Chloe Clark, Chenoa Devine Impress at CIF Sac-Joaquin Championships

CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: May 13-14, 2016
• Location: Tokay High School, Lodi, CA
• Live Results: Meet Mobile (search ‘Sac-Joaquin’)
• Championship Central

GIRLS MEET

Granite Bay and Davis went head-to-head in the 200 medley relay as it came down to the touch. Meet Mobile doesn’t have accurate splits for half of Granite Bay’s relay, but both teams led off with very strong backstroke legs. Davis had Zoe Cosgrove with a 25.52, while the event winners Granite Bay kicked off with Chloe Clark (25.72). Granite Bay ended up on top, 1:44.10 to 1:44.45. Rio Americano touched third in 1:45.24, powered by a 24.06 fly leg from Lizzie Menzmer.

Davis’ Chenoa Devine, who swam the fly leg of Davis’ medley relay the event before, dropped almost a second from prelims and won the 200 free in 1:48.85. She was joined by Tina Reuter (1:49.64) and Sydney Larson (1:49.83) under 1:50. Reuter pulled a pretty impressive double, going into the 200 IM the very next event. The Rio Americano sophomore picked up another 2nd place finish (2:01.80) behind sophomore Halladay Kinsey (2:00.76). Devine later went on to win the 500 free with a time of 4:48.19, the only finisher under 4:54.

Kinsey picked up another win in a battle with Granite Bay’s medley butterflier, Heaven Quintana, in the 100 fly. Her time of 53.65 was a huge 1.21 second drop from prelims, and she edged Quintana, who touched at 53.94. Rio Americano’s medley butterflier Lizzie Menzmer touched third in 54.39. Quintana followed her 2nd place finish with a win, though, in the 100 breast. It’s not incredibly common to have a butterfly-breaststroke specialist, but Quintana turned in a time of 1:02.25 in the 100 breast to take the victory by nearly a full second.

Sophomore ruled a 1-2-3 sweep in the 50 free, led by Amalie Fackenthal (22.75). She was followed, but not closely, by Cody Hardagon (23.70) and Kailee Nabeta (23.86). Fackenthal and 15-year-old freshman Chloe Clark dueled in the 100 free, resulting in both girls getting well under 50 seconds. Fackenthal won again, in 49.26, with Clark behind her at 49.45. Those swims move Fackenthal up from 72nd to 39th on the 15-16 all time list, while Clark, who is just 14, now sits at #10 in the 13-14 age group’s all time list.

Granite Bay and Davis tangled again in the 200 free relay, but this time it was Davis who got the upper hand. Davis had a slim lead going into the final exchange, and Cody Hardagon’s 23.33 anchor leg solidified their win in 1:36.13 over Granite Bay (1:36.68).

Chloe Clark and Zoe Cosgrove, the freshmen who led off Granite Bay’s and Davis’ medley relays in 25’s at the beginning of the meet, swam well in the 100 back. Cosgrove was 54.57, adding .40 from this morning, but Clark dropped about the same and hit a 53.23. She now ranks 7th in the all-time 13-14 age group in this event, just behind Missy Franklin’s 53.16 from 2010. The pair will have three more years of great swimming ahead of them in their high school careers.

Clark’s win was big for Granite Bay, pushing their lead to 17 points over Davis going into the final relay. Davis’ team of Cosgrove (51.67), Mia Motekaitis (50.98), Hardagon (51.81), and Devine (50.95) did the job, winning in 3:25.41 over Rio Americano (3:25.89) and Granite Bay (3:26.48). It was Granite Bay in the end, though, winning the team title with 321 points. Davis finished 2nd with 310.

Final Scores

1. Granite Bay 321
2. Davis 310
3. Rio Americano 178
4. St Francis 168
5. Lincoln (Stockton) 142

BOYS MEET

The Granite Bay boys also had their hands full at the opening 200 medley relay, battling with Oak Ridge. Granite Bay’s Connor MacDonald pulled out a 20.96 anchor leg, though, to get his team to the wall at 1:34.12 over Oak Ridge’s 1:34.34.

Liam O’Haimhirgin took Oak Ridge’s Bryce Mefford down to the touch in the 200 free, with the senior O’Haimhirgin taking the win in 1:37.32 over Mefford (1:37.36). Later on, Mefford would get a victory in the 100 fly. He torched the field, posting a 48.08 to win by over a second and a half. O’Haimhirgin, too, got a win later on in the meet. His time of 44.07 in the 100 free beat out 2nd place finisher Timothy Lee by nearly a full second.

Lee won the 50 free earlier in the session, touching in 20.64. The sophomore was the only swimmer to sprint under 21 seconds. Davis’ Ben Culberson later won the longest race of the meet, the 500 free, in 4:32.10. He won by nearly four seconds.

After meeting in the 200 medley relay, Oak Ridge and Granite Bay fought again in the 200 free relay. Bryce Mefford wouldn’t let Granite Bay grab another win, and anchored Oak Ridge to a 1:25.38 victory with his quick 20.11 anchor leg. Granite Bay ended up tying for 2nd with Lodi (1:25.57), and Davis touched close behind in fourth (1:25.86).

Bryce Mefford’s brother Colby Mefford held his own in the 100 back, touching at 50.48 to win the event as the only swimmer under 51 seconds. Mefford is a freshman.

A close race in the 100 breast ended with Scott Tolman on top in 55.58, followed by Ty Wells and Ethan Dillard; the latter two were only separated by a hundredth. Wells finished 2nd in 55.94, Dillard 3rd in 55.95. Andrew Britton grabbed 4th in 56.16. After this event, the team race between Granite Bay and Oak Ridge was ridiculously close– Granite Bay led with 252 points over Oak Ridge’s 250. It would all come down to the 400 free relay.

Oak Ridge pulled through with a huge win in the 400 free relay. Ethan Dillard (45.74), Colin Reeve (46.15), Colby Mefford (47.58), and Bryce Mefford (44.35) combined for a 3:03.82 to win by nearly four seconds over the Jesuit Marauders. Granite Bay finished 4th (3:09.92), which wasn’t enough to hold off Oak Ridge, who took the team title with 290 points. Granite Bay settled for 2nd with 282.

Final Scores

1. Oak Ridge 290
2. Granite Bay 282
3. Jesuit 228.5
4. Davis 213
5. Lodi 122