She Repeats Herself Following Big Season

Alemany High’s victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the last event in the Southern Section Division II swimming championships last month, closed a strong season.

“It was awesome,” said senior Maureen Farrell, the relay anchor who combined with senior Molly Feeney and freshmen Renee Viveros and Leah Tourtellotte to win in 3:36.07 and wrap up a third-place finish in the team standings for Alemany.

“It was just an amazing ending to the season,” she said.

The race also put the final touch on an exceptional high school career for Farrell, who is The Times’ Valley/Ventura County girls’ swimmer of the year for the second consecutive season.

“I think she’s grown up a lot this year,” said Bruce Patmos, Farrell’s coach with the Canyons Aquatics club team in Valencia.

“It’s become more important to her, and she took her training a lot more seriously this year than she might have in the past.”

The work paid off.

Farrell won the Division II title in the 100 backstroke for the second consecutive season, clocking 55.46 in the final and setting a division record of 55.06 in the preliminaries.

She won the Division II 50 freestyle title for the third year in a row, finishing in 23.72.

Farrell swam the opening, backstroke leg on the 200 medley relay that included Viveros, Tourtellotte and Feeney, and placed second in 1:50.36.

“I was just trying to have fun, but also make the other swimmers on the team better and let them realize their talent,” she said.

A national-caliber swimmer, Farrell was in fine form during the Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships in Austin, Texas, in March, when she placed fourth in the 100-meter backstroke in 1:02.77 and took fifth in the 200-meter backstroke in 2:15.50.

“That was the best meet of my life,” Farrell said. “I never think I can do stuff like that. I mean, I never think I can’t do it; I just really don’t think about it.”

Both senior national times were career bests. Her 100 backstroke time ranks 23rd in the world and fifth in the nation this year, according to USA Swimming. Her 200 backstroke time ranks 30th in the world and fifth in the nation this year.

“I find that amazing,” she said. “I haven’t even seen the world. It’s crazy.”

Her performances at the senior national meet will afford Farrell the chance to see at least one other part of the world.

She qualified for the U.S. team that will compete in World University Games from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1 in Beijing.

“I think all athletes hope for something like that, when all your hard work starts paying off,” she said.

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ALL-REGION GIRLS’ SWIM TEAM

Swimmer of the year

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Player School Year Maureen Farrell Alemany Senior Sarah Bultema Westlake Junior

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Bultema clocked 58.16 in the 100 butterfly to place fifth in the Southern Section Division I championships. Bultema was the Marmonte League champion in the butterfly and 200 freestyle and won the fly at the Royal Invitational.

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Player School Year Alyssa Chin La Canada Senior

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Chin, who will attend Nevada, placed second in the 200 individual medley (2:06.52) and fourth in the 100 backstroke (57.21) in the Division II finals to cap a successful return to high school swimming. She sat out last season.

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Player School Year Erin Craft Oxnard Freshman

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Craft won the Division III championship in the 100 backstroke in 59.41 and placed fourth in the 200 freestyle in a personal-best 1:53.97.

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Player School Year Leanne Dumais Buena Sophomore

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Dumais, whose brother Troy was a U.S. Olympic diver, scored 535.05 points to finish third in the Division I diving championships for the second consecutive season.

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Player School Year Elizabeth Inai El Camino Real Senior

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Inai placed second in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke to help El Camino Real to a runner-up finish in the City Section championships. She also swam the backstroke leg on the winning 200 medley relay and the first leg on the second-place 400 freestyle relay. She will swim at University of the Pacific.

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Player School Year Amy Jones Cleveland Senior

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Jones, who will attend Princeton, capped an impressive four-year varsity career by winning City Section titles in the 500 freestyle (5:06.77) and 100 backstroke (1:00.60).

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Player School Year Alexis Sheridan Crescenta Valley Senior

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Bound for UC Irvine, Sheridan led the Falcons to their first Southern Section title in the Division II championships. She placed fourth in 200 (1:53.90) and 500 (5:03.96) freestyle events and anchored Crescenta Valley’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays to third-place finishes.

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Player School Year Brett Shiflett Oaks Christian Freshman

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Shiflett will be the cornerstone of the swim program at Oaks Christian next year after winning Division IV titles in the 200 freestyle (1:52.48) and 100 backstroke (59.44). She also won Royal Invitational titles in the 200 and 500 freestyles.

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Player School Year Nicole Shiflett Agoura Junior

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Shiflett transferred from Granada Hills this school year and placed fifth in the 50 freestyle in 24.42 and sixth in the 100 freestyle in 53.62 in the Division I finals.

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Player School Year Krista Simmons El Camino Real Junior

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Simmons swam wherever the team needed her. In the City Section championships, she placed second in the 100 freestyle in 54.74 and 100 breaststroke in 1:10.82, and she swam the final, freestyle leg on the Conquistadores’ winning medley relay that swam 1:55.36 and anchored their third-place 200 freestyle relay that finished in 1:49.92.

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Player School Year Jennifer Ward Granada Hills Senior

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Ward won the City Section title in the 200 individual medley in 2:11.67 and was runner-up in the 100 butterfly in 1:26.00. She won the 50 and 100 freestyles last year.