If Thursday’s boys prelims were any indication, the finals of the Foothill Swim Games on Saturday morning will be fast.
Top-ranked Santa Margarita and No. 2 Mater Dei each blazed in the 200-yard freestyle relay while red-hot Hunter Hitchens set the Northwood record in the 200 freestyle.
The Eagles’ 200 free relay of Marc Morizono, Kyle Monteleone, Gregor Yacoubian and Grant Shoults qualified first for Saturday’s 10 a.m. finals with a time of 1 minute, 28.08 seconds.
Shoults split a 20.55 anchor.
Mater Dei’s relay touched in 1:28.23, leaving both teams about 1 1/2 seconds off the meet set by Santa Margarita and University last year (1:26.81). Christian Hockenbury of Mater Dei sizzled a 20.21 anchor.
Shoults qualified first in his 200 free, clocking a 1:39.66, about half-a-second off his meet-record 1:39.21 from his sophomore season.
Hitchens qualified second in a school-record 1:40.78.
Hockenbury qualified first in a swift 100 free. He touched in 46.43, just ahead of Hitchens (46.67), Sawyer Farmer of Newport Harbor (46.88) and Morizono (47.79). Will Hofstader set the meet record last year with a 45.71 for University.
Results: Top-eight qualifiers for finals
