|
Fremont has only nine boys varsity swimmers. That's because the Firebirds only have nine boys swimmers—period. But although there is a lack of manpower, the Firebirds do not lack for willpower.
In fact, the smallest contingent at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division finals on May 7 at Fremont's aquatics center made one of the biggest impacts.
The Firebirds won four of the 11 swimming events, more than any other boys varsity team. Lynbrook, which won the team championship, Cupertino and Los Gatos all won two events and Wilcox took one.
Paced by junior Michael Wang's meet record in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400 free relay team's victory, Lynbrook scored 447 points. Cupertino, led by senior sprinter Michael Jarvis, was second with 351 points. Fremont, with three individual champions and a record-setting medley relay team, took third with 282.
Two of those seniors, Tony Zhu and Gordon Cameron, won individual events in league-record times, and both were part of a record-setting 200-yard medley relay.
"This is one of the best groups of seniors Fremont has been able to put together in a few years," said coach Mike Jufiar.
Zhu won the 100 butterfly in 56.64 seconds. Cameron was third in 57.17, qualifying for the this week's Central Coast Section meet in the process. Cameron won the 100 breast in 1:02.44, a new league record, and his step-brother, senior Andrew Amm, picked up third in the event. Amm later took sixth in the 100 free.
Speedy freshman Larry Wen also set a new league record, winning the 200 individual medley in 2:01.12. Wen later captured third in the 500 free in 4:55.13. Senior teammate Stephen Shimshock scored team points by finishing in ninth place.
Three other seniors, Scott Perez, Marc Boyer and Antonio Coehlo, and sophomore Patrick Samuels all contributed to the Firebirds' third-place effort, as points were awarded to the top 16 places in each event.
Zhu, Wen, Amm and Cameron combined to establish a new league standard (1:43.99) in the 200 medley relay, beating runner-up Lynbrook by more than five seconds.
The same quartet also swam the 400 free relay for the Firebirds, but had to settle for second place. The Firebirds narrowly lost to Lynbrook, as Wang turned a 48.87 split and rallied in the final 25 yards to pull out a victory in 3:26.48.
It was a big day for coach Lance Morrill's Lynbrook program, as the Vikings also earned championships in the girls varsity and boys junior varsity competitions. Los Gatos ran away with the girls JV crown, winning seven of the 11 races and amassing 562 points, and Cupertino took second.
Next up for the El Camino's top individuals and relay teams is the Central Coast Section meet May 1415 at Independence High School in San Jose. After the diving competition on May 13, swimming preliminaries will take place on May 14, beginning at 10 a.m. The finals are set to begin at 1 p.m. the next day.
Led by sophomore sensation Nilasha Ghosh, Lynbrook won the girls varsity championship by the narrowest of margins, 415-414 over Los Gatos.
Cupertino finished third in the team scoring with 362 points. Wilcox was fourth with 254. Fremont placed fifth with 186, followed by Santa Clara's 174 and Milpitas' 117.
Ghosh's league record 1:52.45 in the 200 free was more than six seconds better than runner-up Kelsey Hunter of Los Gatos and more than 10 ahead of third-place Aly Meyer of Fremont. Both Hunter and Meyer posted times better than the CCS-qualifying standard in the event. Lauren Carter placed 11th in 2:17.16. Meyer later was second in the 500 free, posting 5:28.21.
Ghosh's record-setting butterfly time of 56.16 was the second time in three days that she went under the 57.30 standard that gains a girl All-America status. Her time in the preliminaries was 57.23. Ghosh gracefully glided out in front of the pack and was more than three seconds ahead of the closest challengers after the first 50 yards. Fremont's Angela Cascone took second in 1:06.32. Carter took 11th in 1:10.32.
Other varsity girls winners included Cupertino senior Jenna Overby in the 50 free, Kelsey Hunter in the 500 free and Jaki Braggin of Wilcox in the 100 breast. Katie Lampe of Los Gatos won the diving competition. Overby teamed with sophomore Megan Weber, senior Sarah Hovland and Jessica Buzawa to take second in the 200 free relay, finishing just .09 behind Los Gatos.
Fremont freshman Sara DeCastro took third in the 100 back for junior varsity girls. DeCastro teamed with Brandy Kinney, Elizabeth Thomas and Carolyn Chin to place third in the medley relay.
Chin was fourth in the 50 free, Elizabeth Heye was fifth in the 50 fly and Madeline McNeil was sixth in the 100 free.
|
