Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming turns in perfect day at Mission League finals
PASADENA — Just as it dominated en route to an undefeated Mission League dual meet championship, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming team flexed its might at the league finals.
Turning in a historically perfect day at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, the Tologs won all 12 events at the Mission League finals Tuesday afternoon, with standouts Kirsten Vose, Katie Altmayer and Kate Herrill winning four events apiece.
“For us, it was the best meet we’ve ever had in school history,” said Tologs Coach Steve Bergen, whose Tologs had won their third consecutive league dual meet title and, for good measure on Tuesday, won all 10 junior varsity events. “It was a great day today.”
PHOTOS: FSHA swim team wins all 12 events at Mission League finals
Vose, a junior who is the reigning Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun Female Athlete of the Year, won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 freestyle relay and was part of the winning 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle winning teams.
“We never talked about [winning every race] until about halfway through and then coach told us we’d won everyone,” Vose said, “so keep it going.”
Vose, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year, took a break from her usual swim in the 100 breaststroke and showcased her versatility by swimming to a meet record in the 100 free in 50.63 seconds.
“It’s crazy. I was hoping to get [the record], but I wasn’t really expecting it,” Vose said. “We just wanted to switch it up. I wanted a little break and coach was really helpful in letting me switch it up.”
Earlier, she took home the 200 IM in 2:05.86.
Altmayer, a senior, took home league titles in the 200 freestyle (1:54.98) and the 100 fly (57.74), as well as swimming legs on the 200-free relay and 400-free relay.
“The fact that it’s my senior year makes it even more satisfying. It’s gonna be really tough to leave such a great team behind,” Altmayer said. “It’s definitely very exciting [to win every event]. I’m not surprised because of how much effort everybody’s put in this season so that we can be so successful.”
Herrill, a sophomore, won the 50 free in 23.62 and came back to claim the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.82, obliterating the field as she won by more than seven seconds.
Earlier Tuesday, Caroline Bender took the Mission League diving title with a score of 355.40.
Individually, freshmen Christina Campbell and Caitlin Smith made memorable finals debuts.
Campbell dominated the 500 free, winning in 5:05.8, more than 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Smith swam to a championship in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.05, just in front of fellow freshman Claudia Wong (1:01.75) of Harvard-Westlake and senior Jade Skertich (1:01.93) of Louisville, who was the defending champion.
Smith and freshman Emily Gray joined Altmayer and Vose in starting off the meet with a 200 IM relay win in 1:50.12. Herrill, Gray, Campbell and Altmayer won the 200-free relay in 1:39.05. And, to put a huge exclamation point on the day, Vose, Altmayer, Smith and Herrill won the 400-free relay to end the day in 3:31.98 — shattering the previous meet record, also held by a Tolog contingent two years ago featuring Altmayer and Vose, by nearly eight seconds.
It was a fitting conclusion to a league season of utter dominance that saw the Tologs lose one race in league dual meets, which came via a disqualification in a relay.
“It’s not cocky, I think there’s a confidence that we can do well,” Altmayer said.
With CIF prelims ahead, now the Tologs look to better their seventh-place CIF Southern Section Division I standing of a season ago.
Said Bergen: “We still have more to prove.”
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Follow Grant Gordon on Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon.