Crescenta Valley High sweeps to dual meet league win against Glendale

LA CRESCENTA — If Young Tae Seo has his way, nobody on the Crescenta Valley High boys’ swim team will be able to relax.

The Falcons have begun their path of trying to repeat as CIF Southern Section Division II champions, and the standout senior doesn’t predict it to be easy.

“We are trying to go back-to-back,” said Seo, who won two individual events Tuesday to lead host Crescenta Valley to a commanding 111-57 win against Glendale in a Pacific League-opening meet. “Everybody is going to try to take us down, so its going to make it that much harder.

“We want to get faster with our times compared to last year, but we want to still enjoy doing it. Right now, it’s about trying to improve the whole team.”

In the girls’ portion of the meet, Crescenta Valley received two individual victories apiece from Any Aghakhanian and Iva Icheva to earn a 122-31 win.

The University of Florida-bound Seo, who is the reigning All-Area Boys Swimmer of the Year and News-Press Male Athlete of the Year, captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute 43.89 seconds before winning the 100 butterfly in 52.44. He also worked with Jake Ksendzov, Antonio Camarillo and Eric Park to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:32.41.

The Falcons, who have won 20 league championships in a row, won eight events. Crescenta Valley (2-0) got individual wins from Parker Griffin in the 50 freestyle (23.94), Andrew Lockwood in the 500 freestyle (5:19.30) and Sam Catalfano in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.33).

Bryce Loftus, Hyunsung Kim, Sol Yoon and Ben Jones of Crescenta Valley grouped together to open the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay (1:52.39). The Crescenta Valley quartet of Eddie Gallehugh, Omar Trad, Camarillo and Park closed out the meet with a mark of 3:38.42 to take first place in the 400 freestyle relay.

Glendale (0-1) earned three first-place finishes. Jason Wilia captured the 200 individual medley in 2:15.51 for the Nitros, who also saw Bijan Rezvani take the 100 freestyle (54.36) and Eric Georgian win the 100 backstroke (1:04.86).

“We had some great races with a number of our swimmers,” Glendale Coach Forest Holbrook said. “So, that leaves us encouraged.

“CV has been the best team in the league for such a long time, and it’s good to be able to open against them and see how we can go from here.”

On the girls’ side, Crescenta Valley (2-0) won all 11 races. Aghakhanian took first in the 200 individual medley (2:25.66) and 100 butterfly (1:07.07). Icheva captured the 50 freestyle (25.64) and 100 freestyle (55.02).

Aghakhanian, a sophomore, said the Falcons clicked throughout the meet.

“We want to get off to a good start with the season,” Aghakhanian said. “We were able to get a lot of points early and stay on a roll.

“I think I did best on the butterfly because I was able to pace myself well. I didn’t want to sprint for the first 50 yards so I had enough energy for the final 50.”

Aghakhanian helped the Falcons win a pair of relays. She worked with Icheva, Mira Coopti and Jesse Gabor to take the 200 medley relay in 2:03.07. She also teamed with Gabor, Alyssa Ngyen and Samantha Kohn to win the 400 freestyle relay (4:07.84).

The Falcons also got victories from Gabor in the 200 freestyle (2:10.90), Maggie Connell in the 500 freestyle (5:54.63), Cameron Campbell in the 100 backstroke (1:11.66) and Coopti in the 100 breaststroke (1:22.41). Icheva grouped with Gabor, Elissa Arnold and Lynley Fernandez to take first in the 200 freestyle relay (1:50.17).

Glendale (0-1) got a second-place finish from Biyouregh Boghozian in the 200 individual medley (2:32).