SAN JOSE — On a rainy day hardly conducive to optimal individual performance, depth that translated to team championships was the defining characteristic of the Central Coast Section swimming and diving championships at Independence High.
Heading into the final event Saturday, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Gunn (boys) and St. Ignatius (girls) had already clinched team titles. Just for good measure, cherry on the top type of thing, each took first place in their respective relays.
Gunn scored 258.5 points to outdistance crosstown rival and two-time defending champion Palo Alto (194). And the Titans did it without an individual titlist, but with overwhelming depth.
“The boys were third two years ago, second last year and they started this year with championship aspirations.” Gunn coach Dustin Fukuda said. “They worked real hard. A really nice group of kids, they really supported each other.”
St. Ignatius, which scored 257 points to 194 for second-place Palo Alto, had an individual champion in Caitlin Quill in the 100 backstroke, but won both the 400 free and 200 medley relays in taking its third consecutive CCS girls team title.
“It was led by our senior class,” St. Ignatius coach John Dahlz said. “It was the best senior class in history. Those girls led the way.”
Saratoga sophomore Kelsey Zhang broke a CCS record in winning the 200 individual medley, but was later disqualified, a decision a pair of veteran opposing coaches denounced as unfair. Undaunted, Zhang came back to convincingly win her favorite event, the 100 butterfly in 52.14..
She was asked what kind of goals she had for the remainder of the season, time goals or place goals?
“Honestly, just to have fun,” she said. “I’d like a good time and placement, but just to have fun with my team.”
Among the top individual performances in the meet, Archbishop Mitty freshman Shareef Elaydi, won the 200 IM (1:47.80) and the 100 fly (48.06) as well as anchoring the 200 medley relay team to a first-place finish.
Woodside junior Seth Collet was a double winner in the 100 backstroke (48.86) and the 200 free (1:37.65).
Mountain View junior sprinter Dar Lavrenko, a Cal commit, won the 50 free (20.37) and the 100 free (44.53).
Castilleja senior Olivia Detter, a Northwestern commit, dominated the girls sprints, winning the 50 free (23.36), the 100 free (50.47) and anchoring the 200 free relay team that took first place in 1:35.63.
A pair of freshmen won the longest races of the day, the 500 free, Menlo-Atherton’s Michael Powell in the boys race and Leigh’s Malia Groen in the girls event.
After having the second-best time in Thursday’s prelims, Powell finished strong, coming from behind to win in 4:30.09.
“I didn’t really know I was going to win,” Powell said. “I thought back to my training and tried to convince myself to push harder. I thought, `just 30 seconds more of pain and then so much happiness.”’
Groen touched the wall in 4;55.09, finishing ahead of M-A’s Hailey Preuss and Palo Alto’s Liew Ladomirak, who earlier won the 200 free. Groen also went into the final with the second-fastest mark in the prelims, but dropped her time by three seconds in the final.
“I’m really happy about it, I’m really proud of myself,” Groen said. “I listened to my coach and had a race plan for the first time. I stuck with the pack for the first half and tried my best to pull away in the second half. And it somehow worked out.”
