Natasha Kohne

School: Rancho Alamitos High

Sport: Swimming

Event: 200 IM/100 backstroke

Class: Senior

She picked a good year to take up basketball. Deciding to take a break from nonstop swim training, Kohne joined the Rancho Alamitos girls’ basketball team this fall and the Vaqueros won a Southern Section championship and advanced within one game of the State title game. Kohne spent most of the playoffs on the bench, but she enjoyed herself immensely. “I don’t regret playing basketball at all,” she said. “Even if I would have done badly in swimming, I wouldn’t have regretted it.” The Vaqueros’ basketball success kept Kohne out of the pool longer than she expected, but even with a bit less than two months to prepare for the Southern Section championships, she was able to win the Division 2-A 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes 8.32 seconds, nearly four seconds faster than the runner-up. Kohne, who will swim for Columbia University next year, won the section 200 IM four times in her high school career and became only the fifth girl to win the same event four times. She also finished second in the 100 backstroke.

Other top performers:

Lisa Jacob, a Capistrano Valley swimmer who won the 200 and 500 freestyle events in times of 1:49.44 and 4:50.60, and helped the Cougars to a second-place finish in the Division 4-A championships.

Dani Ortega, who pitched her county-leading seventh no-hitter of the season for La Habra in a 6-0 victory over Sonora.

Michele Ponce, a University pitcher who had 14 strikeouts in 15 innings. She pitched a no-hitter in a 11-0 victory over Saddleback and beat league champion Woodbridge, 2-1, with a five-hitter.

Sandy Zubrin, a Corona del Mar freshman who won the Division 3-A diving championship with a score of 464.85 points.