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.

Girls Defend Section Challenge Title

The Paly girls defended their Section Challenge Title. As with last year it came down to the final relay. Last year the girls just needed to hold Campolindo off, this year they needed a victory for a come from behind win over Mitty. It was a day filled with fast swims and great races.

Results Here

Jasmine Tosky and Sarah Liang lead the way with 2 victories each. Tosky won the 200 Freestyle in a time of 1:50.12 shattering the existing Section challenge record by 6 seconds. She also brought home victory in the 500 Freestyle recording a time of 4:51.35, again shattering the existing Section Challenge record, this time by 10 seconds. Both of these times were also good for Automatic All American times. Liang was victorious in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.18 and again in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:05.73.

Maragaret Wenzlau and Sabrina Lee had great swims to help the cause. Wenzlau tied for second in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 24.87, and also placed third in the Butterfly with a season best 57.16. Sabrina placed 4th in both the 100 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke clocking 54.46 and 59.83 respectively. Gracie Greenwood took 2nd place in the diving with a score of 403.55, while Sophie Jorasch and Emma Miller finished 4th and 5th.

The girls also won both Freestyle Relays. The 200 Freestyle Relay won as Tosky came from behind to overtake to schools. Along with Lee and Wenzlau, Jennifer Chang helped in the win. The 400 Freestyle Relay was won with Liang, Lee, Wenzlau and Tosky.

The boys finished 8th. There were strong swims from Byron Sanborn who finished 5th in the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.34 and then 3rd in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:00.44. Cole Hamels placed second in the Diving competition with a score of 424.50, Jordan Zenger placed 4th and Alex Francis 5th.

It was a great day for swimming with blue skies and sunny weather, the athletes didn't disappoint. The meet was fast and exciting right down to the wire.

Paly will take their 6-1 dual meet records into their final meet of the season, this Thursday at Homestead. Come on out and support your team.

Results Updated

The results for the Lynbrook and Monta Vista meets are now available on the results page.

Paly Varsity Boys and Girls begin the Season 3-0 with League Victory over Los Gatos

The Palo Alto girls and boys swimming and diving teams swam their first league meet on Friday and continued their winning ways. Both teams started off the league season with victories to begin the quest to defend their League Championships.

The girls had a great day on their way to a 129-54 victory. Jasmine Tosky and Sabrina Lee paced the victory with 2 wins each. Jasmine won the 200 Freestyle in a time of 1:54.45 and was also victorious in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 53.50. Sabrina added victories in the 20 Freestyle with a time of 25.04 and the 100 Back with a time of 101.44. Other winners for the Vikings were Molly Zebkder in the 200 IM with a time of 2:16.72, Margaret Wenzlau in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 58.25, Sarah Liang in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:07.63 and Gracie Greenwood in the diving competition with a score of 218.00. The girls also won all three relays. The Medley Relay of Paige Devine, Liang, Zebker and Wenzlau won with a time of 1:52.63. Lee, Wenzlau, Zebker and Tosky combined for a win in the 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:40.83 and the 400 Freestyle Relay of Lee, Glaves, Tosky and Liang finished off the victory with a time of 3:40.57. The girls will look to continue their winning ways next Friday, March 26th at Palo Alto.

The boys put together a full team effort to pull off the victory against the Wildcats of Los Gatos. Rollin Lau, Charles Zhang and Cole Plambeck paced the win with solid victories. Lau won the 500 Freestyle in a time of 4:59.87, Zhang won the 100 Breast in a time of 1:05.68 and Cole Plambeck won the diving with a score of 195.00. The boys 200 Freestyle Relay of Bobby Abbott, Arseny Kotov, Rollin Lau and Youngkuk Lee also won with a time of 1:32.44. The boys used their solid swimming and depth to record strong swims and pick up important points is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots to help shore up the victory. The boy Vikings showed that swimming is a team sport with their effort. The boys will face another challenge next week hosting Monta Vista at Paly on March 26th at 3:30 pm.

See all the results here http://paloaltoswimming.org/Paly/Results.html

Come out and enjoy the sun and fun as these two great teams swim hard to continue their winning ways.

Paly Girls take 2nd at Yamamoto Invitational

The Paly girls took second place at the Steve Yamamoto Invitational at St. Francis on Saturday, March 13th. The girls finished second to St. Francis by 9 points but also beat defending CCS Champion Archbishop Mitty. Paly had some great swims including 2 Victories by Jasmine Tosky in the 400 IM and the 200 Fly. Other strong swims were turned in by Molly Zebker who finished right behind Jasmine in the 400 IM and the 200 Fly. Laura Cui helped the cause with a 2nd place finish in the 200 Breast and as well as Sabrina Lee who took a 2nd in the 200 Backstroke. The girls team did a great job and look forward to beginning the defense of their League Title this week at Palo Alto High School against Los Gatos. The meet will start at 3:30 pm. Come on out and root on your Vikings.

Los Gatos Meet on FRIDAY!!

The date of the Los Gatos meet has been changed to Friday, the 19th. To get updates when the schedule or website has changed, click on the link below and subscribe to the Paly Swimming News.