Golden West Cruising Toward Another Title

The strength of the Golden West men’s swimming team was expressed in many ways at the state meet Friday at Long Beach State.

The best demonstration was in the overall score.

The first-place Rustlers have 523 points, which is 214 more than second-place Diablo Valley, with one day left. It would be the second consecutive title and the third in the last four years for Golden West.

Another example is the relays.

Golden West started the afternoon by pulling an upset to win the 200-yard medley relay after being seeded sixth. The team of Stefan Moller, Dan Kramer, Aaron Adrian and Scott Wester won in 1 minute 36.19 seconds. Diablo Valley was second in 1:36.53.

Golden West also dominated the 400 freestyle relay, the day’s last event. Wester, David Payot, Carlo Franzia and Yan Gendlin won in 6:54.19. Grossmont (7:04.25) was a distant second.

The Rustlers also exhibited their depth in the 200 freestyle, taking the top three spots.

Wester won in 1:40.59, Franzia (1:42.92) was second and Payot (1:43.20) was third. It was the second victory in the meet for Wester, who won the 50 freestyle Thursday.

“We’re just blessed that we have a such a deep squad,” Golden West Coach Bill Jewell said.

The outstanding men’s swim of the day belonged to Orange Coast’s Wisno Wardahana, who tied the state record in the 100 butterfly, winning in 49.53.

On the women’s side, the big news is that there is a good chance Orange Coast will not win its eighth consecutive state title.

The Pirates started the day in fourth place, 45 points behind first-place Diablo Valley.

But Orange Coast got victories from Hilary Cox in the 200 freestyle (1:57.53) and Carey Read in the 50 breaststroke (31.23) and moved into second place.

Diablo Valley leads with 253.50 points. Orange Coast (218) is in second and Saddleback (212) is third.

Saddleback’s Lisa Henningsen was second in the women’s backstroke with a time of 28.78. She also swam the anchor leg as Saddleback finished second in the 400 freestyle relay.

Diablo Valley (3:39.05) won, Saddleback was second in 3:40.69 and Orange Coast (3:41.40) took third.