Girls Extend League Championship Streak to 8

The Palo Alto girls swimming team has learned the value of depth over the past few years. Just a few years ago, it was depth and a team effort that allowed them to hold off a talented Monta Vista team to years in a row to win their League Championships. This year, the team needed every swimmer and some fast swims to hold of rival Gunn. The girls did just that with a 34 point victory and their 8th straight League Championship. It was a tightly fought contest with great swims from both schools. The girls were looking to avenge their only loss of the year when they swam short handed against Gunn back in April. They did just that with great swims from the entire team.

Jasmine Tosky led the way with blistering swims in her 2 events. She broke a 12 year old league record in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:47.86, while also lowering the league record she set in prelims in the 100 Freestyle to 50.20 to record her second victory of the meet. Sarah Liang also had two victories as she won the 200 IM in a time of 2:05.96, she also recorded a victory in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:05.75. Margaret Wenzlau recored a victory in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 57.43, while placing 5th in the 50 Freestyle in a time of 24.88. Sabrina Lee helped the cause with a 4th place finish in the 100 Backstroke in 100.39, and a 7th place finish in the 100 Freestyle with at time of 53.98. Laura Cui finaled in both her events swimming personal best in the 200 IM, 2:14.54, and a fourth place finish in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:08.41. Gracie Greenwood got the meet started off on the right tone with a victory in diving by a mere 1.35 points. The trio of Rachelle Holmgren, Kimberly Hallsted and Danielle Carlson placed 1,2,3 in the consolation heat of the 20o Freestyle for some valuable points, and Holmgren and Carlson placed 6th and 8th respectively in the 500.

The best race of the day was the 200 Freestyle Relay. The girls looking for a victory to hold of the feisty Titans swam hard on the first 3 legs of the race, Tosky entered the water behind by about 6 yards. She swam a fast split of 22.58 to out touch the Titan team and set the tone for the remainder of the meet.

Congratulations to the girls for their 8th League Championship in a row. This will certainly get them set up to make a run at the CCS Championship coming up May 21st and 22nd.

The JV Girls came in also looking to avenge their only loss of the year, and pulled out a 22 point victory over the Gunn team. The victory was the JV Girls 10th League Championship in a row.

Laura Lo won both the 100 IM, in a league record, 1:06.26 and just missing another league record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:04.36. Shannon Scheel won the 100 Freestyle in a time of 57.89 and placed 3rd in the 100 IM with a time of 1:07.35.The JV Viking girls also scored victories in all 3 relays. The 200 Medley Relay of Lo, Chelsea Chen, Haley Mortenson, and Beth Nakamura won with a time of 2:01.22. The 200 Freestyle relay of Haley Connor, Chen, Nakamura and Scheel won in a time of 1:49.12. And the 400 Freestyle Relay of Lo, Mortensen, Connor and Scheel finished off the meet in a time of 3:57.84 setting a new league record.

Boys swim hard, make valiant effort to defend League Championships

The Palo Alto boys swimming team were hoping for a strong finish in League Championships. They came close and it was a valiant effort, but came up short. Monta Vista prevailed by a score of 414-354. The boys came in seeded down 113 points, they made 80 of that up in the prelim day, combined with diving and they had a chance on Fridays finals day. The Paly boys swam hard, yet Monta Vista showed a determined focus and were able to hold the Paly boys off, to break Paly's League Championship streak at 5.

Byron Sanborn lead the way with a second place finish in the 200 IM at a personal best, 1:55.70. He also recorded a victory in a very close 100 Breaststroke at 59.92. Corso Rosati was the surprise swimmer of the meet with eye dropping time drops on his swims. He finaled in both the 100 Butterfly and the 500 Freestyle. His 100 Butterfly time of 55.18 was good for 5th, while his time of 5:03.15 placed him 7th in the 500 Freestyle. DJ Fotsch also finaled in two events, placing 8th in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 56.04, and 8th in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:54.56. Rollin Lau was also a 2 time finalist for the Viking placing 7th in the 200 IM at 2:03.65, and placing 4th in the 500 with a time personal best time of 4:57.73. Freshman Alex Francis was the final swimmer to place in two finals showing his versatility with a 5th place finish in diving at 283.90 and an 8th placing finish in the 200 IM at 2:06.24. Charles Zhang also had a great meet, he narrowly missed two finals, being just touched out by 1/100 of a second in the 100 Breast. He finished 6th in the 200 IM at 2:03.34, and 9th in the 100 Breast at 1:04.07.

The boys swam hard with a young team, and in finishing second they set themselves up with some great swims and a positive outlook for CCS, and for starting a new League Championship winning streak next year.