Swimming Season Preview: Crescenta Valley squads seeking more CIF championship titles
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A season ago, the Crescenta Valley High girls’ and boys’ swimming teams ruled the pool deck at Riverside Aquatics Center, as both squads won CIF Southern Section Division III championships.
The swimming crowns were among four CIF titles won by Crescenta Valley in 2019, joining the softball and football teams.
Perhaps the Falcons might be in line to repeat as CIF championships in the pool or contend for individual success.
Flintridge Prep’s teams will look to keep up their success after winning Prep League titles last season.
St. Monica Academy will have a new coach and Hoover will have a new girls’ coach.
With a new aquatics center being constructed on campus, Glendale will be on the road for all of its meets.
St. Francis and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy have restocked their rosters with the goal of vying for league crowns.
Here is a closer look at the teams.
CRESCENTA VALLEY
Armed with an impressive array of talent, both Crescenta Valley squads are looking at the big picture of winning Pacific League and Division III championships in 2020.
The girls’ team finished first with 272 1/2 points to turn back Sunny Hills (254) last season in the CIF finals.
The Falcons bring back their main core, led by seniors Gabriela Icheva (freestyle/individual medley), Kimmy Park (freestyle), Maddie Yi (butterfly/backstroke) and Nicole Hale (freestyle/butterfly), junior Amanda Petersen (breaststroke/individual medley) and sophomore Jungmin Yoon (freestyle/backstroke).
Icheva won the Division I title in the 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 56.07 seconds. Icheva teamed with Yoon, Peterson and Park to win the 200 medley relay (1:47.05). Peterson placed second in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.46). Crescenta Valley’s 400 freestyle relay team of Icheva, Yoon, Park and Miya Higuchi placed second (3:30.58).
“We’re looking forward to another exciting season,” Crescenta Valley girls’ coach Peter Kim said. “We’ve lost a lot of key pieces from last year’s CIF championship team, but we’re returning quite a few from our core group. We’ve gotten faster from some of our swimmers who were on the cusp and we’ve added a couple who will fit right in to the puzzle.”
For the boys’ team, it lost some talented swimmers who helped the Falcons take the division title with 233 points to edge Ventura (228).
“We had a very special team last year and they were fun to watch,” Crescenta Valley boys’ coach Jan Sakonju said. “It was just a great experience to be a part of that team.
“We lost a couple of greats swimmers in William Blake and Andre Yarcan to graduation. Now it’s time for the next group to lead the way. Our top guys will have to show the way and we have some versatility in case we need to shuffle things up.”
The Falcons will rely on senior Daron Wee (butterfly/individual medley), junior Harry Blake (freestyle), junior JJ Jeong (backstroke/individual medley), junior Justin Yi (freestyle) and sophomore Sean Rho (butterfly/backstroke).
FLINTRIDGE PREP
The Rebels will look to defend their Prep League championships, though both teams might look somewhat different following the graduation of several key athletes and some new swimmers joining the programs.
The boys’ team took eighth in the CIF Southern Section Division III finals, but have since graduated most of that lineup.
“We’re pretty much rebuilding,” Flintridge Prep coach Ingrid Herskind said. “Our numbers will be a little low, but we have a group that’s eager to learn.”
Leading the way will be sophomore Will Fosselman (freestyle), sophomore Colin Ng (butterfly/individual medley) and freshmen Henry Brookbanks and Noah Corral (freestyle).
The girls’ side will consist of senior Paige Nixon (freestyle), junior Emeline Tolleson (freestyle), sophomore Deryn Walklett (individual medley/breaststroke) and junior Lucy Friedman (freestyle).
“I think we have a decent chance at winning league,” Herskind said. “I don’t know much about the other teams in league, but we’ll just look to keep improving our times.”
The girls took 11th at CIF last season.
ST. FRANCIS
Things appear to be promising for the Golden Knights.
St. Francis has gathered an impressive collection of talent with the goal of contending for the Mission League title and advancing to the CIF postseason for a second season in a row. The Golden Knights took 31st last season at the CIF Southern Section Division I finals.
“We’ll be trying for a top-25 finish at CIF,” St. Francis coach Brady Lowdermilk said. “I think we have a motivated group to do that and challenge in league, plus we have a lot of guys working with their club teams in the offseason.
“Harvard-Westlake and Loyola are ahead of everybody in league and Crespi has some super swimmers. We’ll probably be battling with [Sherman Oaks] Notre Dame.”
St. Francis will count on senior Chris Bruce (freestyle/butterfly), senior Ethan Gray (individual medley/butterfly), senior Michael Smith (breaststroke), junior Adam Schroeder (breaststroke/sprints/freestyle) and junior Peter Rassam (butterfly/freestyle).
FLINTRIDGE SACRED HEART ACADEMY
Coach Carlos Ponce starts his second season with the Tologs, who are in the Mission League.
Flintridge Sacred Heart took fourth in league last season and will look to make a move north in the standings with a collection of younger talent.
“I’ve learned a lot about our swimmers and they know me better, so that will help a lot,” Ponce said. “We want to keep the program heading in the right direction and we have a good group that we think can make a difference.”
The Tologs will rely on senior Emily Giesler (breaststroke/individual medley/relays), junior Sophia Cotman (freestyle/butterfly), sophomore Gabby Anich (freestyle) and sophomore Julia Kinsel (butterfly/relays).
GLENDALE
With a new aquatics facility being built on campus, the Nitros have scrambled to find practice locations to train. In addition, all of their meets will be on the road with the new venue set to open in late 2020.
“It’s tough having practices at Hoover High or at the pool at Pacific Park, but I have to keep reminding myself that we’ll be in a good-looking pool next season,” Glendale coach Carol Driffill said.
For the boys’ team, the Nitros will have a smaller squad led by senior Kierin Ferris (backstroke/individual medley), senior Aidan Gonzalez (backstroke/freestyle), juniors Arno Tatos and Atthur Katabyan (breaststroke/freestyle) and sophomore Paul Agulian (butterfly).
“We don’t have the numbers, but we feel like we have a few swimmers who can do good things,” Driffill said. “We have a solid core in place.”
The girls’ squad will be led by junior Bernice Doronila (breaststroke/freestyle), junior Ariaene De Leon (breaststroke/individual medley), sophomore Angela Markarian (freestyle/butterfly) and sophomore Liana Pooladi (breaststroke/individual medley).
“It’s kind of exciting because we’ll have a lot of versatility,” Driffill said. “We have numbers and there’s a lot of potential to have a positive season.”
Glendale is in the Pacific League.
HOOVER
The Tornadoes, who are in the Pacific League, figure to be relatively young in 2020.
Still, there appears to be a bright future for both squads.
The boys’ team will be paced by senior Raffi Azarian (freestyle), junior Ejmin Elyasi (breaststroke/individual medley) and sophomore Massimo Reyna (breaststroke/individual medley).
“We did lose some talent, but we do have some good returners,” Hoover boys’ coach Kevin Witt said. “We really like our new swimmers and we think they’ll do just fine.”
The girls’ team, coached by Laura Lopez, will feature McKenna Tribble (freestyle) and freshman Adriana Harutyunyan (butterfly).
“We have a fantastic group of freshmen, maybe seven or eight,” Witt said. “Their all excellent swimmers and we are excited about the direction the team is heading.”
ST. MONICA ACADEMY
The Crusaders will have their third coach is as many seasons as Jim Burnham takes over for Kristina Evans.
St. Monica will field 10 swimmers, five for the boys’ team and five for the girls’ squad.
The top swimmer for the boys is expected be junior Peter Boldt, who will participate in the freestyle events.
The girls’ side will be anchored by Jocelyn Matranga, a sophomore who will take part in the breaststroke.
“We have some new and returning swimmers,” Burnham said. “We’re hoping that we’ll have fast and fun meets and that they can hit their personal-best marks.”
St. Monica competes in the Heritage League.
