City Section

Friday, May 21

CITY SECTION DIVING FINALS
at Pierce College

Boys

Lake Balboa Birmingham junior Hector Escamilla scored 313.25 points to win his second consecutive City Section boys’ diving championship Friday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Escamilla, the West Valley League runner-up behind teammate Joe Schaefer-Sommerville, held off second-place finisher Carlos Siguenza of Los Angeles Fremont by scoring 18.5 points on the last of his 11 dives on the day.

Siguenza, a sophomore, scored 307.60 points. Schaefer-Sommerville, a junior, scored 292.15 points to finish third for the second consecutive season.”I wanted to defend my title,” Escamilla said. “I like being the best. I like when someone challenges me, and today I earned my medal.”

Fremont senior Lucio Alvarez finished fourth with 286.55 points and another Birmingham diver, sophomore Marcus Bolder, placed fifth with 281.80 points.
--Lauren Peterson

1. Hector Escamilla, Birmingham, 313.25; 2. Carlos Siguenza, Fremont, 307.60; 3. Joe Schaefer-Sommerville, Birmingham, 292.15; 4. Lucio Alvarez, Fremont, 286.55; 5. Marcus Bolder, Birmingham, 281.80; 6. Jonathan Uko, Taft, 269.25; 7. Billy Lee, Chatsworth, 261.85; 8. Aric Meyer, Venice, 250.65; 9. Steven Gnerlich, Chatsworth, 232.35; 10. Clark Hartigan, Venice, 225.55; 11. Ryan Kuchta, Birmingham, 200.00.

Girls

Woodland Hills El Camino Real sophomore Chelsea Sawyer scored 426.75 points to edge Woodland Hills Taft junior Rachel Pearson for the City Section girls’ diving title Friday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Sawyer trailed Pearson by 14.70 points after eight of 11 dives, but steadily picked up her scores down the stretch to claim her second consecutive championship.

Pearson scored 413.20 points to finish second for the second year in a row. El Camino Real freshman Jamie Flynn placed third with 353.35 points. Reseda Cleveland divers Kelly Gluckman (287.50), Avital Aboody (283.60) and Esther Criss (235.45) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Chatsworth’s Kelly Kim and Venice’s Kim Hurtarte rounded out the field.

Sawyer still trailed Pearson by 5.65 points going into the last round of competition, but she outscored Pearson, 24-16, on their final dives to clinch the victory. Sawyer executed a front 1 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists--a dive with a 2.2 degree of difficulty--and received scores of 8 1/2, 8 and 7 1/2 on her final attempt.

Pearson’s last dive had a 2.1 degree of difficulty, and her scores of 5 1/2, 5 1/2 and 5 1/2 were significantly lower. The highest and lowest scores from a panel of five judges were dropped.
--Lauren Peterson

1. Chelsea Sawyer, El Camino Real, 426.75; 2. Rachel Pearson, Taft, 413.20; 3. Jamie Flynn, El Camino Real, 353.35; 4. Kelly Gluckman, Cleveland, 287.50; 5. Avital Aboody, Cleveland, 283.60; 6. Esther Criss, Cleveland, 235.45; 7. Kelly Kim, Chatsworth, 213.70; 8. Kim Hurtarte, Venice, 189.05.

Wednesday, May 19

CITY SECTION PRELIMINARIES
At Los Angeles Memorial Pool

San Pedro’s Jeff Hart, Jeff Martinez, Cameron Nelson and Ivan Perhat broke a 39-year-old City Section record in the 200 freestyle relay at the section’s preliminaries Wednesday at Los Angeles Memorial Pool.

San Pedro’s time of 1 minute 30.04 seconds bettered the previous standard of 1:30.40, set by Lake Balboa Birmingham in 1965.

“We were going for it today,” said Nelson, a junior who swam the third leg. “It would be great if we could break it again.”

The Pirates, runners-up in the City championships behind two-time defending champion Palisades last season, will get the chance during section finals Wednesday at the same site.

Perhat, a senior and a native of Croatia who moved to the United States at age 5, is on track to defend the section titles he won last year after recording the top qualifying times in the 100 freestyle (47.18) and the 200 free (1:46.99).

Palisades’ Cara Davidoff, the City champion in the 50 free the past three years and in the 100 free in two of the past three years, deferred to teammates in those events but still had the top times in the 200 free (1:55.35) and the 100 butterfly (59.40). The Dolphins are the defending girls’ champions.

Without Davidoff in the 50, Woodland Hills El Camino Real junior Jessica Chen was the top qualifier in 25.06. She also had the best time in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.18.

Granada Hills senior Steven Park, the defending champion in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, was the fastest qualifier in both. He clocked 1:59.13 in the IM and 1:00.71 in the breaststroke.
--Lauren Peterson

Boys

200 MEDLEY RELAY: Granada Hills, 1:45.58; Palisades, 1:49.75; Grant, 1:49.82; Cleveland, 1:49.86; San Pedro, 1:52.07; Reseda, 1:52.26. 200 FREE: Perhat, San Pedro, 1:46.99; W. Baier, Granada Hills, 1:52.38; C. Baier, Granada Hills, 1:54.25; Fishler, Palisades, 1:55.86; Sweeney, 2:00.00; Mandich, San Pedro, 2:01.05. 200 IM: Park, Granada Hills, 1:59.13; Johnson, Palisades, 2:07.25; Chiu, Cleveland, 2:08.79; Han, Cleveland, 2:13.67; Kelly, 2:15.14; Al-Bazari, 2:17.52.

50 FREE: Hart, San Pedro, 22.14; Ochotorena, Grant, 22.30; Nonberg, Palisades, 23.05; Hays, Palisades, 23.12; Varma, Canoga Park, 23.49; Murez, Venice, 23.71. 100 FLY: Ochotorena, Grant, 54.65; Nelson, San Pedro, 56.41; Oh, Granada Hills, 56.74; Kim, Van Nuys, 56.98; Hart, San Pedro, 58.11; Fox, Palisades, 58.48. 100 FREE: Perhat, 47.18; Varma, Canoga Park, 51.31; Nonberg, Palisades, 52.01; Hays, Palisades, 52.10; Jones, Palisades, 52.45; Sweeney, Cleveland, 53.58. 200 FREE RELAY: San Pedro, 1:30.04; Palisades, 1:34.99; Grant, 1:36.64; Cleveland, 1:38.05; Venice, 1:39.58; Reseda, 1:40.47.

100 BACK: Chiu, Cleveland, 56.41; Kim, Van Nuys, 57.46; Johnson, Palisades, 59.15; Krol, Reseda, 59.49; Jones, Palisades, 1:02.06; Choi, Cleveland, 1:02.31. 100 BREAST: Park, Granada Hills, 1:00.71; Murez, Venice, 1:04.84; Cooning, San Pedro, 1:05.92; Kelly, Reseda, 1:06.04; Lee, Palisades, 1:08.62; Kim, Granada Hills, 1:09.81. 400 FREE RELAY: San Pedro, 3:29.13; Granada Hills, 3:30.72; Palisades, 3:32.13; Cleveland, 3:36.72; Birmingham, 3:43.04; El Camino Real, 3:50.80.

Girls

200 MEDLEY RELAY: Venice, 2:03.28; El Camino Real, 2:04.27; Cleveland, 2:04.86; Palisades, 2:07.36; Grant, 2:12.81; Granada Hills Kennedy, 2:12.88. 200 FREE: Ca. Davidoff, Palisades, 1:55.35; Kim, Granada Hills Kennedy, 1:59.81; Elam, Granada Hills, 2:02.56; Iwamoto, 2:14.82; Puretz, 2:15.41; Skarin, Cleveland, 2:1574; .68. 200 IM: Rhee, Cleveland, 2:17.36; O’Keeffe, Venice, 2:19.72; Enich, Grant, 2:20.35; Mohle, San Pedro, 2:22.50; Brown, El Camino Real, 2:27.26, Dunner, Palisades, 2:33.34.

50 FREE: Chen, El Camino Real, 25.06; Sheehan, Cleveland, 26.04; Sudol, Venice, 27.06; Hwang, Taft, 27.14; Temple, Venice, 27.93; Wynn, Palisades, 27.95. 100 FLY: Ca. Davidoff, 59.40; O’Keeffe, Venice, 1:01.32; Sharif, San Pedro, 1:06.80; Vanegas, Granada Hills Kennedy, 1:07.60; Zuniga, Birmingham, 1:08.86; Garcia, Carson, 1:10.00. 100 FREE: Hefter, Cleveland, 57.30; Dodd, Palisades, 1:00.05; Sudol, Venice, 1:01.02; Jacobs, Palisades, 1:01.94; Temple, Venice, 1:02.65; Noori-Jah, L.A. Hamilton, 1:03.25. 200 FREE RELAY: Palisades, 1:49.52; Venice, 1:49.66; Cleveland, 1:50.56; Grant, 1:56.58; El Camino Real, 1:58.46; L.A. Hamilton, 1:59.57.

100 BACK: Chen, El Camino Real, 1:04.18; Hefter, Cleveland, 1:06.77; Vanegas, Granada Hills Kennedy, 1:10.91; Inouye, Venice, 1:11.11; Sheehan, Cleveland, 1:11.44 (t); Dodd, Palisades, 1:11.44 (t). 100 BREAST: Mohle, San Pedro, 1:11.75; Enich, Grant, 1:12.96; Brown, El Camino Real, 1:13.79; Iwamoto, 1:14.74; Ch. Davidoff, Palisades, 1:14.77; Dunner, Palisades, 1:16.92. 400 FREE RELAY: Cleveland, 4:02.99; El Camino Real, 4:03.88; Palisades, 4:05.13; Birmingham, 4:24.22; Granada Hills, 4:26.28; Venice, 4:27.38.