CIF SAC-JOAQUIN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Prelims- Girls (May 11th), Boys (May 12th)
- Finals- Saturday, May 13th
- Tokay High School (Lodi, CA)
- Results on Meet Mobile (‘2017 CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION’)
Bryce Mefford of Oak Ridge High School lit things up at the CIF-Sac Joaquin meet. Mefford, a Cal commit, went 4-for-4, earning individual wins in the 200 free and 100 fly. In the 200 free, he was 1:34.93, just off of his lifetime best from March, winning by a considerable margin over Vanden’s Timothy Lee (1:38.38). Lee would come back to take the 100 free by almost a full second with a 45.38. Then, in the 100 fly, Mefford unleashed a 47.19 for his second win of the meet.
At this meet last year, Mefford was 1:37.37 in the 200 free and 48.08 in the 100 fly, meaning he obliterated both of his own Sac-Joaquin records this weekend.
Mefford teamed up with his younger brother Colby Mefford to help Oak Ridge to a title in the 200 medley relay, though Colby sat out the 200 free relay. While the 200 medley relay splits are suspect on Meet Mobile (they say that Colby was 21.85 on backstroke while Bryce was 21.36 on free), the 200 free relay splits show Bryce’s strong 19.68 anchor leg to help Oak Ridge to the win. Colby didn’t earn any titles, but the sophomore did place 3rd in the 200 free and 2nd in the 100 back.
While Oak Ridge cleaned up on the boys’ side, Davis, Rio Americano, and Granite Bay were dueling for a team title on the girls’ side.
Chloe Clark, a sophomore, came up big for Granite Bay. She went off for two individual titles, first in the 200 IM, where she posted the only sub-2:00 time of 1:59.51. That was enough to edge Kristina Murphy, a junior from Christian Brothers, by almost three seconds (2:02.17). Murphy returned to get a big win in the 100 breast, though, taking the title at 1:01.83. Clark, meanwhile, was back for more, going 53.47 to earn the win in the 100 back. She also split a 24.58 fly on Granite Bay’s medley relay, which touched 3rd.
Rio Americano and Davis went 1-2, though, in the 200 medley relay. Rio Americano (1:43.06) got a 29.48 from Halladay Kinsey, who would go on to earn two individual titles later in the meet in two other strokes. Davis (1:43.15) got a 25.95 lead-off from Zoe Cosgrove and a 24.33 fly leg out of Mia Motekaitis.
Kinsey, while swimming breast on the medley relay, showed her versatility with wins in the 100 fly (54.40) and, just two events later, in the 500 free (4:52.13). Kinsey’s time was enough to hold off Davis’ Cosgrove (4:53.54). Motekaitis, for her part, won the 200 free (1:49.06) and went 54.78 in the 100 fly to take 2nd behind Kinsey.
Davis, Lodi, and Granite Bay went 1-2-3 in the 200 free relay, with Davis earning its first relay win after Rio Americano touched them out in the 200 medley relay. Davis and Granite Bay saved their stars for the 400 free relay, but Rio Americano took that relay as well in 3:25.24. Davis reigned, though, in an incredibly tight finish between the top three teams, after Granite Bay took the team race last year.
On the boys’ side, two big swims ended the meet. First, Andrew Britton, a junior from Joseph A Gregori, popped a 54.91 100 breast to win by over a second. Then, Colby Mefford anchored Oak Ridge’s 400 free relay with a strong 45.45 to cap off their big team win.
Other winners
- Oak Ridge freshman Ben Dillard popped out a 1:50.94 to take the 200 IM.
- Finn O’Haimhirgin of Bella Vista won the boys’ 50 free with a time of 21.13.
- Sacramento Country Day’s Amalie Fackenthal completed the sprint double, winning the 50 free (23.04) and 100 free (50.22).
- Daniel Ilin of Antelope went 4:27.38 to take the 500 free.
- Freshman Gianluca Urlando of C. K. McClatchy was 48.41 to win the 100 back, though he was much faster in prelims (47.53) for a new Sac-Joaquin record. The old record was a 48.07 by Bryce Mefford.
Team Scores
Girls
- Davis 273
- Granite Bay 268.5
- Rio Americano 261
- Lodi 141
- Oak Ridge 124
Boys
- Oak Ridge 362
- Granite Bay 266
- Jesuit Marauders 215.5
- Rio Americano 148
- Bella Vista 146
Check Meet Mobile on order of Rio Americano 200 Med Relay. Tina Reuter swam breaststroke leg and Halladay Kinsey swam the fly.
Mefford is definitely better than his ranking of 11 for top recruits in the class of 2017
Can’t wait to see what Bryce does next year at Cal. Coach Scott Shea has done a great job setting him up for an incredible career at Cal. Great young man with a great family – should be great things to come!
A few other notable swims from this meet:
Daniel Ilan – 500 Free 4:27.38
Gianluca Urlando – 100 Back 47.53 (New Section Record)
Amalie Fackenthal – Winning 50 Free (23.04) and 100 Free (50.22) – Unshaved!
47.53 100 back from a freshmen is very impressive
I was a coach on Gianluca’s summer league swim team when he was 6 or 8. Very cool to see the success both he and his sister have had – congrats!