Flintridge Prep boys’ swimming four-peats in Prep League

PASADENA — It’s been a familiar moment for the Flintridge Prep boys’ swimming team: receiving the Prep League’s championship plaque and celebrating in the corner of the Pasadena Poly pool.

But coming into this season, it certainly wasn’t a sure thing that the Rebels would be able to continue their recent dominance at the league’s championship meet. After graduating many key swimmers the last couple of seasons, the Rebels had to regroup.

Flintridge Prep made the adjustments throughout the season, culminating with a fourth straight league championship at Pasadena Poly on Saturday.

“We’ve lost a lot of great swimmers in recent years and we thought we might have to rebuild here and there,” Flintridge Prep Coach Ingrid Herskind said after the Rebels finished with 384 1/2 points to best second-place Webb (298 1/2). “We were able to figure things out along the way and you could see how much they wanted to win league again.

“We’re excited going to CIF and we’ll look to keep it going. We really got a lot of good efforts today.”

In the girls’ meet, Flintridge Prep placed fifth out of six teams with 136 points.

Andreas Langen paced the Flintridge Prep boys’ squad with a pair of first-place finishes. The junior, who shared the league’s most valuable swimmer with Richard Parnell of Webb, won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.41 seconds for the first time before coming back to repeat as league champion in the 100 freestyle (47.32). Both marks were automatic CIF times for CIF Southern Section Division III.

“On the 50, I just zoned out and it’s more about muscle memory because it’s a fast race,” Langen said. “It’s more about the smaller details in the 100, like going off the wall and what your last lap will be like.

“The important thing about winning league is that people aren’t really concerned so much about their times. When you do that, things start to fall apart. Everybody needed to focus on their job, whether it’s a relay or individual race. It’s really cool to win league again.”

Langen also teamed with Winston Chen, Sean King and Brett Bell to capture 400 freestyle relay in 3:17.59. The quartet just missed the league meet standard of 3:17.36, set by Flintridge Prep in 2014. Kasen Barraclough, Matt Ng, Ben Brookbanks and Nate Morrissey of Flintridge Prep took first in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:34.88.

The Rebels got second-place performances from Brett Bell, Langen, King and Chen in the 200 medley relay (1:41.71), Alex Maletis in the 200 freestyle (1:53.23), Chen in the 200 individual medley (2:09.70) Ng in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.70) and Bell in the 100 butterfly (55.16). Scott Fordam placed third in the 500 freestyle in 5:17.66).

Pasadena Poly finished third in league with 198, followed by Chadwick with 183.

Flintridge Prep turned in some fine efforts in the girls’ competition.

Paving the way for the Rebels was junior Lena Pawlek. Pawlek finished second in the 500 freestyle with a CIF automatic time of 5:22.32. In addition, Pawlek teamed with Lara Friedman, Emily Jacobs and Emily Alameddine to finish second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:53.78) and she won the consolation title in the 200 freestyle (1:58.19).

“In the 500, I knew I had to go out fast and try to bring it home,” Pawlek said. “I went out there and tried to stay aggressive.

“Same thing in the 200 [freestyle]. You just have to be able to pace yourself, while also being aggressive.”

The Rebels also received good marks from Jacobs in the 200 individual medley (third, 2:17.86) and Alameddine in the 500 freestyle (third, 5:26.53) and 200 freestyle (fourth, 2:01.92).

Herskind said the girls’ team has made strides, despite having just eight athletes.

“They are very young, but they are also enthusiastic,” Herskind said. “Things are starting to come together for them and they are getting good experience. It will be good to see them swim at CIF.”

Pasadena Poly finished first with 379 points, followed by Westridge (279), Mayfield (213) and Webb (160). Chadwick was sixth (56 points).

The division prelims will start at 4 p.m. May 11 at Riverside City College. The finals will take place at 5 p.m. May 12 at the same venue.