Palo Alto moves to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in League

The Palo Alto Swimming and Diving teams continued to swim well this season. All 4 teams won and improved to 4-0 on the season Friday against Los Gatos.

The Varsity Girls continued some strong swimming with a winning score of 134-52. Individual winners included Jasmine Tosky in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:52.21. Sabrina Lee brought home victory in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 24.83. Margaret Wenzlau won the 100 Butterfly in a time of 59.12. Megan Okada won the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:02.22. Sarah Liang was the days double winner. She won the 200 Im in a time of 2:13.11 and the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1:09.33. Grace Greenwood won the diving portion of the meet. All 3 relays also won. The 200 Medley Relay of Sabrina Lee, Laura Cui, Margaret Wenzlau and Jasmine Tosky won with a time of 1:52.88. The 200 Freestyle relay of Sarah Liang, Jayna Wittenbrink, Margaret Wenzlau and Jasmine Tosky clocked a 1:39.60. And the 400 Freestyle Relay of Sarah Liang, Jayna Wittenbrink, Sabrina Lee and Jasmine Tosky finished off the day with a time of 3:38.28.

The Varsity Boys had a tougher go of it getting by Los Gatos by a score of 98-88. The 200 Medley Relay of William Lee, Byron Sanborn, DJ Fotsch and Arseny Kotov got the meet off to a great start with a victory in a time of 1:40.77 edging out Los Gatos by .17 seconds. Rollin Lau was a double winner taking the 200 Freestyle in a time of 1:50.69 and the 500 Freestyle in a time of 5:01.46. Byron Sanborn was also a double winner starting with the 200 IM in a time of 1:58.66 then bringing home a win in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:00.24 edging Los Gatos by .18 seconds. Cole Plambeck won the diving portion of the meet. It was a true team effort for the Vikings and was a big victory on their way to trying to recapture the league title.

The JV Girls won 107-63. Haley Mortenson won the 200 Freestyle in a time of 2:08.21 and the 500 Freestyle in a time of 5:51.60. Megan Brendenberg was also a double winner with a time of 1:07.33 to win the 100 IM and 1:13.89 to win the 100 Breaststroke. Katrina Nguyen also notched to wins in the 50 Freestyle at 27.67 and the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:05.89. Jessica Cox won the 50 Butterfly with a time of 30.88. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Mortenson, Martine Leclerc, Isabel Seife and Quitterie Collignon won in a time of 1:54.58. And the 400 Freestyle Relay of Ngyuen, Collignon, Chelsea Chen and Mortenson finished off the day with a time of 4:08.18. Nadya Nee brought home the win in the diving.

The JV Boys made it close but still remained undefeated with a 97-86 win. The 200 Medley Relay of Sam Kelley, Matthew Abbott, Ethan Look and Quinn Rockwell got it started with a time of 2:00.15. Quinn Rockwell was a double winner with victories in the 50 Freestyle, 25.42, and the 100 Freestyle, 57.02. Sam Kelly also won two events winning the 50 Butterfly, 30.40, and the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:10.12. Ethan Look won the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:33.59. The 400 Freestyle Relay of Will Conner, Andrew Watson, Ethan Look and Quinn Rockwell finished off the day in a time of 3:53.64. Noam Hurwitz won the diving portion of the meet.

All of the Viking teams now stand at 4-0 and will continue their quest for league champions next Friday at home against Homestead. Come on out and support your Vikings as the continue to swim hard and win!!

Cole Plambeck breaks school diving record at Palo Alto Diving Invitational

The last few days have been a busy one for the Palo Alto swimming and diving team. Along with a dual meet against Los Gatos, and the St. Francis Invitational, Palo Alto hosted a diving invitational on Saturday as well.

The day was a great one for the divers. There were great scores and some outstanding diving. Cole Plambeck recorded a score of 497.90. This score breaks the school record of Chris Dale which was set in 1974. The meet was a great day for other Palo Alto boy divers as both Alex Francis, 374.30, and Jordan Zenger, 316.20 qualified for CCS. Joseph Solvason rounded out a great diving day but came up just short of CCS with a score of 268.60.

The day was just as bright for the Lady Vikes. Grace Greenwood placed 3rd with a score of 433.15. All of the other Paly girls qualified for CCS. Nadya Nee scored 349.55 points for 12th, Emma Miller scored 344.20 for 13th and Serena Yee scored 332.95 for 14th.

Noam Hurwitz scored 124.65 points in the 8 dive JV Boys division for 1st place.

The weather started wet, but that didn't stop the competition from heating up the pool. It was a great day for the divers and congratulations to Cole for his achievement and all of the Paly divers who qualified for CCS.

Varsity Girls pull out a 1 point Victory over Mitty in St. Francis Invitational

The Palo Alto Girls swam a great meet, and then waited until the last relay to overcome a strong effort by Archbishop Mitty, to gain a 1 point victory in the St. Francis Yamamoto Invitational.

The Lady Vikes started off the day with a victory in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Sarah Liang, Sabrina Lee, Jayna Wittenbrink and Jasmine Tosky combine for a time of 3:31.47. This beat out St. Francis for by 1.39 seconds. Kristina Xiang, Rachelle Holmgren, Laura Cui and Anna Glaves placed an important 5th to help add to the points.

The girls also brought home victory in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:59.98. Sabrina Lee, Sarah Liang, Molly Zebker and Jayna Wittenbrink, swam a great race to out pace 2nd place St. Francis by over 2 seconds.

Individual winners included Jasmine Tosky a double winner taking home the 400 IM in a time of 4:15.11 and the 200 Butterfly in a time of 2:01.49. Sabrina Lee was also a winner in the 200 Backstroke with a time of 2:07.83, while Sarah Liang brought home victory in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:27.59.

The Lady Vikes were down 11 points going into the last event. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Sabrina Lee, Margaret Wenzlau, Sarah Liang and Jasmine Tosky won in a time of 1:38.02, .76 seconds ahead of St. Francis. Just as important the relay of Paige Devine, Megan Okada, Kristina Xiang and Anna Glaves placed 6th. These two relays made up the 11 point deficit with 1 point to spare giving the Paly Girls a 1 point victory.

The win on top of a 4-0 dual meet record to start the year has the Lady Vikes feeling strong and confident going into the remaining season. A strong showing against the top teams, St. Francis and Archbishop Mitty have the Palo Alto Lady Vikes, feeling confident about winning their 9th league title in a row, and taking a shot at winning CCS.

Palo Alto starts off the league season with a sweep of Lynbrook

The Palo Alto Viking Swimming Team started out the League season with a sweep of Lynbrook. All 4 divisions swam a great meet on their way to beginning the season 3-0 and starting off the league season at 1-0. The weather cooperated for wonderful day at the Palo Alto pool and the Viking swimmers responded with a great day.

The Varsity Girls showed their strength and depth with a 148-30 win over Lynbrook. The Lady Vikes won all of their events. The girls won all 3 relays. The winning 200 Medley Relay consisting of Paige Devine, Laura Cui, Molly Zebker and Jennifer Chang came in at a time of 1:56.01. The 200 Free Relay including Sarah Liang, Sabrina Lee, Margaret Wenzlau and Jasmine Tosky clocked in at 1:42.50 and the same quartet won the 400 Free Relay in a time of 3:44.56. Double winners on the day included Jasmine Tosky in the 200 Freestyle at a time of 1:58.05 and the 500 Freestyle in a time of 5:20.27. Sarah Liang won the 200 IM in a time of 2:16.65 and the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1:09.39. Sabrina Lee contributed two victories with a win in the 100 Freestyle at 54.34 and the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:00.27. Other winners included Freshman Jayna Wittenbreck in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 25.46 and Margaret Wenzlau in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 58.08. Grace Greenwood added a victory in the diving portion of the meet helping the girls to a sweep of all events and a strong start to their league season.

The Viking Boys, who won with a score of 113-67, were led by double winners Byron Sanborn, Rollin Lau and Freshman Andrew Liang. Sanborn won the 200 IM in a time of 2:03.88 and the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1:03.69. Lau brought home victories in the 200 Free with a season best time of 1:50.93 and the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:04.80. Freshman Liang won the sprint events with a time of 21.72 in the 50 Freestyle and a time of 48.98 in the 100 Freestyle. Other winners included DJ Fotsch in the 100 Butterfly with a season best time of 57.58 and Freshman Willie Lee in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 56.75. Cole Plambeck won the diving as the Viking boys swept all of the individual events. They didn't stop there as they also swept the Relay events. The foursome of Lee, Sanborn, Fotsch and Lau won the 200 Medley Relay in a time of 1:42.91. The 200 Freestyle team of Liang, Lee, Fotsch and Kotov won in a time of 1:33.11, and the 400 Freestyle Relay of Kotov, Lau, Liang and Sanborn brought home the sweep with a time of 3:21.92. It was a strong victory for the Vikings and helped them on their way to reclaiming their League championship.

The JV Girls also swam well and dominated winning the meet 121-62. The won 10 of the 12 events and tied one. Double winners included Haley Mortenson in the 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle in times of 2:08.93 and 5:51.99. Jessica Cox won the 100 IM in a time of 1:11.61 and the 50 Butterfly in a time of 30.85. Katrina Nguyen won the 50 Freestyle in a time of 27.07 and the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:06.04. Quitterie Collignon won the 100 Freestyle in a time of 1:01.04 and Abby Bromberg tied for a victory in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:18.74. The JV Lady Vikes won 2 of the 3 relays. Nguyen, Chelsea Chen, Cox and Isabel Seife won the 200 Medley Relay in a time of 2:08.74, while Nguyen, Collignon, Cox and Mortenson won the 400 Free Relay in a time of 4:08.23. Zoe Greene won the diving portion for the JV Girls. It was a great start to their League season as they hope to claim the title for the 11th year in a row.

The JV Boys had the tougher time of the group but still brought home victory with a score of 96-87. Connor Fotsch was a double winner with victories in the 100 IM and the 50 Butterfly bringing home times of 1:03.21 and 28.34. Quinn Rockwell was also a double winner in the 50 and 100 Freestyles with times of 24.86 and 56.31. The boys also won both Freestyle Relays. Rockwell, Matthew Abbott, Will Conner and Omri Newman won the 200 Free Relay in a time of 1:42.92 and Fotsch, Conner, Ethan Look and Newman won the 400 Free Relay in a time of 3:45.34. Noam Hurwitz won the diving to help seal the victory.

It was a great day in the pool for the Vikings and they are looking forward to a great season. Their next meet is in 2 weeks at Los Gatos High School where a strong Los Gatos team awaits them. Come on out and cheer them to Victory.

Palo Alto Girls defend Title in Spring Invite

While there were concerns about the weather all week for this years Spring Invite, hosted at Palo Alto, it turned out to be a great day for swimming. The Palo Alto swimmers took advantage and had a great meet! The Varsity Girls defended their title to win for the 4th year in a row at their own Invitational. The Lady Vikes scored 258 points to outdistance second place finisher The Kings Academy who scored 140 points. Los Gatos scored 139 points for 3rd place. The Viking Boys, swimming with a lineup missing 3 of their top swimmers, swam well for the day, earning 3rd place, behind eventual winner Los Gatos and 2nd place finisher Monta Vista.

The Varsity girls had great swims throughout the day. The won all 3 relays. The 200 Medley Relay of Paige Devine, Laura Cui, Molly Zebker and Jennifer Chang won in a time of 1:56.00. The 200 Freestyle of Kristina Xiang, Molly Zebker, Kimberly Hallsted and Jennifer Chang brought home first in at time of 1:45.43. The 1st place 400 Freestyle Relay of Rachelle Holmgren, Kimberly Hallsted, Molly Zebker and Laura Cui came home in a time of 3:51.62. Other winners for the Lady Vikes included Molly Zebker who brought home first in the 200 IM in a time of 2:16.36, Grace Greenwood who won the diving event with a 6 dive score of 235.80 and Laura Cui who won the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1:10.14. All of the Varsity Girls did a great job and the team showed it's depth in the early meet.

The Varsity boys while swimming without 3 of their top swimmers also swam a great meet having to go against a fully loaded Los Gatos team. Some of the strong swims turned in by the Viking Boys were Rollin Lau who placed 2nd in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:51.91, Jordan Zenger who placed 2nd in diving with a 6 dive total of 209.60 and DJ Fotsch who brought home 3rd place in the 100 Butterfly in 58.81. Charles Zhang helped the boys with two 4th place finishes in the 200 IM 2:06.90 and 100 Breaststroke 1:07.02. The Boys 400 Freestyle Relay finished off the day with a strong 2nd place showing. The relay of Arseny Kotov, Eren Kiris, Charles Zhang and Rollin Lau finished with a strong time of 3:26.58. All of the boys swam well and hard getting themselves ready for the league season starting next week.

The JV Girls got a second place finish to Monta Vista High School. Quitterie Colignon was a double winner taking the 50 Freestyle in a time of 28.00 and the 100 Freestyle in a time of 1:01.02. Other individual winners included Haley Mortenson in the 200 Free in a time of 2:07.13, and Zoe Greene with a 6 dive total of 163.65. The JV Girls swam a great meet and are looking forward to defending their league title starting next week.

The JV boys had a great day as well finishing 2nd to Monta Vista as well. There were two individual winners for the JV Boys. Quinn Rockwell won the 50 Freestyle in a time of 24.14 and Noam Hurwitz won the diving with a 6 dive total of 152.55. The JV Boys finished off the day in fine fashion with a victory in the 400 Freestyle relay. The winning relay of Quinn Rockwell, Ethan Look, Connor Fotsch and Omri Newman had a time of 3:48.27. The JV boys are looking forward to a very competitive and exciting season!!

The Vikings had a great week going 2-0 in all divisions in their Tuesday double dual meet against Los Altos and Menlo and showing well in the Spring Invite on Saturday. They look to get started on a successful league season starting this Friday against Lynbrook. The meet will be at Palo Alto High School starting at 3:30 pm.

Come on out and support your Vikings as the year is shaping up to be a very successful one!!!

Psych sheet for Spring Invite

The Psych Sheet for the Spring invite has been posted. Check it out here:
http://paloaltoswimming.org/Paly/Results.html
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Palo Alto hosts their annual Spring Invite this weekend

The Palo Alto Viking swim team will take their 2-0 records into their annual Spring Invite this weekend at the Paly pool.

The meet will start on Friday at 4:15 with the diving competition and the 500 Freestyle event. The meet will resume again on Saturday at 9 am.

Come on out and root for your Vikings as they look to repeat as Champions of the Spring Invite!!

Palo Alto Swimming starts out the year with a 4 team Sweep of Los Altos and Menlo

The Palo Alto Swimming team started off the season in fine fashion with all 4 teams posting 2 victories in a double dual meet on Tuesday at Palo Alto. The team has been training hard, and they looked great in the water as they out paced both neighboring schools.

The Girls Varsity team beat Menlo by a score of 124-27, and they swam past Los Altos with a score of 116-45. The Girls team showed the depth that they hope will carry them to their 9th League Title in a row by winning every event, and this without some of their swimmers who are headed to a sectional meet in Texas. Senior Paige Devine led the charge with two individual wins in the 100 Butterfly and the 100 Backstroke. She was also on the winning 200 Medley Relay along with Laura Cui, Rachelle Holmgren and Jennifer Chang and the 200 Freestyle relay with Kristina Xiang, Shannon Scheel and Jennifer Chang. Kimberly Halsted was also a double winner in the 200 and 500 Freestyle. Laura Cui added to the victories posting wins in the 200 IM and the 100 Breaststroke. Also winning events were Jennifer Chang in the 50 Freestyle and Anna Glaves in the 100 Freestyle. The 400 Freestyle Relay with Rachelle Holmgren, Anna Glaves, Jennifer Chang and Laura Cui finished off the victory for the girls. The girls are now 2-0 and looking to repeat as champions at this weekends Spring Invite at Palo Alto High School.

The Varsity Boys team also started off the season at 2-0. There were lead by Rollin Lau who posted victories in the 200 and 100 Freestyles. Rollin also helped the 200 Freestyle Relay along with Arseny Kotov, DJ Fotsch and Corso Rosati post a victory plus the 400 Freestyle Relay along with Arseny Kotov, Charles Zhang and Derek Tam. The 200 Medley Relay of Alex Francis, Charles Zhang, DJ Fotsch and Derek Tam started off the meet with a victory. Charles Zhang was another double winner in the 200 IM and the 100 Breaststroke along with his help on the winning 200 Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay. Other winners were DJ Fotsch in the 100 Butterfly, Derek Tam in the 500 Free, and Eren Kiris in the 100 Backstroke. The victory helps the Viking Boys prepare for their upcoming Spring Invite at Palo Alto this weekend.

The season is off to a great start as all 4 teams begin the year 2-0. You can help support and cheer on the Vikings this weekend as they host their annual Spring Invite. The meet will start on Friday at 4:15 with both the diving and 500 Freestyles, and then resume on Saturday at 9 am for the rest of the events. Come on out and cheer your Vikings to Victory!!!!

A friend Remembered

It is with great sadness this year that the swimming and water polo community learned of the passing of Monta Vista Head Swimming Coach Ron Freeman. Ron was also the Boys Head Water Polo Coach. For 30 years Ron was an instrumental part of Aquatics at Monta Vista High School. Along with the many memories that the students and athletes at Monta Vista High School will have of their beloved coach, Ron also brought to existence their new swimming pool

Ron was a dedicated and passionate coach and teacher, he cared deeply for his students and athletes and was always involved in the life of the school. As a head coach in the league for 15 years, Coach Danny Dye from Palo Alto will always remember Ron as a great man who had a true calling to work with young people. As coaches emailed each other and talked on the phone at the shock of Ron's passing, all of them shared the same thoughts of Ron's impact on our sport and league.

He while this year will be different without Coach Freeman on the pool deck, his memory and impact will be felt for years to come. God Bless and God Speed coach Freeman!!!