CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II SWIMMING FINALS RESULT

The Southern section division II Swimming Arena,

WALNUT — From the moment her form resurfaced after diving into each of her two individual events Saturday, the outcomes of Yumi So’s races were never in doubt.

As her lead steadily increased over the seven other swimmers in the lanes around her, all in attendance at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division II finals at Mount San Antonio College nonetheless remained captivated, riveted not on whether she would win, nor by how much, but simply how quickly.

The expectation was to see records fall. The reigning All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year fulfilled that not once, but twice, defending her titles in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke in Division II-record times, with her mark of 53.03 seconds in the 100 butterfly also setting a new state record.

Yet, the most dominant individual force in the pool Saturday left wanting more.

“I was a little disappointed with my race,” said So, whose stated intent in the 100 butterfly was to take down the national high school record of 52.41, set by Misty Hyman of Shadow Mountain High in Arizona in 1996, which is .3 seconds under So’s personal best. “I wanted to go at least around my [personal best] time, at least a 52.50, so I could have more confidence in me for [the CIF] Masters [meet on Tuesday].”

At the Masters meet at Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach, which pits the best from all CIF divisions against each other, So will have one more chance to break the high school record after breaking her own 2008 Division II record of 54.42 twice in two days, including at Friday’s prelims with a 54.11.

She may also find some more competitive races in store at Masters, something that was entirely lacking on Saturday.

So led by a body length by the midway point of her two races and finished first in each by even more, winning the 100 backstroke by more than 2.05 seconds, in 54.21, and the 100 butterfly by 1.91 seconds. The Division II 100 backstroke record was 55.06, by Maureen Farrell of Alemany in 2001.

So also dazzled in the consolation heat of the 400-freestyle relay, in which the Falcons team of So, Julia Warden, Adrienne Ingalla and MacKenzie Hobby were entered as an alternate, swimming her split in a blistering 51.25.

“As always, it’s just a pleasure to watch her swim,” said Crescenta Valley girls’ Coach Robert Miller, whose team placed 18th in Division II on Saturday with a team score of 42 points, 40 of which came from So’s two wins. “Taking it out that first 50 yards and being a body length ahead on the butterfly just sets the tone for the whole day.”

So has now won a total of five CIF titles in three career Division II finals appearances and Saturday marked the fourth time she has set a new division record in her signature event, the butterfly.

“She sets her goals high and she works for it,” Miller said of So, who is an accomplished club swimmer on the junior national circuit and competed in the 2008 Olympic Trials.

Crescenta Valley’s boys’ team used its greatest depth at a CIF-final meet in years to pull off a seventh-place finish with 128 points, which was the program’s best finish in longtime Coach Jan Sakonju’s memory.

“The boys were hoping for better times, but having the prelims and finals so close together, a lot of the swimmers today, not just ours, had a hard time matching their times from [Friday] or improving them,” Sakonju said. “But, overall, they did really well and they did a really good job [Friday] to qualify for the positions they got.”

The Falcons’ 400 freestyle relay team of Tristan Winterhalter, Chris Veselich, Andrew De Jong and Sharif Alaoui finished fifth in 3:10.39 and Alaoui, Jason Kim, De Jong and Winterhalter swam the 200-medley relay in 1:38.65 to take seventh place.

Crescenta Valley got strong individual races from Alaoui in the 200 (sixth, 1:42.00) and 100 freestyle (sixth, 46.49), De Jong in the 200-individual medley (sixth, 1:58.47), Winterhalter in the 50 freestyle (seventh, 21.73) and Kim in the 100 backstroke (seventh, 54.44).

“Sharif will probably be at [Masters] and our medley and 400 freestyle relays should be able to get in, as well,” Sakonju said.

Glendale High junior Katalina Sher placed seventh in the 200 freestyle in 1:54.18 and nearly won the consolation heat of the 100 freestyle, finishing second in 53.58.

“I felt like it went really well,” Sher said. “[Finals] is quite intimidating at first because you just have one chance to make it, but once you let go of your nerves you just go out and race and get used to it.”

Source:glendalenewspress.com

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