Nothing Can Stop Highlanders’ Run

Not even the flu could stop Michelle Nielson from helping Granada Hills High dominate the City Section girls’ swimming finals.

Bedridden Monday, Nielson didn’t match her City record times in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke, but she still won both events and swam legs on two winning relays as the Highlanders won their fourth consecutive team title Wednesday at Belmont Plaza.

Granada Hills finished with 320 points, 131 better than second-place El Camino Real.

The Highlanders won every event except the 50 and 100 freestyles and set two relay records.

Amanda Kim, Stephanie Shapiro, Nicolette Viray and Jennifer Parmenter finished the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.47, breaking the mark they set last week in the semifinals by more than a second.

Then Kim, Nielson, Shapiro and Parmenter won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:41.12, bettering last week’s mark by more than two seconds.

Nielson won the 100 butterfly in 59.22, the 100 backstroke in 58.91 and was selected girls’ swimmer of the meet.

“I’m ready to go back home and back to bed,” Nielson said.

Parmenter barely missed the City record in the 200 freestyle. Her time of 1:52.92 was .02 short of Gretchen Ballard’s time in 1994. She also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.10.

“And I don’t even train for it,” Parmenter said.

Shapiro, a senior who will swim at San Diego State, could have finished her career with 16 individual and relay titles but had to settle for 15 after finishing second to Viray in the 200 freestyle. She still won the 500 freestyle in 5:18.61.

El Camino Real tried its best to win the boys’ title with six individual winners, but Venice used superior depth to win its third consecutive title.

The Gondoliers finished with 256 points, the Conquistadores had 219. Josh Williams, the two-time champion in the 100 breaststroke, added his third for El Camino Real, finishing in 1:03.45.

He also added the 100 freestyle title. After a fast start, Williams held off Laine Blanchard of San Pedro to win in 50.16.

“I knew they were catching up,” Williams said. “I was dying.”

Williams’ mind was on more than his individual races.

“I’ve personally been watching everything [Venice] does,” Williams said. “I wanted to know exactly what we have to do.”

Nathan Baylis upset Blake Nord of Taft to win the 200 freestyle in 1:50.82 and added a win in the 500 freestyle for the Conquistadores.

Sophomore Brian Brown won the other two individual titles for El Camino Real, finishing first in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.

In the girls’ 50 freestyle, Amy Jones of Cleveland was unable to break her record of 23.88 she set in the preliminaries.

But her time of 24.11 was well ahead of Kim.

Jones fared slightly better in the 100 freestyle, but her time of 51.85 was .04 off the City record she set in the preliminaries. Cleveland finished tied for third with Palisades.

Taft’s Dmitry Uchitel upset Hiro Haskett of Venice in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.58.