SOUTHERN SECTION 3-A AND 2-A SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Los Alamitos Takes One Last Run at 3-A Title

This year’s Southern Section 3-A swim finals might be the last hurrah for the Los Alamitos High School girls’ team.

After three years of domination in 3-A competition, the Griffins will move to the 4-A level next season. That, plus the fact that five of the team’s top swimmers are graduating, likely will put an end to Los Alamitos’ championship string.

But that’s next year. Tonight, beginning at 7 at the Belmont Plaza pool, the Griffins are heavy favorites to win their third consecutive 3-A Southern Section championship.

In Thursday’s prelims, five Los Alamitos swimmers qualified for the finals in nine races.

The Griffins will have nine swimmers competing tonight either in the finals or consolation finals. With that many swimmers scoring points, Los Alamitos likely will be unchallenged.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but unless something unusual happens, we should win,” Coach Debbie Fleming said. “We just have too many girls scoring points.”

The Griffins became a Southern Section power in 1987, when they finished second in the 3-A meet to Hacienda Heights Wilson.

Five swimmers, who were freshmen on that 1987 team, will be swimming their last high school competition tonight--Christy Chomin, Nikki Herron, Kim Rubino, Julie Shikiya and Nicole Williamson.

Of that group, three will continue their swim careers in college next season. Williamson has signed a letter of intent with Michigan, Rubino has signed with UC Santa Barbara and Herron will swim for Yale, which doesn’t offer athletic scholarships.

“When that group came in as freshmen, I knew we had the makings of a good team,” Fleming said.

A good team became a great one the following year with the arrival of freshmen Nicole Davis, Marci Herron, Stacy St. Martin, Stephanie Michaels and Traci Ogle.

The Griffins have not lost a dual meet in four years. They also have won seven consecutive Empire League championships.

“This has been such a great group to work with,” Fleming said. “They’re fun to be around, but they are serious when they need to be.”

Of the group, Williamson and St. Martin are the top swimmers.

St. Martin has won the 200-yard freestyle the last two seasons and likely will be a four-time champion in the event. She has also finished third in the 500 free two consecutive years.

Williamson has yet to win an individual race in the Southern Section meet. However, that’s because she swam against Janet Evans in both her events the last two seasons.

Williamson was second to Evans in the 200 individual medley and 500 free. But she did participate in the 400 free relay, which finished first in the 3-A meet the last two years.

Marci Herron is the only other Griffin to finish first in the Southern Section meet. She won the 100 free in 1989.

“I’m not surprised by anything this group has done,” Fleming said. “After we finished second to Wilson (in 1987), I told our kids that the sky was the limit. They could accomplish anything they wanted to accomplish.”

Next season, the Griffins will have five swimmers returning, but they will be competing on the stronger 4-A level.

“It will be tough to win (Southern Section) next season; there are too many good teams,” Fleming said. “But we’ll be one of them.”

In the 2-A meet, Trabuco Hills and Mater Dei are the favorites for the girls’ championship, which begins today at noon, also at Belmont Plaza.

Last season, Trabuco Hills won the meet by nearly 100 points. However, the Mustangs have only two swimmers back from that team.

Sophomore Amy Ward won the 200 free and finished third in the 500 free last season. Sophomore Shannon Lodder qualified for the consolation finals in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

“We’re really a very young team,” Coach Dave Gibson said. “We have one senior, one junior and the rest are sophomores and freshmen.”

Mater Dei defeated the Mustangs in a dual meet earlier this season. In that meet, Ward was disqualified in the 100 free when she stopped swimming after losing her goggles.

However, the Monarchs were without distance swimmers Jennifer Antiarino and Eva Jakrzewski in that meet. Both were swimming at the U.S. short course junior nationals that week.