Shiflett Duo in High Gear

It was a good day for the Shiflett family.

Nicole Shiflett, a junior at Agoura High, recorded a career best in qualifying fifth in the 50-yard freestyle and had the sixth-fastest time in the 100 freestyle at the Southern Section Division I preliminaries Wednesday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Brett Shiflett, Nicole’s sister and a freshman at Oaks Christian, qualified second in the 200 free and 100 backstroke in Division IV.

“I’m glad I had this competition,” Nicole said. “Or else, I probably wouldn’t have done this well.”

Nicole, who finished second in the 100 and 200 freestyles in last year’s City Section championships for Granada Hills High, timed 24.43 seconds in the 50. She clocked 52.97 in the 100.

Brett clocked 1:57.99 in the 200 and 1:00.80 in the backstroke.

The top eight finishers in each event qualify for championship finals, the next eight for consolation finals.

The Division IV finals are today at 4 p.m., following Division II preliminaries that begin at 10 a.m. Division I finals are at 4 p.m. Friday.

Royal sophomore Christine Creek, a top-eight finisher in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley finals last season, did not qualify for championship finals in either event.

Justin McClure of Royal, third-seeded in the 200 freestyle and fourth-seeded in the backstroke, qualified eighth in each event. He timed 1:45.04 in the 200 and 53.23 in the backstroke.

In Division IV prelims, Quartz Hill junior Peter McVey qualified third in the 200 individual medley (1:59.9) and fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.04).

Buckley junior William Chae posted the second-fastest time in the 50 freestyle (22.04 seconds) and qualified third in the 100 (48.46).