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!!!

Vikings conclude season, look towards 2011

The 2010 Swimming and Diving season has finished and as always the young Vikings have every reason to hold their heads high and be proud of their efforts. Both the boys and girls teams this year set their expectations at a high level. Win the league championship, and bring home hardware from CCS. The girls did just that winning the League Championship and placing 2nd, for the second year in a row, at CCS. The boys came close, placing 2nd at leagues and 6th, moving up one spot from last year, in CCS.

Both teams were young, and the athletes grew up right before our very eyes this season. The responded by swimming hard and

adding themselves to the strong history and tradition of Palo Alto Swimming.

The girls had their goals set: win Leagues and CCS. While suffering an early dual meet loss to Gunn early in the season, the girls never lost confidence or focus. They new that the season was a long one, and ran until the League Championship meet, they responded by using their entire roster and depth and beating Gunn at the League Championship meet to add to their streak and now claim 9 League Championships in a row. The story did not repeat itself at CCS. The girls came in as underdogs to a strong Mitty team. While they made up points on the returning champions the girls fell just short. The Viking squad this year was led by Jasmine Tosky who won two events at Leagues and two events at CCS. She was a 7 time All American, 5 individual and 2 relays, and set records at both the League meet and at CCS. She recorded League records in the 200 and 100 Freestyle events. She turned around and then set CCS records in the 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly. Along the way she broke 2 more school records, the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly. Sarah Liang also helped to lead the Vikings by recording victories at Leagues in the 200 IM and the 100 Breaststroke. She showed her strength at CCS with a 3rd place finish in the 200 IM and a second place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. Margaret Wenzlau, Sabrina Lee, Molly Zebker also helped to pace the Vikings with strong performances at both Leagues and CCS. Grace Greenwood brought the Diving program along for the ride with a 1st place finish and then placed 5th at CCS. Sophie Jorasch and Emma Miller also helped the Vikings this year with points at CCS. The Viking woman showed that swimming is a team sport, they empowered and cheered each other on all year. It was a great year, from a wonderful group of athletes!!

After graduating 4 key seniors from last year the boys were looking at a young lineup to try and catch their 6th League Championship in a row. Led by Byron Sanborn the boys made quite a run at that attempt. Picked early in the year to place 4th in Leagues, the boys not only placed second but put a strong run at first against a powerful Monta Vista lineup. The boys came up just short. Byron Sanborn won the 100 breaststroke and placed 3rd in the 200 IM. Arseny Kotov, Rollin Lau, Corso Rosati, DJ Fotsch and Alex Francis all finaled twice, and Charles Zhang missed by 1/100th of a second to lead the charge. Cole Plambeck won the diving event along with a strong 3rd place finish by Jordan Zenger, and a 5th by Francis to stake the team to an early lead. Going into CCS the boys, as a young team, were not sure what to expect. Diving got them started off great, and with some strong swimming the boys moved up a spot for a 6th place finish. While no hardware was presented to the team, this was a huge finish for a young team. Byron Sanborn brought home a victory in the 100 Breaststroke, the first in 8 years for the boys. Along the way this

young team gave themselves an identity and confidence in to the future. They know where they belong, and will work hard to put themselves back on top in 2011.

The JV girls set 8 new school records, and won their 9th League Championship in a row. Along the way Lauren Lo won two league titles in the 100 IM and the 100 Backstroke. Shannon Scheel won a league title in the 100 Freestyle. The JV girls also swept all 3 relays on their way to an upset win at the League Championship and avenging an ealier loss to Gunn High School.

The future looks bright for the Palo Alto Vikings, and looking back on this successful 2010 season is one of the reasons to be optimistic. All Viking swimmers and divers proved what it meant to be a student/athlete. They put

in hard work both in the classroom and in the pool to represent Palo Alto High School in fine tradition. As we close the 2010 season we wish our wonderful senior class all of the best in the future. They brought a lot to the program and

they will sorely be missed. But their leadership has brought on a young and hungry group ready to take the Torch and carry it into the future.

CONGRATULATIONS VIKINGS ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL AND MEMORY FILLED

SEASON!!!!

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.