Girls’ Swimming Preview: Expectations grow for locals
Whether it’s pursuing a league championship or advancing as many swimmers as possible in the CIF Southern Section postseason, the Crescenta Valley High, Flintridge Prep, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, Glendale, Hoover and St. Monica Academy swim programs are looking forward to big efforts this season.
No area girls’ swim squad has dominated its league like Crescenta Valley, which extended its streak to 10 straight Pacific League crowns last season, while the Falcons finished 16th at the CIF Southern Section Division II Championships.
Of course, the biggest splash made in the postseason came from junior Katelynn Shaheen, who captured the Division II Dive Championship and became her school’s first such titlist since Kasey Reinhardt in 1998.
“Expectations are always pretty high for both the swim and dive programs,” Crescenta Valley coach Peter Kim said. “I think as a team, we want to do better from our position in CIF last year.”
Shaheen is back after an eighth-place finish at the CIF State Championships and also has her sights set on another Southern Section title.
“If you were to ask her, she’d say, ‘Let’s go out and win another one,’” Kim said. “She’s been practicing really hard and in our division, there are a handful of fantastic divers. Katie, though, just doesn’t expect to win, but she looks to do even better.”
It’s not all rosy at Crescenta Valley, however, as the Falcons parted ways with talented senior Yvette Kim, who chose not to compete this season.
Even with the loss, Crescenta Valley returns a talented trio in Gabi Icheva, Kimmy Park and Miya Higuchi.
Last season, Icheva won the league 100-yard butterfly in 59.52 seconds and took second in the 200 freestyle (1:54.99). Park claimed the league 200 individual medley (2:13.40) and took second in the 100 freestyle (55.93) and Higuchi finished runner-up in the 100 butterfly (1:01.95) and third in the 50 free (25.47).
Kim also has high expectations for Miranda Li, Kaitlyn Moguel and Emily Shirvanian.
Progress has continued at Flintridge Prep under coach Ingrid Herskind.
A Rebels’ program that struggled to stay competitive in the Prep League only a few years back continued its upward swing by tying for second last season in league with Westridge, while trailing powerhouse Pasadena Poly.
In 2016, the Rebels placed fifth in league.
“We have been so small for so many years and now I have 21 girls out where like three years ago I think I had six girls, so it’s exciting,” Herskind said. “I have eight new freshmen and I have some veterans.
“The team is really excited about it and we have some girls from water polo who experienced success, so I feel like we’re getting some aquatic momentum and we’ll be a little more balanced with the guys.”
Herskind’s biggest returner is junior Emily Alameddine, the Prep League 100-yard freestyle champion (53.51), who finished fifth at the CIF Southern Section Division III 200 freestyle in 1:56.29.
Junior Emily Jacobs returns in the breaststroke and 200 IM races, while Herskind is happy to welcome back sophomore Makena Walklett, who will be joined by her freshman sister Devyn.
“I think with eight freshmen we’re going to have a lot of nice surprises,” Herskind said. “I don’t know exactly who will step up and when, but I think we’re going to get some great contributions.”
Once stable Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy turned to its third coach in as many seasons in Occidental head coach Steve Webb.
The Tologs opened the season with a 126-26 victory in Mission League action versus Chaminade on Thursday at Loyola.
St. Monica Academy coach Christina Escovar has a small, but feisty squad that accomplished big things last season despite limited numbers.
The four-girl Crusaders team finished second in the Heritage League, advanced a swimmer to the CIF Southern Section Division IV Championships and placed 25th overall.
This season, Escovar can now brag about an even bigger squad of eight girls, highlighted by her sophomore daughter Isabella Escovar.
“I joke that our team has grown by 100% each year,” Christina Escovar said. “I’m really happy that we continue to increase awareness.”
Isabella Escovar enjoyed a banner freshman year that showed her to be on the division’s top ninth-graders.
Escovar took second in the 100 butterfly (59.29) and earned fifth in the 200 IM (2:16.41) at the Division IV championships.
The youngster helps a team that can lean on the veteran leadership of Liberty Crisp and Claire McCall along with junior Maria Grumbine and Isabella Preciado.
“My expectations for the team are to allow everyone to swim all the events,” Christina Escovar said. “We want everyone to produce their best times and drop anywhere from one second to 10 seconds.”
Hoover, which finished fifth at the Pacific League finals last season, graduated a lot of talent and heads into 2018 smaller and less experienced.
Nonetheless, Tornadoes coach Kevin Witt still has a pair of dependable swimmers in sophomores Nane Akopyan and Lusin Yengibarayan.
Akopyan turned in a strong freshman season that led her to a league third-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:20.17) and a fourth-place effort in the 200 free (2:01.69).
As for Yengibarayan, the youngster will be counted upon in the 50 and 100 freestyle races.
Outside of the duo, Witt will spend just as much time instructing as coaching.
“Always, first and foremost, we want to learn technique and the rules of swimming,” he said. “Typically my programs are made up of a lot of other athletes, not swim athletes, but athletes who want to learn how to swim. So, for us, it’s always a learning experience.”
Glendale took seventh place last season and is young again. However, Nitros coach Carol Driffill believes her squad will be more competitive this season.
“We may not be able to keep up with CV or Arcadia yet, but we’re going to give everyone else a run for their money,” Driffill said. “We have some freshman girls coming in next year, so it’s exciting to watch our program improve a little more each year.”
Junior Kaylin Lo returns in the 500 freestyle, as does junior Clara Cho in the 100 backstroke, sophomore Jamie Fritz in the 100 breaststroke and junior Amanda Briones in the 200 freestyle.
