CIF-SS D3 Girls Final – Crean Even Better Than Expected, Laguna Beach Ekes Out Second Place

It was quite a display: Crean Lutheran lit up the pool for the second year in a row, breaking records with -and without- their high-profile stars, Lindsey Engel and Ella and Emily Eastin.

Emily Eastin leading off Crean Lutheran’s 200 medley relay. Photo: Anne Lepesant

The trio joined with freshman breaststroker Rachel Taylor to win the 200 medley relay and set a new CIF-SS D3 standard. Emily Eastin (25.36), Taylor (29.94), Ella Eastin (24.17), and Engel (22.32) combined for a 1:41.79, lowering the mark they’d set last year (1:46.57) by nearly six seconds. Poly Pasadena and Granite Hills were second and third, ten seconds back.

Rosalee Santa Ana of Calvary Chapel in Downey won both distance free races, starting with the 200 in which she edged out Saddleback Valley Christian’s Casey Cunningham 1:52.38 to 1:52.88. Santa Ana was also first in the 500, with 4:58.45.

Current record-holder Ella Eastin won the 200 IM, her specialty event, in 1:56.54. About .6 off her own record, she nonetheless won by a half a pool length. La Serna senior Alyssa Shew finished second; La Salle’s Jacqueline Torrez was third. Crean’s Taylor took fourth.

Engel won the 50 free in 22.71, less than 2/10 off the record she set in this event last year. Second and third went to Cara Borkovec of Laguna Beach and Tianna Jorgenson of Crean Lutheran, respectively.

In the diving, Immaculate Heart’s Olivia Rosendahl set a new CIF-SS D3 record with 585.30, beating her total from 2012 by more than 11 points. Madi Witt of Flintridge Prep came in second; Rebekah Dominik of Valley Christian in Cerritos jumped to third.

Emily Eastin won the 100 fly/ 100 back double. She went 54.63 in the former, missing her sister Ella’s record by .7. In the latter she touched in 54.37, again just .7 off the D3 record, this time held by Engel.

Crean Lutheran’s 200 free relay. Photo: Jenna Haufler/Hugh Berryman

Crean’s Engel, who had set the D3 standard for the 100 free last year with 48.96, touched first this year in 49.15. Cara Borkovec of Laguna Beach touched out Robin Smallwood of Granite Hills for second place, 52.69 to 52.77.

Showing off just how much depth this Crean Lutheran team has, four girls whose last names do not begin with E broke the D3 record in the 200 free relay. Katia Young (25.02), Jorgenson (23.89), Taylor (24.59), and Zoe Peck (24.67) combined for 1:38.17, downing a Laguna Beach mark that had stood since 2009. And three of those girls are freshmen. Laguna Beach (Bella Baldridge, Abby Cohn, Natalie Selin, and Borkovec) had a strong swim to finish second. Viewpoint took third, just .24 ahead of La Serna despite a 23.8 anchor leg by La Serna’s Shew.

Crean Lutheran’s record-breaking 400 free relay. Photo: Jenna Haufler/Hugh Berryman

Ella Eastin wrapped up the meet with a new CIF-SS Division 3 record in the 100 breast. Her 1:01.75 took down a forty-year-old mark of 1:02.59, set by Tracey McFarlane of Palm Springs in 1984. Her teammate Taylor took second, while La Serna’s Shew was third.

The meet ended on a high note as Crean Lutheran’s Ella Eastin (49.82), Emily Eastin (50.84) Jorgenson (52.11), and Engel (48.64) destroyed the CIF-SS Division 3 record for the 400 free relay with their combined 1:41.79. They were 1.06 off Carondelet’s 2011 national independent school record. Laguna Beach took second, while Granite Hills finished third.

Final Standings