Saratoga News

Burton crushes CCS swimming records

Matadors make it to top 10 in team standings

By Dick Sparrer

Records are made to be broken.And Monta Vista swimming star Loni Burton saw a couple of her records fall at the Central Coast Section girls' swimming championships held recently at Independence High School.

But Burton certainly wasn't disappointed to see her meet records broken. In fact, she was delighted--because she was the swimmer breaking the records.

Burton rewrote the CCS record book in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, crushing marks she had posted in earlier CCS meets.

Burton won the 200 free in 1:47.58, snapping the mark of 1:49.55 she set in 1995, and she took the 100 fly in 54.44, crushing the record of 55.30 she set last year.

Burton's efforts vaulted Monta Vista into the top 10 in the team standings at the section finals. The Matadors finished ninth with 80 points at the section meet.

But that wasn't the top finish for a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League team at CCS. Palo Alto finished second overall with 229 points, and Aphrodite and Artemis Daphnis led Homestead to a fifth-place finish with 175 points.

The Daphnis sisters placed in four events and helped the Mustangs to a couple of relay places in the section meet.

Art. Daphnis was first in the 200 individual medley in 2:02.56 and second in the 500 free in 4:55.15, and Aph. Daphnis was second in the 100 breast stroke in 1:04.81 and fourth in the 50 free in 24.46.

Heidi Schmidt supported the efforts of the Daphnis sisters with a third in the 100 breast in 1:05.93 and a sixth in the 100 free in 54.75.

The three teamed with Megan Tipton for a third in the 200 medley relay in 1:51.09 and with Sheena Hovey for a fourth in the 400 free relay in 3:39.55.

Like Homestead, Monta Vista also placed in a relay in the meet. Burton joined forces with teammates Katie Williams, Erica Ullmann and Rhianna Richards for a sixth in the 200 medley relay in 1:54.17. Burton, Williams, Richards and Stephanie Kim were 10th in the 400 free relay in 3:43.02.

Monta Vista freshman Brooke Wells placed in the consolation finals, finishing 11th in the 500 free in 5:13.96.

Cathy Hatling of Cupertino was another local placer at CCS. Hatling, a junior, was eighth in the 100 free in 55.96, and she was also 12th in the consolation finals of the 200 free in 1:59.35.

Naoko Watanabe joined her Cupertino teammate as a consolation placer, finishing ninth in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.18 and 10th in the 200 IM in 2:13.87.

Samara Silverman of Lynbrook was 11th in the 50 free consols in 25.28, and Cecelia Dotzler of Saratoga was 16th in the 500 free consols in 5:21.14.

In other girls' consolation action, the Lynbrook foursome of Erin Schindler, Nicole Morasky, Silverman and Nicole Topham finished 10th in the 200 free relay in 1:42.91, and Schindler, Topham, Joanna Chung and Silverman teamed to finish 15th in the 200 medley relay in 1:59.31.

Boys' finals

Brian Atkins of Cupertino and Todd Combellick of Saratoga starred in the boys' division at the CCS finals.

Atkins and Combellick each placed in a pair of events to earn spots on the top 10 list for individual scorers at the section meet. Atkins ran up 32 points to tie for third on the CCS points list and Combellick finished with 31 points to finish 10th overall.

Atkins was second in the 500 free in 4:28.84 and he was also fourth in the 200 free in 1:40.54 to star for the Pioneers.

Combellick was third in the 50 free in 21.40 and fourth in the 100 free in 46.80 for the Falcons. He also helped Saratoga place in two relays, and that helped the Falcons clinch eighth in the team standings with 107 points, just two points back of seventh place Santa Teresa.

Combellick teamed with Dave Breitenbach, Daniel O'Connell and Chip Martin for a fifth in the 400 free relay in 3:16.68.

Saratoga had opened the meet with a seventh in the 200 medley relay. Martin, Gur Doitel, Breitenbach and Combellick swam 1:40.76 to place in the event.

Martin came back later to nail fourth place in the 100 back in 54.62. Homestead's Artur Studzinski was eighth in the back in 56.10.

Martin added an 11th for the Falcons when he placed in the consolation finals of the 200 free in 1:47.00.

Anthony Tam of Monta Vista was 14th in the 200 IM consols in 2:02.27, and Studzinski picked up a 16th for the Mustangs in the 50 free consolation race in 22.60.

Saratoga's Breitenbach breezed to a 14th in the 100 fly consolation finals in 55.10.

In other consolation finals, Lynbrook was 11th in the 200 medley relay with Scott Anderson, Jackie Poon, Derrick Larson and Ross Morrill teaming to swim a 1:43.59

Monta Vista was 15th in the event with the team of Eddie Choi, Anthony Oh, Marcus Chan and Bryan Fong swimming 1:45.83, and Westmont was 16th with Jason Lundgaard, Byung Park, Kyle Smith and Mike Levy swimming 1:45.90.

Westmont and Lynbrook each placed in the consolation finals of the 400 free relay. Lundgaard, Jacob Bird, Smith and Park combined for a 12th in 3:24.70 for Westmont, and Yuji Okamura, Morrill, Anderson and Kevin Eng joined forces for a 14th in 3:25.91 for the Vikings.

Eng, Anderson, Okamura and Morrill combined for a 10th for Lynbrook in the 200 free relay consols in 1:32.40. The Westmont team of Levy, Bird, Park and Smith finished 13th in 1:32.65.

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