Vikings get back on the Winning track by sweeping Gunn

The Palo Alto Viking swim team got back to the team winning ways as the swept the cross town rival Gunn Titans. It was a brisk and windy day but that didn't stop the Vikings from heating up the pool. All 4 teams looked good and swam a great meet on their way to the sweep. The Vikings also helped Coach Dye collect his 97th and 98th career wins as a Viking coach. He will look to make it an even 100 next week against Saratoga.

The Varsity Lady Vikings avenged their only loss last year with a convincing win 125-61. Jasmine Tosky, Sarah Liang and Margaret Wenzlau were all double winners for the Vikes. Tosky swam the 200 and 500 Freestyles in times of: 1:48.23 and 5:05.97. Sarah was just as strong in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke winning with times of 2:10.39 and 1:08.35. Margaret scored her two wins in the 50 Freestyle, 25.05, and the 100 Butterfly 57.78. Other winners for the Vikings include Grace Greenwood in diving, with a 6 dive score of 220.35, and Sabrina Lee in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:00.51. The Lady Vikes also won the 200 Medley Relay. Lee, Laura Cui, Wenzlau and Tosky came in at 1:49.82. The 400 Free Relay of Liang, Lee, Wenzlau and Tosky came home in a great time of 3:36.10. It was a strong performance for the Lady Vikes as they head into this weekends Section Challenge. They are now 7-0 on the season.

The Varsity boys got back to their winning ways with a strong victory against Gunn. The boys won by a score of 130-56. The boys won all 12 events on their way to the victory. Byron Sanborn, Rollin Lau and Andrew Liang were all double winners on the day. Sanborn won the 200 IM in a time of 2:02.73 and the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1:02.58. Lau won the longer races of the day with a victory in the 200 Freestyle, 1:52.40, and the 500 Freestyle, 5:07.91. Liang swimming the shorter freestyle events won the 50 Freestyle in a blistering time of 21.88 and the 100 Freestyle in a time of 50.85. Other winners include Cole Plambeck in the diving with a 6 dive total of 236.47, DJ Fotsch in the 100 Butterfly in a time of 57.15 and Willie Lee in the backstroke with a strong time of 55.90. The boys also swept the relays. The 200 Medley relay of Lee, Sanborn, Fotsch and Eren Kiris won in a time of 1:42.09. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Youngkuk Lee, Fotsch, Lee and Liang came home with a time of 1:33.35. And the 400 Freestyle Relay of Sanborn, Kiris, Lau and Liang finished off the day with a time of 3:24.92. It was a great victory to get the boys back on track and get them ready for this weekends Section Challenge. The boys improved to 6-1 on the season.

The JV Girls won today and stayed a perfect 7-0 with a score of 104-82. The JV lady Vikes were led by double winners Haley Mortenson and Kristina Nguyen. Mortenson won the 200 Free in a time of 2:06.48 and the 100 Freestyle in a time of 58.20. Nguyen won the 50 Freestyle in a time of 27.23 and the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:06.26. Other winners included Zoe Greene in diving with a 6 dive total of 157.65 and Megan Brendanberg in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:13.30. The girls also won the 200 Medley Relay out touching Gunn by less than 2 tenths of a second. Nguyen, Brendanberg, Jessica Cox and Quitterie Colignon won in a time of 2:04.27. The 400 Freestyle relay of Mortenson, Nguyen, Cox and Brendanberg finished of the day with a time of 4:02.95. The JV Lady Vikes look to finish off a perfect season next week against Saratoga.

The JV Boys also won today with a strong showing. Winners for the Viking JV Boys included Will Conner in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:04.17. Quinn Rockwell won the 50 Freestyle in a time of 24.60. Omri Newman took home the victory in the 50 Butterfly with a time of 27.83. Ethan Look won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:38.24 and Josh Oh won the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:07.98. The JV Boys also won the 400 Freestyle Relay. Newman, Oh, Look and Rockwell won with a time of 3:50.44. The JV Boys improved to 6-1 and look to finish off a strong season next week against Saratoga.

It was a great day for the Viking swimmers and they look to continue the strong showing against the Bay area and Inland Valleys best this weekend in the Section Challenge. The meet starts at 9 am at the Mackenzie Aquatics Center at Palo Alto this Saturday, April 23rd.