Depth makes difference in league titles Depth makes difference in league titles (May 12, 2004)

by Keith Peters

othing is more important than depth when it comes to league swimming championships. Doubters can check with Jeff Peterson on how that works.

Peterson, along with Linda Hildreth, coaches the Palo Alto High swim team. His boys' squad scored enough points to win their second-straight SCVAL De Anza Division championship last Friday at Los Altos High.

Gunn, however, outscored the Vikings in diving, 53-13, and in the consolation heat by 29 1/2 points. When the points were totaled up, Gunn was on top with 453 and Palo Alto was second with 415 1/2.

In the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division finals at Burlingame High on Saturday, the Aragon girls won eight of 11 events while Menlo School won a single relay. Final score? Menlo 479 1/2. Aragon 466 1/2.

The only exception to the rule, of course, is Bellarmine. The Bells won 10 of 12 events Saturday in the West Catholic Athletic League finals at Sacred Heart Prep. The Bells also took second five times and went 1-2-3 in three events.

That's why the Bells, along with the Mitty girls, are favored to win yet another Central Coast Section championship on Saturday at Independence High in San Jose.

For everyone else, the chase is for second place. While depth again will be important this weekend, it's not as crucial because the meet's talent will spread out the points.

In the league finals, however, depth is everything and diving, well, can win you titles.

Gunn seniors Calvin Calhoun and Chris Taylor didn't earn a single swim point Friday. Three days earlier, however, they combined for 37 key points while taking one-two on the 1-meter board at the De Anza Division finals. Satoshi Murakami picked up 11 points for eighth and even freshman Brecon Welton earned five points. That's 53 points.

Throw out all the diving and the Paly boys win the meet, 402 1/2 to 400.

"We made up 20 points from the trials," said Peterson, but not 40 (from the diving). Gunn scored 32 swims, the maximum. They deserve a lot of credit. They came in and swam the times they had to. He (Gunn coach Mark Hernandez) had them fired up."

The Gunn boys won just one event with a season best of 1:30.37 in the 200 free relay. The Paly boys won the 200 medley relay, the 200 IM with freshman Peter Lo going a season-best 1:59.52, and the 50 free with senior Lee Anderson clocking a season-best 22.22. The Vikings outscored Gunn in the 500 free (46-27) and 100 breast (41-27). Still, it wasn't enough.

Gunn sophomore Matt Prior provided the team's best individual finish with a second in the 100 back (56.47). He added a third in the 100 free (49.39) and swam on the 200 free relay and second-place 200 medley relay. The Titans scored 85 points in the consolation finals, filling every spot possible and making every point count to snatch the overall league crown away from Paly, which had won the dual-meet season.

In the girls' meet, Gunn couldn't come up with a similar system. Paly took care of that with superior talent and depth. The Vikings defended their overall league title with 469 points while the Titans finished second with 311.

"We definitely took a lot of satisfaction from how well our girls swam," Peterson said.

Paly scored 351 points from the championship finals while Gunn tallied 232. After winning the opening 200 medley relay, the Vikings outscored the Titans in the next event (200 free) by 52-0. Paly also put up a 23-0 bulge over Gunn in the 100 fly.

Junior Monika Friedman posted personal bests of 1:55.56 to win the 200 free and 5:03.72 to capture the 500 free. She also swam on the 200 medley relay and clocked a 54.00 leg on the 400 free relay team that was disqualified.

Paly junior Remy Champion (54.64) and sophomore Becky Wenzlau (54.66) went one-two in the 100 free for the Vikings' other top finish.

The individual standout of the De Anza Division meet was Stanford-bound Brooke Bishop of Mountain View. The senior won the 50 free in 23.66 and 100 back in 56.55, both automatic All-American times.
PAL Bay Division

The Menlo boys and girls successfully defended their league finals and overall division championships with impressive showings Saturday at Burlingame High.

The boys, who defeated Aragon last year by just three points, made sure the meet didn't come down to the final relay by outscoring the Dons, 528-491.

Menlo won just three events - the 200 medley relay, 100 fly and 100 free - but had everyone improve upon their placings in the trials. Moving up in the finals made all the difference.

Senior Taylor Wells was the individual standout as he defending his title in the 100 fly with a season best of 54.04 before adding a victory and CCS-leading time of 47.82 in the 100 free. Wells also swam the freestyle leg on the 200 medley relay that clocked a season best of 1:41.05 that ranks No. 2 in the CCS behind Bellarmine, and swam anchor on the second-place 400 free relay team.

Senior Steven Wright added a second in the 200 breast and a third in the 200 free in addition to legs on the aforementioned relays. Junior Travis Read also swam on the 200 medley and 400 free relays and added second places in the 200 IM and 100 back.

The Menlo-Atherton boys posted 368 points for a solid third. Freshman Tyler Thompson was second in the 200 free with a season best of 1:48.03, swam on the Bears' winning 200 free relay that clocked 1:34.31 and on the third-place 400 free relay in addition to taking fourth in the 100 back.

Torr Hage and Peter Jacobs also had solid performances for coach Rick Longyear.

In the girls' meet, Menlo set a league record while winning the 200 free relay in 1:42.70 with a foursome of Kiki Hiller, Angie McPhaul, Maryann Hiller and Whitney Allen. That broke Menlo-Atherton's mark from 1997.

The 200 free saw Menlo go 2-3-4 for 48 points, enough to offset a league record and CCS-leading time of 1:51.54 by Aragon's Katherine Wong. Maryann Hiller added a second in the 100 breast in addition to adding points in two relays and the 200 IM while Kiki Hiller prevented a one-two finish by Aragon in the 50 free by tying for second.

Menlo-Atherton finished a strong third with 363 points and helped break up Aragon's points. In the 200 IM, for example, Danielle Hildebrandt won in 2:11.09 and fellow M-A sophomore Kelly Eaton was second in 2:12.22, relegating Aragon to third.

The Bears also took second in the 400 free relay and helped Menlo's title hopes with key seconds and thirds throughout the meet.

WCAL

While Bellarmine and Mitty dominated the boys' and girls' meets respectively, Sacred Heart Prep finished a strong second behind the Bells with 285 points. Freshman Kameron Flores-Maxfield broke his own school records in the 200 IM with a season-best 1:59.87 for third place. He also took second in the 100 breast in 1:01.11, just missing the school record. The Gators also had three third-place finishes in the relays.
WBAL

Castilleja easily swam off with the West Bay Athletic League crown last week at home, scoring 131 points to hold off Notre Dame-San Jose (91) and Harker (64).

Senior Lexi Namba capped an undefeated WBAL career in the 500 free by defending her title in 5:14.03. She also won the 100 breast in 1:09.77 and swam on the winning 200 medley relay team that clocked 2:01.00. Eleni Papademetriou provided Castilleja with its only other individual triumph, a 26.94 win in the 50 free.

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