One Crescenta Valley swimming streak endures, while another falls at Pacific League finals
The most impressive championship streak in Pacific League history had survived its share of challenges, overcome numerous obstacles, produced several thrilling comebacks and even encountered some good fortune along the way during a reign of nearly a quarter-century in the pool.
But Crescenta Valley’s bid to earn a share of a 25th consecutive boys’ league title Thursday was finally halted by an Arcadia lineup that successfully pooled all of its resources during the championship meet at Burbank High.
CV managed to win only one event, with Tenny Chong and Ryan Wang each winning two individual races – combining for three league finals records – and contributing to a pair of relay victories for Arcadia, which produced a 461-409.5 victory over the Falcons for the program’s first undisputed championship since 1984.
“We finally put it all together,” said Arcadia Coach Janice Clark, whose team defeated CV, 102-68, in the regular season dual meet April 27. “We got our act together [Thursday]. The previous two years, we beat CV in the dual meet and they womped us at this meet because we got here and imploded and we made mistakes and we didn’t swim well. [Thursday] we had everyone on top of their game. No one missed events, we didn’t get any DQs and everyone swam their ultimate best times, for the most part.”
One CV streak did continue as the Falcons secured their 10th straight girls’ crown with a 565-392 victory over Arcadia.
Despite graduating Tiare Coker and Heather MacDougall from last year’s championship lineup, CV showed no signs of slowing down, winning eight events, including all three relays.
“It’s an honoring moment. It’s kind of indescribable,” said freshman Gabi Icheva, who won the 100-yard butterfly in 57.90 seconds and contributed to victories in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. “Considering that everyone came into this season thinking that we were really weak and being able to prove at league that we still have got what it takes to win, it’s pretty amazing. It’s just a lot of joy that I’m feeling.”
Sophomore Alex Garas was the only Falcon to win four races, but she was more concerned about the health of teammate Kimmy Park, who suffered a left calf cramp during the 100 freestyle and had to be helped from the pool after the race. Garas prevailed in the 100 free by a 55.81 to 55.93 margin.
“I was actually pretty disappointed that Kimmy had that really bad cramp. I actually wanted her to beat me because I like someone to chase when I race,” said Garas, who also won the 50 freestyle in 25.30. “To think that Kimmy still raced even with that cramp, I felt really proud to be on the same team as her. I don’t care if I win or lose, I just want to be there for my team.”
Before suffering the cramp, Park won the 200 individual medley in 2:13.40 and Genevieve Gonzalez prevailed in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.61 for the Falcons, who received runner-up finishes from Icheva in the 200 freestyle (1:52.78), Miya Higuchi in the 100 butterfly (58.93) and Teagan Higuchi in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.77).
Yvette Kim, who rejoined the team last week after taking time off from swimming for personal issues, teamed with Gonzalez and the Higuchi sisters to the win the 200 medley relay in 1:54.79.
Miranda Li joined Garas, Icheva and Kim to set a league finals record in the 200 freestyle relay, clocking 1:42.44 to lower Arcadia’s 2011 mark of 1:42.54. Garas, Icheva, Li and Miya Higuchi capped the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:41.79.
Glendale senior Trenton Julian had been slowed recently by a sore left shoulder but still managed to set a league championship record with a 49.56 in the 100 butterfly, breaking the 2013 effort of 49.90 by former CV standout Young Tae Seo, helping the Nitros finish sixth with 168 points.
“I think my shoulder was a lot more in control. It felt a lot stronger, but I think I still have a lot to go before CIF in terms of strengthening and just recovering,” said Julian, who also captured a league title in the 200 freestyle in 1:40.48.
“It felt pretty good. I went out a little sluggish in the arms and I knew I had to pick it up in that second 50 to get the record. I’m kind of hoping [the record] just brings [the butterfly] up to a new level. Faster records means faster swims in the future.”
Sophomore William Blake, who took second to Julian in the 200 freestyle in 1:42.93, won the 500 free in 4:37.18 for the Falcons’ lone boys’ individual championship.
Nick Hartoonian took second in the 100 backstroke in 57.78 and Justin Sheen was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 59.89, with the Falcons placing second to Arcadia in both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Chong equaled his own finals standard in the 50 freestyle by clocking 20.76 and broke the 100 backstroke record set in 2012 by CV’s Harrison Thai with his 50.52 effort. Wang followed that swim with the 100 breaststroke record, clocking 57.50 to eclipse the mark of 58.19 he shared with Seo to clinch the title for Arcadia.
“The rivalry has been fantastic. Our guys hang out together, but when they compete against each other, they want to beat each other. Everybody knows the rivalry is a big deal and it pushes everybody to be their best and it’s the type of competition you always want to have,” said CV boys’ Coach Jan Sakonju, whose team had rebounded from dual meet losses to Arcadia the past two years to win at the league finals and extend the streak. “The measure of that success has been the competition you’ve had to go against. Year after year, Janice has been putting together these top teams that we’ve had to compete against. Even when we’ve had our streaks at CIF, there was never a year when anyone could relax because they were always chasing and competing and working hard and pushing us to be better.”
Hoover placed fourth in the boys’ competition with 230 points, led by Vahe Akopen, who took second in the 200 individual medley (1:58.84) and 500 freestyle (4:50.34), along with Haik Guskayan, the runner-up in the 100 freestyle in 50.69.
Lauren Warshaw was second for Hoover in the 500 freestyle in 5:11.38, helping the Tornadoes finish fifth in the girls’ competition with 178 points. Glendale was seventh with 135 points.