SOUTHERN SECTION SWIMMING / DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS : Laguna Hills Boys’ Team Wins Title

The lack of a close shave Thursday worked wonders for the Laguna Hills High boys’ swim team Saturday night as the Hawks captured the team competition at the Southern Section Division II championships at the Belmont Plaza pool.

“Our guys didn’t shave for the prelims on Thursday, they only clipped,” Laguna Hills Coach Chris Duncan said after the Hawks finished with 214 points, outdistancing defending champion and pre-meet favorite Loyola and Crescenta Valley, which finished with 193 points apiece. “We wanted our times to be pretty good in the prelims, but not really good, so we held back.

“When you shave, you get a different feel for the water. No hair on the skin keeps bubbles from forming and it makes for faster races.”

Loyola Coach Chris O’Donnell didn’t know about Laguna Hills’ unusual strategy, but he was very impressed with the Hawks’ performance.

“Laguna swam so much better tonight than they did in the prelims and we basically swam the same,” O’Donnell said. “We were hoping they would come back down to earth, but it never happened.”

Laguna Hills was led by Mark Kwok, who was the boys’ swimmer of the meet after a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley in an All-American time of 1:51.60 and second in the 100 butterfly (50.58).

Preston Hammontree chipped in with two second-place finishes for Laguna Hills in the 200 and 500 freestyles, with times of 1:41.66 and 4:33.82.

Long Beach Wilson won the girls’ team competition with 216.5 points. Hart finished second with 178.

The Bruins’ Kristin Barth earned 20 points with a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:10.20). Wilson also finished first in the 200- and 400 freestyle relays with times of 1:40.95 and 3:39.18.