Los Gatos’ Alex Grimes (54.46) and Castilleja’s Heidi Katter (54.48).

In the 100 back, Howe lowered the national independent high school record in the event to 51.54, after she previously set the record at 51.84 yesterday. Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou took second in finals in 54.08, followed by Presentation’s Chloe Isleta in 55.44.

Palo Alto freshman Grace Zhao topped the 50 free field in 23.26, less than a tenth in fron of Monta Vista seniors Sarah Kaunitz (23.35) and Carly Reid (23.39). Zhou picked up a second individual victory in the final individual race of the night, topping the 100 breast field by .01 in 1:02.58. Mitty’s Morganne McKennan touched just behind in 1:02.59 while Castilleja’s Heidi Katter took third in 1:02.91. Pioneer junior Sandra Soe turned in the fastest 500 free of the night with a 4:47.39. No other swimmers broke 4:50, as Gunn’s Jennifer Campbell finished second in 4:50.54 and Mitty’s Sarah Shimomura placed third in 4:57.06.

Sacred Heart closed out the night with a win in the 400 free relay as Selby Sturzenegger, Kayla Holman, Kathryn Bower and Ally Howe swam a 3:25.03 to outdistance Monta Vista (3:25.48) and Gunn (3:28.17).

In the boys’ meet, Palo Alto got the night started with a CCS record of its own in the 200 medley relay as William Lee, Scott Powell, Andrew Liang and Winston Wang touched in 1:31.28 to lower Saratoga’s 1:31.84 from 2009. Saint Francis claimed second place honors with a 1:32.04 while Los Gatos placed third in 1:35.06.

Bellarmine picked up its first of several wins on the night in the 200 free as Aidan Burns (1:37.15) and Cooper Burrill (1:39.56) went 1-2 in the event. Michael Hannigan of Leigh rounded out the top three in 1:39.99. Burns added a second win later in the meet, winning the 500 free in 4:23.36 over teammate Michael Messner (4:27.59) and Sobrato’s Jarod Hatch (4:31.06).

Burns joined forces with Burrill, Messner and Thomas Reed to win the 200 free relay for Bellarmine in 1:23.91. St. Ignatius took second (1:24.35), while Palo Alto (1:26.77) placed third.

Saint Francis’ Curtis Ogren lowered his own CCS record in the 200 IM, touching in 1:44.90 to take down his 1:45.01 from last year. Bellarmine picked up another top three finish with Michael Messner (1:48.85) in second. Gabe Bolender of Santa Cruz (1:50.68) wound up third in the event. Ogren took down a second CCS record in the 100 breast, slicing .09 off his 2013 record of 53.90 with a 53.81. Joe Kmak of Serra placed second in 55. 99 while Jonathan Panchak of Los Gatos took third in 56.31.

After posting a 20.14 in prelims, Palo Alto’s Andrew Liang couldn’t quite match that time in finals but he still had plenty in the tank for the win. Liang cruised to a 20.41, well in front of Los Altos’ Albert Gwo (20.99) and St. Ignatius’ Stefan Kranenburg (21.01). Liang returned after the diving break to win the 100 fly in 47.44, just off his own CCS record of 47.09 from prelims. Aptos’ Christopher Staka took second in 49.46, followed by Gunn’s Daichi Matsuda (49.69).

Benjamin Ho of Saint Francis captured the 100 free title by a slim .15, hitting the wall in 45.22 to top Los Altos’ Albert Gwo (45.37) and Leigh’s Michael Hannigan (45.57). Ho then won the 100 back a few events later in 49.56, topping Palo Alto’s William Lee (50.00) and Gunderson’s Corey Gutierrez (50.64).

Bellarmine put an exclamation point on another dominant meet with a win in the 400 free relay. Cooper Burrill, Timothy Kou, Michael Messner and Aidan Burns posted a 3:02.36 to top Palo Alto’s 3:04.12 and Saint Francis’ 3:05.83.

In diving, Milpitas’ Alexa Cacao won the girls’ 1-meter with 487.30 points. Mimi Lin of Palo Alto (459.10) and Qianyi Pang of Monta Vista (458.55) also finished on the podium. Colin Zeng of The King’s Academy won the boys’ 1-meter title with 631.90 points, more than 150 points ahead of Palo Alto’s Reed Merrit (474.85) and Carlmont’s Drew Jung (451.35).

Results For: Central Coast Section Championships

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