Southern Section Swimming Relays : Foothill Finds Momentum In a Winning Performance

Foothill High School won the championship in the 44-team boys’ Southern Section swimming relays at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach Saturday night as the Knights geared up for their formidable league schedule.

Finishing third behind Foothill (220 points) and San Marino (200) was fellow Century League member Villa Park (178), perhaps previewing one of the toughest boys’ swimming leagues in the county.

The significance of Foothill’s victory seems to be nothing more than a moral boost, however.

“It’s a shot in the arm,” Foothill Coach Tom DeLong said. “Now we have to go hard and put our noses to the grindstone and get ready for Villa Park.”

The Knights, defending league champions, open league play against the Spartans on March 29.

Saturday’s meet, the culmination of a three-day tournament that started Tuesday, was merely a warmup for the season.

But it was also very important to teams trying to make waves early.

“It was very meaningful to our team to win a tournament like this,” DeLong said. “All of the best teams were here.”

The victory was not clinched until the final event of the night. Defending Southern Section 4-A butterfly champion Ron Scott of Foothill pulled away in the butterfly in the 4 x 50-meter medley.

That gave a cushion in the fourth leg--the freestyle--to Brian Costanza, who raced to a tournament record 1:38.06 finish, breaking Long Beach Wilson’s record set in 1977. Also taking part in the relay for Foothill were Zach Holder and Brett Cowdell.

Foothill had entered the final event eight points ahead of San Marino, which finished fifth in the 50-meter medley with a time of 1:42.56.

In all, Foothill won three of the seven events--the 6 x 50-meter freestyle (2:14.67), the 4 x 50-meter backstroke (1:44.55) in addition to the final event. The Knights squeaked out a victory in the 6 x 50-meter freestyle, beating Villa Park by 0.18 seconds.

San Marino took the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 3:15.79 and the 50-yard breaststroke at 1:54.91.

Corona del Mar, which didn’t win any events, took fourth place with 154 points. Marina, which won the 100-meter individual medley and the 50-meter butterfly, finished fifth with 146 points.