Three things we learned from Tuesday’s swim prelims:
1. Kate Krolikowski and Woodbridge are more than just darkhorse contenders in Division 1: The Warriors’ junior blasted county-leading times in the 200 (1:48.22) and 500-yard (4:50.59) freestyles at the Pacific Coast League prelims at Woollett but received plenty of help.
Woodbridge received Tuesday-leading times from Isis Choi and Sydney Okubo but Molly McCance might have been the team’s key performer.
McCance qualified first in the 50 (24.36) and 100 free (52.92). If she can stay at that clip in the 50 and drop time in the 100, she could score some critical individual points at CIF.
Woodbridge’s Juliana Witting also surfaced as another name to remember. She qualified second (1:05.03) in the breaststroke to Choi (1:06.11) and earned the No. 3 slot in the 100 free (53.68).
2. The Trinity League girls can sprint: Eight girls posted times of 24.89 or faster in the 50 free at prelims. The top-three of Mackenzie Degn of host Santa Margarita (24.33), teammate Marriott Hoffmann (24.35) and Kayla Constandse of Mater Dei (24.38) each raced below the automatic Division 1 standard. Defending Division 1 champion Santa Margarita placed four girls in the top-eight, so watch for the Eagles’ 200 free relay the next two weeks.
Relays could decided the Division 1 title.
3. Tesoro’s top-ranked girls aren’t going away: Led by a school-record 200 free by Jessica Epps, the Titans showed high-end depth at the South Coast prelims. The sophomore Epps clocked a 1:50.31 but had company from teammate Dominique Gray at 1:50.90.
If the Titans have two girls under 1:50 at CIF or even close to 1:50, watch out.
They also received nearly a six-second drop in the 500 free by Rhys Empey, who clocked a 5:00.72. She joins Casey Brotherton (5:03.83 on Tuesday) as a potential scorer for Tesoro in the event at CIF.
Tesoro also made strides in the breaststroke as Emily Baker (1:06.92) and Victoria Epps (1:07.32) made strides toward becoming CIF-point scorers. But the breaststroke was fast in prelims Tuesday, so the Titans will have to keep dropping time. Seven other Division 1 girls were faster than the the Baker-Epps duo.
And with the Division 1 girls team race looking competitive, every point will matter.
