Swimming Preview: Burbank, Burroughs dive into season with share of talent
For the second straight year, Burbank and Burroughs highs have enjoyed good turnouts for their swimming teams.
“I think we will have 70 or more athletes this year and that’s probably the most since I’ve been here,” said Burbank Coach Gilbert Raposa, who is in his fourth season with the program. “What’s great is that we have some seniors who have been on varsity for four years and we have some young athletes who can back them up.
“On the boys’ side, especially, I’m now starting to have a lot of strong swimmers. Before, I didn’t have that many on varsity, because I had some who couldn’t even really swim. But overall, the team has grown and the level has really gone up. I’m really happy to see that growth in the team.”
At Burroughs, the teams will feature some successful returners as well as some new younger talent on deep squads.
“We have a good mix, which is always a good thing,” Burroughs Coach Jacob Cook said. “We have some good swimmers back from last year who are just sophomores and we have a good incoming freshman, so we have some swimmers who still have a few years with us.
“We also will have a lot of [junior varsity] swimmers and we have probably 100 in our program. We actually had about 120 try out and we had to make some cuts.”
Here is a closer look at the teams.
BURBANK
The Bulldogs kick off their season Tuesday with a nonleague home meet against Canyon Country Canyon.
“I have just about everything set for our teams, so we’re ready to go,” Raposa said.
The Burbank boys’ team features the lone defending Pacific League champion among city swimmers. Senior Roman Rostomyan swam to a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 52.46 seconds at the 2016 league finals. In addition, he was a member of a Bulldogs 4x100 relay team that set a school record in 3:27.96.
“He is just a very good swimmer and he’s versatile, so he can swim other events,” said Raposa about Rostomyan, who will also swim the 500 freestyle.
Two other members of the record-setting relay are also back: senior Justin Miller and sophomore Ashot Gauvmadzhyan. Miller will also swim the 50 and 100 freestyle events and Gauvmadzhyan will be in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.
On the girls’ side, the Bulldogs have a core of three swimmers. Sophomore Michelle Morlock will compete in the 100 backstroke, sophomore Emily Udall will swim the 200 individual medley, the 500 freestyle and the 100 butterfly and freshman Angelica Perez will swim the 50 freestyle.
In the Pacific League, Rasposa said he expects the stiffest competition to come from Crescenta Valley and Arcadia, as usual.
BURROUGHS
The Indians begin their season Tuesday at home in a nonleague contest against Monrovia.
Returning to bolster the Burroughs boys’ team is sophomore Reigh Abaoag, who will swim the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.
“He is a guy who is going to probably break some school records — he’s that good,” Cook said. “He was good as a freshman last year, but he’s gotten even better since then.”
On the girls’ side, the Indians will likely be led by sophomore Mikayla Gardner, who can compete in a variety of events. A newcomer Cook has high hopes for is freshman Maya Wilson, who will swim the 500 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
“Her big event is the 100 butterfly, but she can swim in in lot of other events,” Cook said of Gardner. “I expect her to be faster this year than she was last year.
“And for Maya, she is just a great swimmer and she has the potential to break school records and go far in CIF. She is so versatile that she can swim anything.”
In league, Cook said he expects tough competition.
“CV and Arcadia usually dominate, but we will see how the other teams do,” he said. “We definitely expect a lot of our swimmers and relays to be going to CIF this year.”
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
