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  • Marina junior Gareth Svanda powers through the 100-yard butterfly to...

    Marina junior Gareth Svanda powers through the 100-yard butterfly to a winning time of 52.53 seconds at the JSerra Invitational on Saturday.

  • Sage Hill sophomore Jason Schreiber cuts through the water en...

    Sage Hill sophomore Jason Schreiber cuts through the water en route to a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke at the JSerra Invitational on Saturday. He touched in 1:00.31.

  • JSerra's Katie Glavinovich blasted a county-leading 1:47.15 in the 200-yard...

    JSerra's Katie Glavinovich blasted a county-leading 1:47.15 in the 200-yard freestyle to help highlight the JSerra Invitational on Saturday.

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Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

JSerra swimmer Katie Glavinovich mastered her first challenge Saturday even before arriving at the JSerra Invitational with a blazing time in mind.

While at a reception for local students accepted to Stanford, the senior was asked to deliver a speech about one of the other students.

Guess who went first in the challenge? The Cardinal commit who needed to get to her swim meet.

“I was so nervous, but when I got up, it was fun and I wasn’t nervous at all,” Glavinovich said. “They said I did a good job.”

She continued her mastery in the pool. The Aquazot club standout donned a tech suit and blasted her 200-yard freestyle in a lifetime-best and Orange County-leading 1 minute, 47.15 seconds to highlight the meet.

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In shedding just over two seconds off her personal best, Glavinovich split the 100 in 52.75 and finished with an automatic All-America time that ranks her ninth in Orange County history.

She said her recent training sessions drove her to take aim at the 200 free.

“I know I’ve been training hard enough to go faster than (my previous best) 1:49.26,” she said. “I looked at the time (Saturday) and was, ‘Wow. I almost went 1:46’. … I’m just working toward CIF. Now it’s going to be harder to choose what to swim.”

Last May at the CIF Division 1 finals, Glavinovich placed fourth in the 200 individual medley and a strong second in the 500 free. On Saturday, she helped the Lions claim the team title by leading off the winning medley and 200 free relays and touching first in the backstroke (56.28). She sizzled a 24.22 in the 200 free to team with Tristan Saltonstall, Ashley Kempf and Ellie Sherwood to clock a 1:41.49.

“She’s done a great job of staying motivated and it shows,” JSerra coach Kevin Clements said of Glavinovich. “Competitive. Focused.”

JSerra also captured the boys title. Freshman Kenneth Woodsum of JSerra didn’t match Glavinovich’s time in the boys 200 free but used a late surge to edge Colby Livingston of Marina by two hundredths of a second with a 1:47.60.

Marina’s Gareth Svanda and Sage Hill’s Nicole Harvey and Jason Schreiber were each double-winners.

Sage Hill’s Taras Polakoff answered his own challenge. After being edged by Marina’s AJ Littiken in the 50 free, the senior bounced back to claim the 100 free in a school-record 49.24.

“Taras’ competitive mentality also pushed me,” said Schreiber, who touched in 1:56.47 in the 200 IM and 1:00.31 in the breast.

In the California Catholic Invitational: Ella Ristic (county-leading 4:56.10) and Noah Brune (4:34.27) won the 500 freestyles at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton to help Santa Margarita’s boys and girls defend their team titles.