Quance Keeps Torrid Pace With 3rd Title : Swimming: Northridge teen wins the 100-meter breaststroke and sets her third pool record in the national championships.

There is little doubt that Kristine Quance will win the Robert J.H. Kiphuth Award for most points when the United States Swimming national championships end today at Mission Viejo.

She is easily the star of the meet--despite the presence of five Barcelona Olympians.

On Thursday, Quance, 17, of Northridge put an exclamation point on earlier efforts with a triumph in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute 9.60 seconds.

The personal best eclipsed the pool record of 1:10.56 set in the preliminaries by Lydia Morrow.

It was Quance’s third national title of the meet, her third pool record and the third time she has posted a time that would have placed her fourth in the ’92 Olympic Games.

Quance, who will be competing in the 200 individual medley today, missed making the Olympic team after contracting mononucleosis.

Although she set high goals for these national championships, her dominance was not expected.

“I never anticipated that she would win three events and get so much publicity,” said Bud McAllister, Quance’s coach at Calabasas-based CLASS Aquatics. “I just thought she’d come here and swim some best times.”

As he watched Quance take the victory stand for the third consecutive night, McAllister said: “This is nice. . . . I still don’t think it replaces being on the Olympic team.”

Quance’s teammate, 15-year-old Alexis Larsen, also swam a personal best.

The junior-to-be at Harvard-Westlake High passed two swimmers in the last 25 meters of the 400 freestyle to place third in 4:15.63.

“I’m very pleased,” McAllister said. “The key to that was going out (first 200) fast enough to be near everyone (in the field) and having enough left to pass some people at the end.”

Valery Calkins of Conejo Simi Aquatics was 10th in 4:21.59.

“We’re real pleased,” Conejo Simi Coach Garner Howland said. “We feel like she ended the season on a good note.”

Calkins, 17, of Thousand Oaks, was aiming to break 4:20.00.

Jason Stelle, 19, of Westlake Village placed eighth in the 100 backstroke in 57.44, just off his morning time of 57.26, a personal best.

Mandy Walz, 15, of Buenaventura, finished 47th in the women’s 100 backstroke in 1:06.89, and Jamie Callahan of Conejo Simi was 83rd in 1:08.26.