It's a Sweep for the Viking swimming teams at the League Championships

The Palo Alto Viking swimmers did something that they had not done since 2005, they swept every division in the SCVAL Deanza Division Swimming and Diving Championships.  For the boys it was a little easier as they swam and dove strong and coasted to their victories.  For the girls it was a little tight, but all of the girls stepped up and contributed and in the end, they had their victory.

For the 2012 Lady Vikes, they had a challenge ahead of them from the beginning of the season.  After losing strong contributing seniors Sarah Liang, Sabrina Lee, Kimberly Hallsted, Megan Okada and Grace Greenwood, the question was if they would have enough depth to hold off a very talented Gunn squad.  After losing their dual meet to Gunn, the swimmers were even more concerned about their ability to not only repeat as League champs, but to extend their winning streak for League titles to 10.  All of those questions were answered on Friday.  After the prelims the girls were informed by Coach Dye that if the meet were scored now, with diving and how he knew the relays would go, the girls would lose to Gunn by 1 point.  At the beginning of the meet Coach Dye gave the girls a strong pre meet speech and put the day in their hands.  They responded!!!  The girls started out with a Victory in the 200 Medley Relay.  Kristina Nguyen, Laura Cui, Margaret Wenzlau and Jasmine Tosky swam to victory in a time of 1:48.73. Next up, the 200 Freestyle.  This was one of the events the girls needed to make up points on.  Jasmine Tosky cruised to victory in a time of 1:48.14.  Jayna Wittenbrink gave a stand out performance.  She swam a personal best time of 1:54.68 jumping over 3 Gunn swimmers.  Rachelle Holmgren won the consolation heat in a time of 2:00.42 and Haley Mortenson added an 11th place finish in a time of 2:00.92.  The 200 IM was another opportunity for the Lady Vikes to pick up some much needed points.  they did just that.  Seeded second, Molly Zebker swam a personal best time of 2:07.42 and claiming victory.  Laura Cui added a seventh place finish with a time of 2:15.59.  Maddie Berger held her ground in the the consolation heat and came in with a time of 2:19.30.  The 50 Freestyle was a strength for Gunn and Palo Alto needed to find some magic.  They did just that.  Margaret Wenzlau swam a time of 25.23 to place 6th and Katrina Nguyen swam to 8th place with a personal best of 25.55.  Shannon Scheel showing her senior leadership won the consolation heat in a time of 25.89, and Alex Lin added a 15th place finish with a time of 26.95.  The diving was reported on last Tuesday, but the 62 points the added was the path to victory.  Emma Miller, Serena Yee and Nadia Nee went 1,2,3 with Phoebe So adding a 9th place finish.  One of the key races was the 100 Butterfly, the girls needed a strong showing before having to run Gunn's gauntlet of the 100 Free and 500 Free.  Jasmine Tosky again cruised to victory breaking her own SCVAL record with a time of 55.05.  Jayna Wittenbrink continued her strong meet performance with a second place finish of 56.77.  Margaret Wenzlau showing her grit and resolve after foot surgery just 10 weeks ago, caught a Gunn swimmer from behind and finished 3rd with a time of 57.50.  Megan Brendanberg improved on her seed and placed 12th with a time of 1:05.42.  In a strategic move, Coach Dye put Molly Zebker in the 100 Freestyle.  She responded with a great swim of 54.19, good for 3rd place and passing a Gunn swimmer along the way.  Haley Mortenson went a personal best time of 55.40 and placed 5th, while Shannon Scheel added an 8th place finish with a time of 56.10.  Alex Lin moved up a spot and placed 14th with a time of 58.80.  The 500 Free was another spot the girls needed to try and chip away at the points.  Rachelle Holmgren helped out by trimming 6 seconds off of her prelim time with a time of 5:19.46, good for 4th place.  Maria Toulokhonova moved from 8th to 6th with a time of 5:27.99 and Quitterie Collignon placed 7th with a time of 5:28.76.  Caroline Moeser helped out with an 11th place finish in 5:35.41.  Coach Dye knew he couldn't beat the 200 Free Relay of Gunn High School and just needed to play defense.  He did that with a 200 Free Relay that tied for 3rd with a time of 1:41.53, Wittenbrink, Zebker, Nguyen and Wenzlau swam a great race.  In the 100 Backstroke, the Lady Vikes again just needed to hold off Gunn.  The did a great job of doing that with Katrina Nguyen placing 5th with a time of 1:02.42.  Skylar Dorosin added a 13th place finish in a time of 1:05.38 while Moeser and Toulokhonova round out the 15th and 16th spots in times of 1:06.16 and 1:06.57.  Laura Cui led the way in the Breaststroke with a second place swim of 1:07.95.  Maddie Berger placed a strong 5th with a time of 1:10.27.  Megan Brendanberg rounded out the top 8 with a time of 1:12.75.  Karina Goot added an 11th place finish with a time of 1:13.37.  With a 15 point lead going into the final event, the girls 400 Freestyle Relay finished second in a time of 3:33.09, the relay swimmers were Wittenbrink, Mortenson, Zebker and Tosky.

The girls showed true heart and resolve coming into the day as underdogs and coming out with a 9 point victory.  They showed their gifts, talents and Paly pride and came out with their 10 consecutive league title.  Congratulations to the 2012 Lady Vikes for such a determined victory!!!!

The Viking boys had a much easier time of it.  Being spotted 59 points by the divers and with a strong showing on prelim day, the stress was much less as they cruised to a defense of their league title and won for the 7th time in the past 8 years.  The boys started off the day by setting a new SCVAL record in the 200 Medley Relay.  William Lee, Byron Sanborn, Andrew Liang and Charles Zhang swam a time of 1:35.69 and a first place finish.  Sanborn then not only won both of his races, but he set two new SCVAL records in the process.  With a time of 1:51.80 he broke the 200 Individual Medley Record and then with a time of 56.77 he broke a 43 year old record in the 100 Breaststroke.  Andrew Liang was also a two time winner.  He set a new school record in the 50 Freestyle becoming the first Palo Alto Viking to break 21 seconds with a time of 20.93.  He followed that up with an upset victory in the 500 Freestyle with a time of 4:36.98.  William Lee placed third in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:47.59 and then finished 3rd again in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 52.94.  Other strong performances for the boys were Rollin Lau with a 4th place finish in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:48.41, and then winning the consolation heat of the 100 Butterfly with a time of 55.88.  Corso Rosati placed 8th in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:51.64 and then finished 4th in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 54.34.  Eren Kiris placed 5th in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:49.88 and then followed that up with a 5th place finish in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 50.07.  Charles Zhang won both of his consolation heats with times of 2:03.75 in the IM and 1:03.56 in the 100 breaststroke.  Daniel Armitano placed 7th in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:03.13.  Alex Francis had a strong showing placing 3rd in the 200 IM with a personal best time of 1:57.02, and then 4th in the 100 Back with a time of 54.51.  We have two Winston Wang's.  Our first one placed 14th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:10.10 and then placed 12th in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:04.94.  The other Winston had two top 8 finishes.  He swam a personal best in the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:06..07 good for 6th place, and then again placed 6th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.28.  Marco Coleman chipped in with a 12th place finish in the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:26.36.  Jumping into the fun Peter Rockhold placed 13th in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 23.61 and then 14th in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 52.36.  Youngkuk Lee added a 12th place finish in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 23.61.

The boys showed their talent and strength from the first swim onward and never looked back.  They successfully defended their SCVAL title and now look forward to a strong CCS showing next week.

Congratulations to the 2012 Varsity swimming teams on their SCVAL Titles!!!!

Viking boys have strong showing on the First Day

The Palo Alto Vikings Boys swimming team had a strong showing on their first day of the SCVAL League Championships.  Even a problem with the timing system couldn't slow them down.  There were some great swims and many personal bests as the boys looked to cap off their undefeated season by defending their League Title.

For the Varsity Boys there were great swims and many top 8 finishes.  In the 200 Freestyle Rollin Lau and Eren Kiris got the boys off to a strong start by posting times of 1:49.34 and 1:49.53.  William Lee and Corso Rosati followed suit with swims of 1:50.63 and 1:52.16.

Byron Sanborn paced the 200 IM with a time of 1:54.79 while Alex Francis swam a personal best of 1:59.69.  Winston Wang and Charles Zhang topped the consolation bracket with times of 2:06.22 and 2:06.75.  Andrew Liang got in position for the 50 Freestyle with a first day swim of 21.46, while Peter Rockhold swam a personal best 23.37 and Youngkuk Lee came in at a time of 23.45.  In the 100 Butterfly Corso Rosati swam a top 8 finish time of 54.56, while Bret Pinsker got his CCS cut with a time of 55.78.  Rollin Lau followed that  up with a personal best time of 55.80, and Eduardo Liiach swam a personal best of 1:00.98.

Eren Kiris led the way in the 100 Freestyle with a CCS qualifying time of 50.28, while Josh Oh, qualified for the top 8 with a time of 51.50.  Peter Rockhold again swam a personal best with a time of 51.88.  In the 500 Freestyle Andrew Liang again paced the way with a time of 4:55.87, and Winston Wang(the second one) scored a top 8 finish with a personal best of 5:08.96.  Marco Coleman is seeded 11th with a time of 5:24.64.  In the 100 Backstroke, William Lee led the way with a time of 53.70 while Winston Wang(the second one) brought home a time of 55.67 and Alex Francis timed in at 55.86.  The 100 Breaststroke was led by Byron Sanborn with a time of 57.03.  This was also a new SCVAL record breaking the one set by Brian Job back in 1969, a record that has stood for 43 years!!!  Daniel Armitano swam a personal best with a time of 1:02.46.  Charles Zhang topped the Consolation bracket with a time of 1:04.08 and Winston Wang(the other one) swam a 1:05.26.

It was a great day for the Boys Varsity swim team, they have placed themselves in a great spot to repeat as the SCVAL League Champions, come out on Friday and root them on as they finish what they have started on Finals day!!!!

The JV boys also had a great day.  Ethan Look, Matthew Abbott and Lucas Novak all placed in the top 8 for the 200 Freestyle with times of 1:57.55, 1:57.88 and 1:59.38.  In the 100 IM Sam Kelley broke the school record with a time of 58.90, Omri Newman also broke the old school record but just behind Sam with a time of 59.73.  Omri paced the 50 Freestyle with a time of 23.40 and William Shin swam a personal best of 23.76.  Will Mendenhall after scoring points for the JV Boys in Diving yesterday, is seeded 13th with a time of 25.28.  In the 50 yd. Butterfly Ryan Drover is seeded 2nd with a time of 26.37, while Hans Usman got into Consolations with a time of 29.79.  In the 100 Freestyle William Shin again swam a personal best with a time of 52.87, while Matthew Abbott also swam a personal best with a time of 53.79.  Anish Harris got into the party with a time of 54.85 and JJ Kadifa finished off the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.27.  In the 500 Freestyle Ethan Look swam a second personal best with a time of 5:16.92, while Lucas Novak swam a great 5:25.29.  Andrew Watson qualified in consolations with a time of 5:44.61.  In the 100 Backstroke Ryan Drover took the top seed with a CCS qualifying time of 57.27, while Sam Kelley is seeded 2nd with a time of 59.67.  JJ Kadifa qualified in the consolation heat with a time of 1:09.11.  In the Breaststroke, Eli Weitzman is seeded 10th with a time of 1:11.07, while Ray Zhao is seeded 13th with a time of 1:13.06.

The JV boys did great today, come out and root them on at Finals on Friday.

Vikings Start off League Week with a Dominate Performance in Diving

As Swimming League Week begins for the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, the Palo Alto Vikings got off to a strong start with a Dominate performance in the diving competition.  This plans to be a very exciting week as Palo Alto will have to swim and dive strong in order to try and defend their titles.  The diving team did just that on Tuesday with a great performance from all of their divers.

For the Lady Vikes, they finished 1, 2, 3 and 9.  This was a great start for the Lady Vikes team and scored some very important points for the team for later in the week.  Senior Emma Miller capped off a great Viking career with a number one finish.  She scored a career high 390.05 points and continued a long tradition of 1st place league finishes for Palo Alto.  Serena Yee finished second, also with a personal best of 381.65, the junior Viking has been showing growth all season and it came together today with a great showing.  Junior Nadia Nee also scored well with 340.40 points, she to has begun to show her leadership with a strong showing.   Sophmore Phoebe So,  moved up to Varsity just two weeks ago, scored a ninth place finish with a score of 288.55.  The Lady Vikes scored 62 out of a possible 68 points. All of these divers also qualified for CCS and will be in action again next week at the CCS Championships at Santa Clara Valley Swim Center.

Not to be out done, the boys Viking squad themselves performed well.  Cole Plambeck won his 3rd consecutive SCVAL diving title with a score of 476.65.  A young squad of divers then came on strong and showed no first time jitters.  Jonathan Kosaka scored a fourth place finish with a score of 274.80, just missing his CCS cut.  Alex Hammer, also just recently moved up to Varsity scored a sixth place finish with a score of 245.15.  And newcomer Cam Yen placed 8th with a score of 234.60.  These dives and points will also be valuable for the team as the week progresses.  Cole will be looking to improve on his score next week at CCS.

For the JV Girls, Julia Ragsdale placed 2nd for the Lady Vikes with a score of 179.80.  Emily Willick placed a close 3rd with a score of 168.90.  Remi Wolf scored a top 8 finish with a score of 147.10 and placing 10th was newcomer Alyssa Takahashi with a score of 135.80.

For the JV Boys, sprinter Will Mendenhall trying to help the team and a new diver scored a 3rd place finish with a score of 150.75.

All of the divers dove exceptionally well today and gave their teams a big boost going into the next two days of prelims at Lynbrook High School.  This will be an exciting week for the SCVAL swimming titles you should come out and root on your Vikings.  The swimming starts at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Boys Prelims are on Wednesday, Girls Prelims are on Thursday and both swim their finals on Friday.  Good Luck Vikings, swim strong and fast!!!

Palo Alto starts off the League Season with a sweep at Saratoga

The Palo Alto Vikings started off their 2012 defense of their League Championship in fine fashion on Friday by sweeping all 4 divisions from Saratoga. The Vikes are looking to continue their winning ways in League play and Friday was a great way to get it going.

The Varsity Lady Vikes beat the Saratoga Falcons by a score of 126-59. The girls Medley Relay got things going with a win in the first event. Katrina Nguyen, Laura Cui, Molly Zebker and Jayna Wittenbrink won the event in a time of 1:56.13. Individual winners for the Lady Vikes were, Molly Zebker in the 200 IM with a time of 2:14.32, Serena Yee in diving with a score of 210.60 in 6 dives, Katrina Nguyen with a win in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:04.28. Jayna Wittenbrink was a double winner in the 50 Freestyle at 25.17 and the 100 Butterfly at 57.90. The girls 200 Freestyle Relay of Cui, Nguyen, Karina Goot and Shannon Scheel won in a time of 1:46.20. The 400 Freestyle Relay of Zebker, Rachelle Holmgren, Shannon Scheel and Wittenbrink finished the day with a victory in the time of 3:48.34. It was a great start to the season. The Lady Vikes will next take on Lynbrook next Friday at Lynbrook at 3:30 pm.

The Varsity Boys also got off to a great start with a Victory over the Falcons with a score of 121-59. The boys won 11 of the 12 events. Double winners included Andrew Liang in the 200 Frestyle, 1:49. 32, and the 100 Butterfly in a time of 53.58, Byron Sanborn winning the 200 Im, 1:56.33, and the 100 Breaststroke, 1:01.00, and Willie Lee winning the 50 Freestyle, 23.33, and the 100 Backstroke, 54.00. Alex Francis won the diving with a score of 247.00 and Eren Kiris won the 100 Freestyle in a time of 50.77. The Vikings swept the relay events. The 200 Medley Relay of Lee, Sanborn, Rollin Lau and Kiris won with a time of 1:43.40 while the 200 Freestyle Relay of Liang, Youngkuk Lee, Kiris and Sanborn won in 1:31.94. The 400 Freestyle Relay of Liang, Lee, Lau and Sanborn finished off the victory with a time of 3:23.90. The Vikings will next travel to Lynbrook looking to go 2-0 next Friday at Lynbrook.

The JV Girls began their quest for a 12th League Title with a victory at Saratoga with a score of 121-62. The 200 Medley Relay of Tess Van Hulsen, Chelsea Chen, Emma Wolfe and Olivia Vort won in a time of 2:08.45. Abbey Kinneman was a double winner in the 200 Freestyle, 2:09.60, and the 500 Freestyle in 5:39.29. Other double winners included Tess Van Hulsen in the 50 Freestyle, 27.72, and the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:05.80 and Chelsea Chen in the 100 Freestyle, 59.84 and the 100 Breaststroke, 1:20.74. Emily Willick won the diving with a 6 dive score of 159.30 and Emily Yan won the 50 Butterfly in a time of 30.23. The JV Lady Vikes swept the relays. Along with the 200 Medley Relay the 200 Freestyle Relay of Sarah Putulin, Yan, Tara Lawrence and Van Hulsen won in a time of 1:54.75, while the 400 Freestyle Relay of Chen, Wolfe, Putulin and Vort finished off the day with a victory in a time of 4:13.23. Their next meet will be against Lynbrook at Lynbrook next Friday.

The JV boys started the League Season in winning style taking home a victory over the Falcons winning by a score of 113-67. The 200 Medley Relay of Ryan Drover, Winston Wang, Sam Kelley and Omri Newman won in a time of 1:53.13. Double winners included Ethan Look with a victory in the 200 Freestyle, 1:59.91 and the 500 Freestyle in a time of 5:24.68, Omri Newman winning the 100 IM, 1:01.25, and the 50 Butterfly in 27.73, and William Shin winning the 50 Freestyle, 24.44, and the 100 Freestyle, 54.97. Alex Hammer won the diving with a 6 dive score of 114.80 and Ryan Drover won the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:00.79. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Sam Kelley, Shin, Matthew Abbott and Will Mendenhall won in a time of 1:39.72 and the 400 Freestyle Relay of Wang, Lucas Novak, Shin and Newman finished it off in a time of 3:42.04. Next up is Lynbrook at Lynbrook next Friday.

Come out and support your Vikings Next Friday at Lynbrook at 3:30 pm.