Palo Alto’s two-year reign as Central Coast Section girls swimming champions came to an end Saturday when crosstown rival Gunn captured the top honors at Santa Clara International Swim Center.
Nothing like keeping the trophy in town, preventing it from changing school districts.
Gunn got off to a relatively slow start this season with several key performers not at full strength. But the Titans finished with a rush, taking first place at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals and then following it up with the big win at CCS.
And they even followed the same strong-finish model during the meet with freshman Melanie Julia finishing a surprising second in the final individual event, the 100 breaststroke.
Julia’s finish gave Gunn a comfortable lead over St. Francis. All the Titans needed to do was to avoid being disqualified in the 400 freestyle relay in order o win the meet.
Gunn finished with 241 points to 221 for St. Francis. Mitty was third with 194 and Paly fourth with 171.
It was the second CCS girls swimming championship in Gunn school history, joining the one that was earned in 2012.
Gunn took top honors despite winning only one event, the 200 medley relay, the first event of the afternoon, in which they were seeded 13th, when the team of Milan Hilde-Jones, Julia, Grace Tramack and Clara Schulz brought it home in a time of 1:44.52.
The CCS title came about as the result of strong efforts by those four swimmers in addition to Sarah Snyder and Ashley Stahmer. And all six of those swimmers will return next year. All are juniors except for Julia.
Snyder picked up a third in the 200 free, Stahmer a fifth in the 50 free and a seventh in the 100 free, Tramack a fourth in the 500 free and a seventh in the 200 free, Hilde-Jones a sixth in the backstroke and an eighth in the butterfly, Schulz an eighth in the 100 free.
Julia, with her second-place finish in the breast, broke the oldest Gunn school record still on the books, a record set by Emily Watkins in 2011 of 1:03.85. Julia was timed in 1:02.10.
“I was not expecting that time at all,” Julia said.
“I was expecting her to finish in the top eight,” Gunn coach Mark Hernandez said. “I didn’t expect her to finish second.”
Menlo-Atherton senior Izzi Henig was a double winner in the 50 free (23.06) and the 100 free (49.36). She was also a double winner in those two events as a sophomore, then won the 50 and placed second in the 100 as a junior.
“It feels great,” Henig said about three-peating as a CCS champion in the 50. “I’m really happy. It’s really a fun race.”
Henig is heading off to Yale, where she is likely to make an immediate impact.
Palo Alto senior Zoe Lusk took a pair of thirds in the 200 individual medley (2:00.99) and the 100 back (55.01).
“We’ve had a really good run,” Lusk said. “Without Grace (Zhao, a double winner at last year’s CCS finals) we didn’t know what we could do this year. Everyone tried their hardest. We did the best we could have done.”
Lusk is headed to Duke for college. She initially planned on majoring in chemistry, but after taking AP psychology this year she’s considering focusing on cognitive neuroscience instead, an area of study in which she could combine her interests in chemistry and psychology.
Lusk also swam the third leg on Palo Alto’s winning 200 free relay team, joining with Amy Wu, Peyton Wang and Claire Lin for a time of 1:35.29.
Sacred Heart Prep’s Sloane Reinstein placed fourth in the 50 free (23.51) and fifth in the 100 free (51.69). Lin took seventh in the 50 (23.90) and Paly freshman Mary Wilkinson seventh in the 500 free (5:05.79). Castilleja’s Marie Williams placed seventh in the 200 IM (2:05.38).
Bellarmine cruised to the boys championship, scoring 308 points to 190 for second-place St. Francis. Gunn was fourth. The Bells, loaded with sprinters, went 1-2-3 in the 50 free. They won their 35th CCS title in the last 37 years.
Jonathan Affeld was a top performer for Gunn, taking second in the 500 free (4:30.50) and fifth in the 200 free (1:40.20). Shogo Moridaira took a third in the 100 breast (56.74) and Theo Makler placed fifth in the 200 IM (1:51.35).
Sacred Heart Prep’s Larsen Weigle came in fifth in the 50 free (21.10) and fourth in the 100 free (46.00). Teammate Luke Rohlen was seventh (21.56) in the 50.
Woodside’s Trevor Collet was a fifth-place finisher in both the 100 fly (50.11) and the 100 back (50.82).
Paly freshman Max Velasek came in fourth in diving with a score of 504.90.
Congratulations to the Gunn Girls Swim Team for their CCS Championship! What makes their story interesting is that Clara Schulz broke her finger in the first 200 medley relay that she anchored in as the freestyler to out touch her opponents.
Like the article says, she had an 8th place finish in the 100 free, but the detail of her freshly broken finger and wearing a cast is not noted. She was swimming to finish and earn the points she could, but she certainly wasn’t in the position to race.
Clara was slated to swim the 200 free relay but couldn’t because of her finger. The team had to bring in an alternate. One of their alternates, who was not expecting to swim at all, was at the pool helping as a timer. Freshman Kate Mallery stepped in and helped the team (with juniors Sarah Snyder and Ashley Stahmer and sophomore Cooper McKenna) to a 3rd place finish–and a .02 faster time than prelims!
Big thank you to Coaches Kyle Accornero and Mark Hernandez! I’m excited to see what these girls do next season since all of them should be back!