Making a Move to the Inside : Shafer Attempts to Put Marmonte League on Section Map

Eric Shafer is trying to break ranks--and tradition.

Each year, it seems, the Marmonte League has several talented swimmers scattered among its seven teams, a balance that has contributed to close dual meets, hotly contested league races and all-out performances in the league finals.

But by the time the Southern Section Division I championships roll around, most of the league’s top swimmers are nowhere to be found.

In recent years, nearly every Marmonte League swimmer who advanced to the divisional finals didn’t qualify fast enough to swim anywhere but the slower, outside lanes. Sixth, seventh and eighth-place finishes were the norm.

Until Shafer changed that last year.

The Thousand Oaks High sprinter placed third in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles at the Division I finals at Belmont Plaza last May. His were the highest finishes by a league swimmer since Thousand Oaks’ Valery Caulkins won the girls’ 200 and 500 freestyle at the 1993 finals.

“There’s such a big emphasis on the league races,” Shafer said. “I’m hoping this year we’re talented enough so I can concentrate a little more on winning a CIF title.”

After a disappointing sophomore season in which he failed to qualify for the Division I prelims, Shafer quit water polo to concentrate on swimming.

“I was trying to decide what to do with my stroke,” Shafer said. “And I miscalculated on my times. It was tough because I know I could have gone in and done well.”

Specializing paid off. Shafer’s season-best times of 21.23 in the 50 freestyle and 46.81 in the 100 freestyle broke 20-year-old school records.

Such efforts also have made him the preseason favorite this year. Bart Kizierowski of Mission Viejo, who won both events last year, has graduated. So, too, has Santa Margarita’s John Peterson, the second-place finisher in the 100.

Shafer’s toughest competition is expected to come from Villa Park junior Kyle Baumgarner, a water polo standout who was second in the 50 freestyle and a finalist in the 100 freestyle.

Thousand Oaks Coach Bill Gemberling expects Shafer to improve on his school-record times this year. He also expects the Lancers to make a run at reclaiming the league title from two-time defending champion Westlake.

Before Westlake won the 1995 league title, Thousand Oaks had won the previous 12. However, Agoura, Camarillo and Royal also will challenge for the top spot. Westlake and Thousand Oaks kick off the league season with a dual meet Wednesday at Thousand Oaks.

Westlake is led by Jason Weber, a junior who was fourth in the 100 backstroke at the Division I meet last year.

Shafer and Weber are close friends. Both swim for Conejo-Simi Aquatics and they will be roommates at the U.S. Junior Championships West in College Station, Texas, later this month.

“We were just talking about the league just the other day,” Weber said. “Eric told me we didn’t have a chance.

“I guess we’ll have to see.”

Some traditions die hard.

Other swimmers to watch include:

GIRLS

Jennifer Parmenter, L.A. Baptist--The best high school-age swimmer in the region set a Division I record in the 200 individual medley and defeated defending champion Nicole Beck of Buena in the 100 backstroke as a freshman. She’s now concentrating on longer events.

Because L.A. Baptist does not field a team, Parmenter again will swim in several Mission League dual meets to qualify for the Section championships in May.

Heather Boylan, Saugus--A junior, Boylan is among the most improved swimmers in the region. She was a consolation finalist in multiple events at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Buffalo, N.Y., last month.

Boylan had easy victories in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke at the Division II finals last season.

Rebecca Gilman, Liah Kim and Nicole Beck, Buena--The USC-bound Gilman has won six individual events in the Division I finals the past three years, but she must recover from the thyroiditis that plagued her last year.

Kim, a senior, and Beck, a junior, each have won individual titles and hope to give the Bulldogs their fourth consecutive Division I team title.

Monica Oleksyn and Becky Skyler, Hart--Oleksyn has won the Division II 100 breaststroke title two of the past three years. Skyler hasn’t won an individual event in the section finals, but she has been a finalist several times. She may miss the beginning of the season while recovering from mononucleosis.

BOYS

Justin, Troy and Brice Dumais, Buena--Diving is a family affair for this trio, which is expected to dominate the Division I meet. Justin, a senior who has signed with USC, set a section record in the Division I finals last year. Troy, a junior, and Brice, a sophomore, were second and third, helping the Bulldogs to a fourth-place team finish.

Justin Dumais is considered among the nation’s best divers in any age group. He barely missed qualifying for the 1996 Olympic team.

Matt Carter, Buena--Carter finished second in the 500 freestyle in the Division finals and was a finalist at the U.S. Senior Nationals last month.

Mitchell Hefter, Cleveland--Hefter won the 50 freestyle by more than a second and the 100 freestyle by more than 3 1/2 seconds.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Granada Hills has won the past two City Section girls’ titles and should easily repeat. The Highlanders coasted past perennial power Palisades in a season-opening meet Monday. Sisters Stephanie and Natalie Shapiro, who won four individual City titles between them last year, are joined by sister Valerie, a freshman, and twins Claudette and Nicolette Ciaray. . . . Buena has won the girls’ Division I team title the past three years and four of the past five, but the Bulldogs are missing Nicole Craft, whotransferred to Ventura. . . . The Crescenta Valley boys’ team has been a force in Division II the past four years, winning the team title in 1993 and placing in the top five every year since.

* THE PROMISING: Harvard-Westlake is seeking its first Division III girls’ team title since 1994 after a surprising third-place finish last season. Freshmen Cami Kliner and Jeanine Jackson add depth to an experienced squad. . . . Other teams on the rise include La Canada, which, paced by Jennifer Abbey, finished fifth among Division III girls’ teams; the Hart boys, led by sophomore Ryan Parmenter and Anthony Erwin; and Camarillo and Agoura, which are expected to challenge Royal, Thousand Oaks and Westlake for the Marmonte League boys’ title.

* FAST FACT: Harvard-Westlake girls’ swimmers hold five of the 11 Southern Section Division III swimming records, including three by Dara Torres in the mid-1980s.