SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ SWIMMING : El Toro Rallies in Last Race, Edges Foothill in Relays
The El Toro High School girls’ swim team was at a disadvantage Saturday night at the Southern Section relays, but it didn’t seem to matter.
The Chargers were swimming shorthanded in the finals, having failed to qualify a team in every event. El Toro’s 4x50-yard backstroke team had been disqualified in Tuesday’s prelims because Erin Pyka jumped too soon at the start of the race.
With Foothill having teams in all seven events, El Toro was considered a long shot at best.
But the Chargers overcame the odds Saturday to win the Southern Section relays at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. El Toro edged Foothill, 222-220, by winning the final event, the 4x50 medley.
Los Alamitos (182 points) finished third, Fountain Valley (170) was fourth and Mission Viejo (162) fifth.
A big reason for the Chargers’ comeback was Pyka.
“Erin was just overanxious on Tuesday,” El Toro Coach Sheri Ross said. “She thought she heard the starting bell and jumped. But she’s her own worst critic and has been down on herself all week.”
Pyka made up for her mistake Saturday.
She led the 4x50 butterfly team to a fourth-place finish, which moved the Chargers to within striking range of Foothill.
She then swam a leg in the final event, the 4x50 medley. The Chargers finished first in a time of 1 minute 50.65 seconds to win the championship.
El Toro won four of seven events. The Chargers finished first in the 4x100 individual medley (4:08.16), the 6x50 freestyle (2:32.90), the 4x50 breaststroke (2:08.24) and the 4x50 medley.
Two meet records were broken Saturday. Los Alamitos topped its own record in the 4x100 freestyle with a time of 3:34.68. The Griffins’ previous record time of 3:36.42 was set in last year’s meet.
Thousand Oaks broke Mission Viejo’s record in the 4x50 backstroke with a time of 1:51.51. The Diablos set the record in 1985 with a time of 1:51.62.
