SWIMMING JUNIOR NATIONALS WEST : Huntington Beach Girl Wins First Event

Five months ago, after yet another 20-something finish, Alison Mijares decided that she wanted to do better. Never, in her wildest hopes, did she concoct such an immediate result.

Seeded 23rd in the girls’ 800-meter freestyle, Mijares knocked 10.7 seconds off her best time to win the opening race Friday of the U.S. Swimming Junior National Championships West at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena.

Mijares, a 15-year-old from Huntington Beach, chased down Emily Peters of Bloomington, Minn., to record the fastest time in the fourth heat. Then, she held her breath and closed her eyes as swimmers from Heat 5 and Heat 6 attempted to better her clocking of 9 minutes 1.20 seconds.

Holly Sisk, 17, of the City of Plano (Texas) Swimmers was 0.19 shy in the fifth heat, and Sisk’s teammate, top-seeded Amanda LeGrow, was 2.56 seconds slower in winning the sixth heat.

“I just couldn’t watch,” Mijares said. “It was too nerve-racking. When I found out I won I couldn’t believe it.”

Most fans at the the Rose Bowl could not believe Mijares caught Peters, who led by seven seconds at the 500-meter mark.

With 50 meters left Mijares still trailed by 2.5 seconds. But a furious charge down the stretch enabled her to edge Peters by 0.51.

“I’ve really worked harder this summer than I have in a long time,” Mijares said. “I had a bad attitude. I kinda got my act together.”

Coach John Woodling and Mijares’ Golden West teammate, Jessica Tong, were instrumental in changing her outlook.

“They were telling me, ‘If you want to do better, you better shape up,’ ” Mijares said. “And I took that advice.”

The boys’ 800 freestyle was more predictable as top-seeded Jay Telford, 17, of Mt. Hood, Ore., prevailed in a senior national qualifying time of 8:16.27.

The swim, a personal best by five seconds, marked the culmination of Telford’s comeback from a broken collarbone.