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Boys’ Swimming Preview: Season nears with varying goals for locals

Crescenta Valley High’s William Blake and his teammates will try to recapture a Pacific League title.
(Tim Berger/Staff Photographer)
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Expectations range considerably for the six local boys’ swimming squads as the season gets underway.

Crescenta Valley High and Flintridge Prep are eyeing league titles, while Glendale, Hoover and St. Francis prepare for growth and St. Monica Academy makes its debut.

There was a certain bitterness that accompanied Crescenta Valley into the CIF playoffs as the area’s longest winning streak was snapped last season.

Pacific League archrival Arcadia defeated the Falcons, 461-409.5, at the league finals at Burbank on May 3 to prevent Crescenta Valley from winning a 25th consecutive league crown.

That outing has not be forgotten.

“Certainly we have to move forward and [the streak] was something special when you think of how long it had been going,” Crescenta Valley coach Jan Sakonju said. “We can’t change the fact we lost to a really good Arcadia team, but the underclassmen didn’t forget last year’s experience and they certainly set the goal at retaking the championship. They started saying that on the bus ride home.”

Last season, the Falcons finished 16th with 67 points in Division II.

Two swimmers who figure to lead the charge are juniors William Blake and Andre Yarcan.

Blake captured his team’s lone league individual championship in the 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 37.18 seconds, while he finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:42.93). At the CIF Southern Section Division II finals, Blake placed fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:41.29) and sixth in the 500 (4:36.26).

Yarcan finished third in the 100 breaststroke (59.97) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:01.88) in league.

Sakonju is also looking forward to big efforts from David Komjathy, Nick Hartoonian, Alex Hale, Tom Lee and freshmen Harrison Blake (younger brother of William) and Karl Puttler.

Maybe the Falcons’ biggest returner practices at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in junior Luca Ayazi, a diver who placed third last season in Division II with a score of 494.15 points. The two finishers ahead of Ayazi have graduated.

Now, no area boys’ squad has a longer streak of league titles going than Flintridge Prep, which captured its fifth consecutive Prep League crown last season.

Expectations remain high in league and are a little more tempered in CIF as the Rebels are coming off a great year that included finishing fourth in Division III with 163 points, which was within striking distance of champion Anaheim Canyon (185 points).

“Our goal for this year is to win league again and I think we’re in pretty good shape,” said Flintridge Prep coach Ingrid Herskind, who recently retired from coaching cross-country. “As for matching our fourth-place finish in CIF, that’s going to be a little tougher.”

Herskind lost a gem in senior Andreas Langen, a Southern Section champion and the school’s first-ever CIF State qualifier.

While no one may be able to replace Langen, Herskind returns a slew of talented swimmers, led by Winston Chen.

The junior was part of the league champion 400 freestyle relay team and the 200 medley relay team, while he won the 200 IM (2:01.08) and finished second to Langen in the 100 backstroke (51.99).

Herskind will also rely on junior Matt Ng in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay, and on the Brookbanks twins, Ben and Oliver, in a variety of events.

The real wild card for Flintridge Prep is senior Brett Bell, an outstanding backstroke swimmer, who injured his knee in the offseason. If Bell can return to form, then Flintridge Prep will be formidable.

Maybe it’s fair to say that no area boys’ team has as daunting a league as St. Francis.

The fledgling Golden Knights program battled to sixth place last season in the powerful Mission League, but optimistic coach Brady Lowdermilk notes that his team was only 105 points away from third place.

“We’ve returned all of our significant point-earners from that meet, so I suspect we’ll place higher this year,” Lowdermilk said. “It’s something we’ve talked about and the guys are motivated to make an impact at that championship meet.”

St. Francis’ premiere swimmer is back in senior Michael Humphrey, who qualified to the Division I prelims in the 100 butterfly (52.77 seconds) and was a pivotal member of St. Francis’ 200 IM relay squad.

“Michael Humphrey is just two-tenths of a second away from the school record in the 100 fly,” Lowdermilk said. “He and Ethan Gray will battle back and forth all season for that one. We’re also close to the school record in the 200 medley relay, so that’s something we’ll target.”

Lowdermilk is expecting big seasons from junior John Balog in the 100 freestyle (52.14), sophomore Christopher Bruce in the 100 free (50.06), Gray in the 100 butterfly (53.43), sophomore Michael Smith in the 500 free (4:57.64) and from utility swimmers Peter Rassam and Adam Schroeder.

Graduations took a toll on the Hoover and Glendale programs.

The Tornadoes finished fourth last season at the Pacific League finals behind Arcadia (461), Crescenta Valley (409.5) and Burbank (240.5).

From that team, Hoover graduated its top two swimmers in senior Vahe Akopyan (Occidental College) and Haik Guskayan.

“Gosh, we lost so much from last year that it’s hard to know how we’ll do this year,” Hoover coach Kevin Witt said. “The good news for us is in terms of depth; I think we’ll have depth this season. Outside of that, we’ll definitely wait to see.”

Witt will turn to junior Jordan Corpuz in the 200 IM, the butterfly and maybe the breaststroke, while freestyler David Gasparyan will also play a big role.

At Glendale, the Nitros waved goodbye to a generational talent in News-Press James H. Jenkins Boys’ Athlete of the Year Trenton Julian, a winner of four CIF Southern Section titles who is now at California Berkeley.

“We will miss Trenton,” Glendale coach Carol Driffill said.

Last season, Glendale finished sixth in the Pacific League.

The Nitros have some talent back, however, leading with Kierin Ferris.

The sophomore finished sixth last season in the league 200 freestyle (1:54.58) and will be depended upon for points, just like seniors Anthony Ovsepyan (200 IM) and Antonio Gutierrez (500 freestyle) and junior Ben Do (50 freestyle).

St. Monica Academy freshman Peter Boldt is the definition of a one-man team.

The youngster is his school’s only swimmer in the brand new boys’ program.

“It’s a courageous effort,” St. Monica coach Christina Escovar said. “I’m happy he’s pioneering it for our school and all I’m asking is for him to go out and swim his events.”

Boldt will compete as an individual in Heritage League competitions.

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresports

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