The signs of Crean Lutheran’s growth as a girls swimming power leaped from the pool Thursday at the Academy League finals.
On an afternoon in which the Saints scratched Ella Eastin from two events and Lauren Maurer arrived late because she was competing in the track finals, they still dominated at Kennedy and claimed a third straight title.
Stanford-bound senior Lindsey Engel blazed to two meet records and sophomore Emily Eastin continued to signal her emergence while helping Crean Lutheran rack up 169 points to outdistance St. Margaret’s at 94.
Whitney of Cerritos edged Saddleback Valley Christian and co-MVPs Ryan Dale and Jason Jewell, 122-112, to win the boys title.
Crean Lutheran’s girls, the defending CIF Division 3 champions, swept the relays, including the 200-yard (1 minute, 35.40 seconds) and 400 (3:32.28) freestyles in meet records.
The 400 team of Tianna Jorgenson, Emily Eastin, Maurer and Engel finished with a season best and the third-fastest time in the county.
“We have so much more depth than we’ve had in the past,” said Engel, selected the girls MVP. “It’s been growing so fast and it’s so great.”
Ella Eastin, the Register’s female swimmer of the year in 2013, won the butterfly (55.79, No. 4 in the county) and helped power the sprint-relay, but she scratched the 200 free and the 400 relay because of a shoulder injury.
“It’s been bothering me for a while,” she said. “It was awesome having a good number of swimmers behind me.”
So how about CIF next week? “I think I’ll be all right,” Ella Eastin said of her injury. “I don’t know how fast I’ll be swimming.”
Engel led a sweep in the 100 free with a meet-record 49.94, about a second off her county record. Emily Eastin touched second in a lifetime-best 50.92 and Jorgenson claimed third in 53.40.
Emily said racing against Engel helped push her to the No. 3 time in the county this season.
“It’s so much fun racing Lindsey,” Emily Eastin said. “She’s always giving everything she has.”
Engel also won the 100 back in a meet-record and county-leading 54.39 while Emily Eastin took 200 individual medley in a quick 2:04.46.
Crean Lutheran’s depth also shined in the medley relay. The team of Katia Young, Rachel Taylor, Lauren Ludovico and Zoe Peck — three freshmen and a junior — won in a near-record 1:56.40. Taylor also captured the 100 breaststroke title in 1:06.42.
Maurer ran the mile at the Academy League track meet at Crean Lutheran but arrived at Kennedy in time to finish fourth in the backstroke (1:06.76).
Jewell swept the 50 (22.09) and 100 (49.12) freestyles. Dale touched first in the 200 IM (2:01.50) and breaststroke (1:02.44).
In the Garden Grove League finals:
Raquel Licea and Hannah Caskey each won twice for the host Argonauts, who claimed girls and boys titles for the fifth consecutive season.
In the Orange League finals:
Stefan Vo captured the butterfly (1:01.97) and 200 IM (2:23.93) at Santa Ana Valley to help Katella’s boys claim a fourth consecutive title. Magnolia won the girls crown.
In the Golden West League finals:
Segerstrom swept both titles at Ocean View while the Jaguars’ Gillian Robles and Westminster’s Adam Wilson earned swimmer of the meet honors.
In the Orange Coast League finals:
Laguna Beach’s boys and girls swept titles at Costa Mesa.
In diving:
In the Sea View League finals: Mission Viejo’s Alexandra Caplan edged San Clemente’s Haley Farnsworth for the title.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
