First published in the May 5 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The La Cañada High School boys’ and girls’ varsity swimming and diving teams each finished as Rio Hondo League champions in the finals at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl Aquatics Center last Friday. The Spartan teams combined to amass 889 points, 75.5 points greater than second-place San Marino (813.50).
The varsity girls’ team edged San Marino for the league title with 418 total points. Mae O’Grady won the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:57.31 time, while Avalon Sanders (2:01.04), Theodora Stefan (2:08.72) and Kamille Marchen (2:12.29) placed sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Nina Blanco, Kaley Schmidt, Mia Kronson and Mae O’Grady posted a second-place finish with a 1:44.12 time. Mae O’Grady (5:14.72) and Sanders (5:19.96) finished second and third, respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle, while Shereen Emadi (5:42.56) tallied a sixth-place finish.
Emmy Lin placed third in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:11.15 time, while Schmidt (1:15.15) and Kadyn Day (1:19.67) placed eighth and ninth, respectively. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Mae O’Grady, Schmidt, Kronson and Blanco placed third with a 3:50.22 time. Kronson (59.19) claimed a fourth-place finish in the 100 butterfly, while Eden Radulescu (1:03.97) and Emma Badescu (1:09.67) posted seventh and 10th place finishes, respectively. The 200 medley relay team of Robyn Lam, Lin, Radulescu and Stefan placed fourth with a 2:02.38 time. Kronson collected a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a 1:03.57 time, while Lam (1:13.00) and Naria Gharamanias (1:20.64) finished ninth and 12th, respectively. Radulescu (2:20.45), Natalie Suh (2:27.19), Badescu (2:31.61) and Lam (2:32.60) placed fourth, eighth, ninth and 10th in the 200 yard IM. Schmidt (26.59) placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle, while Emadi (27.14) and Gharamanias (29.60) placed ninth and 14th, respectively. Suh (1:00.18), Stefan (1:00.46) and Marchen (1:03.49) placed 10th, 11th and 12th in the 100 yard freestyle.
In the 1-meter diving competitions, Emi Machida (507.25) and Chelsea Brack (482.85) placed first and second, respectively.
The LCHS varsity boys’ team won in a landslide by accumulating 471 points, nearly 70 points higher than second-place San Marino (404). The boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay team of Braden Beagle, Pierce O’Grady, Ryan Makouar and Igor Benderskii set a new Rio Hondo League record with their terrific 3:08.79 time.
The Spartans swept the 200-yeard freestyle, as Pierce O’Grady (1:42.27), Benderskii (1:42.86), Makouar (1:43.04) and Ryan Silva (1:45.48) finished first, second, third and fourth. Pierce O’Grady won the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:39.34 time, while Max Rosas (5:28.01) placed fifth. Beagle won the 100-yard backstroke with a 50.97 time, while William Pham (59.12), Elliott Lee (58.41) and Ashwin Fernando (1:06.05) placed sixth, ninth and 10th, respectively.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Beagle, Igor Benderskii, Makouar and Pierce O’Grady won with a 1:34.77 time, while the 200-yard freestyle team of Silva, Theo Lee, Timothy Joo and William Pham also claimed second with a 1:32.86 time. Benderskii posted a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a 57.36 time, while Theo Lee (1:00.98), Joo (1:04.28) and Jonathan Pham (1:10.11) placed fourth, seventh and 11th, respectively. Beagle claimed a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a 1:54.56 time, while Theo Lee (2:06.06) and Elliott Lee (2:08.41) placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Makouar won the 100-yard butterfly with a 49.92 time, while Joo (58.94) and Fernando (1:01.68) claimed sixth and ninth, respectively. Silva posted a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a 22.40 time, while William Pham (23.64), Jacob Boulanger (24.24) and Jack Clark (24.63) placed sixth, ninth and 11th, respectively. Boulanger (53.95), Clark (54.42), Jonathan Pham (56.25) and Rosas (56.26) placed seventh, ninth, 13th and 14th in the 100 freestyle.
Flintridge Prep Boys, Girls Finish as Runners-Up
The Flintridge Prep varsity boys’ and girls’ swim teams shone in the Prep League finals at Pasadena Poly with a combined eight victories.
The girls had the lion’s share by claiming six wins, including a record-breaking relay team comprised of four freshmen. Addie Gish, Sara Iturbe, Megan Lee and Natalie Walklett set a league record by winning the 400 free relay in 3:35 and also claimed the league crown in the 200 free relay with a time 1:40.98 (a meet and pool record).
Gish went on to become league champion in the 200 free (1:52.96) and finished as runner-up in the 100 fly with a time of 57.75. Walklett also took home an individual league crown by finishing the 100 free in 51.95 and added a silver medal in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.75.
Lee was first in the 500 free (5:15.25) and third in the 100 breast (1:10.96) and Iturbe took home gold in the 100 back with a time of 1:10.96.
Sophomore Isabella Bonaccorso contributed a second-place finish in the 500 free (5:31.73) and was third in the 200 free (2:09.06).
In the boys’ competition, the Wolves were led by Athan Boutakidis, who won the 50 free in 21.48 and took third in the 100 free with a time of 48.96. He also teamed up with Aidan Grimm, Diego Barraclough and Aron Lee to take second in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:33.79 and with Ty Young, Barraclough and Colin Ng for a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay (1:46.31).
Barraclough also won an individual league championship by posting a time of 1:04.96 in the 100 breast. The senior added a third-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.91.
Ng posted third place finishes in the 200 IM (2:14.84) and 100 fly (58.98), as well as in the 400 free relay (3:34.55) with teammates Ridley Tolleson, Aaron Lee and Grim.
Young also contributed a bronze medal by finishing the 100 back in 1:08.73.
