Adamick, Westlake Have a Better Time

Chris Adamick missed out on the fun at the Southern Section Division I swimming finals last year, although he did have a pretty good time at the Westlake High Prom.

Adamick qualified for two individual finals and two relays as a junior during the preliminaries last year, but he missed the finals the next night to attend Westlake’s prom.

This year he made up for it, finishing third in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle to help the Warriors finish fifth at the Division I finals Friday night at Belmont Plaza.

“My girlfriend really wanted me to go [to the prom] last year,” Adamick said. “I don’t regret not coming here last year.”

Without Adamick, the Warriors were disqualified in one relay and finished ninth overall. This year, Westlake took third in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:38.56, and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay, timing 3:14.60.

Adamick finished the 50 freestyle in a lifetime-best 21.80.

“I’m pretty happy with it,” Adamick said. “I just had to keep my adrenaline going.”

Westlake was also helped by senior Jason Weber, who finished fifth in the 100 backstroke in 53.0 and seventh in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.93.

Dave Stelle, the Warriors’ other finalist, was sixth in the 100 breaststroke in 59.72.

Vern Moen of Ventura had the highest individual boys’ finish from the region, placing second in the 100 freestyle. Moen finished in 47.61, more than a second behind Allen Ong of Mission Viejo.

“He was a tough guy to catch,” Moen said.

Jana Richardson of Ventura was the top qualifier in the 200 freestyle, but got caught in a four-way fight for first place in the final 50 yards and wound up tied for second with Ari Garder of San Clemente, finishing in 1:51.86.

Vicky West of Redlands won in 1:51.62.

Richardson added a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle.

Moen and Richardson capped off a big year for the Cougars, who won both the boys’ and girls’ Channel League titles.

“It’s good that we were able to put Ventura on the map,” Moen said.

Nicole Beck of Buena, who set a section record in the 100 backstroke as a freshman in 1995, finished second in 58.07. Second place was an accomplishment, considering she missed a month of training after she was injured in an automobile accident this spring.

“She’s very pleased with it,” Buena Coach John Siman said.

Sophomore Ian Prichard of Buena finished third in the 200 and 500 freestyle, finishing the 200 in 1:41.20 and the 500 in 4:29.85.

Prichard knew going into the finals that he would have a difficult time getting a victory. Mark Warkentin of San Marcos, a club teammate of Prichard’s at Buenaventura, won both events--the 200 freestyle by almost two seconds.

Aron Gyuris of Thousand Oaks was third in the 100 butterfly, timing 52.25, and fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:44.31).

Mission Viejo won the boys’ title with 333.5 points. Irvine won its second consecutive girls’ title with 360 points. Ventura was eighth with 100.5.

Buena finished 11th with 69 points, 37 of which came from divers Troy and Brice Dumais, who finished first and second in the Division I diving finals on Wednesday.