University’s fleet of male swimmers for the upcoming CIF-Southern Section championships assembled for the first time Saturday. And even though the gathering was just on paper, the group still looked formidable.
The top-ranked Trojans were seeded in scoring positions in each event and looked especially daunting in the 200-yard individual medley as the Division 1 psych sheet surfaced for this week’s championships in Riverside.
The top 18 finishers at finals score points at the swim and dive championships, which run Monday through Saturday in four divisions at Riverside City College.
University has at least one swimmer seeded in the top 18 in each of the 11 events but in four events features multiple swimmers with top 18 seeds.
University’s strongest event could be the 200 IM. Corey Okubo (1 minute, 46.87 seconds), Ken Takahashi (1:50.31) and Daniel Tran (1:50.47) are seeded first-second-third while Michael Schiffer (1:53.56) is 16th.
Based on seeding, that’s potentially 62 points for one event.
Takahashi also is seeded first in the 500 free while Okubo is second in the butterfly. The Trojans’ medley relay also is seeded first.
Santa Margarita’s No. 1 girls have swimmers seeded in the top 18 in 10 of 11 events, including Katie McLaughlin in her county-record events (200 free, 100 butterfly). The Eagles’ lineup also features divers Annie Whelan, Payton Gabris and Paige Gohr.
In other entries, Crean Lutheran’s Ella Eastin and Woodbridge’s Daniela Georges – both of whom are dealing with shoulder aliments – are entered. Eastin is seeded first in Division 3 in the 200 IM and breaststroke while Georges is eighth in the 200 free and sixth in the 500 free.
In Division 2, Kennedy’s Ryan Kao could again duel against a future Cal teammate, Kyle Coan of Los Osos, in the 200 free. Coan is seeded first, two spots ahead of Kao. Last season, Coan blazed a Division 2 record 1:35.69 to edge Kao by about a second.
Crean Lutheran’s Lindsey Engel (Division 3) and JSerra’s Kaitlyn Albertoli (Division 1) each entered the 50 and 100 freestyles.
POLICE INVESTIGATION
The Newport Beach Police Department will investigate an alleged altercation between two high school students at the Sunset League swim finals at Newport Harbor on Friday, Lt. Damon Psaros said Saturday.
Police responded after an alleged altercation between a high school male and high school female and detained the male on suspicion of battery, said Sgt. Brian Haas.
The police declined to identify the students because they are minors, Haas said.
The female suffered a minor abrasion to her forehead and the male was later released to his parents, Haas and Psaros said.
Psaros said police arrived at the pool at 3:55 p.m., about an hour into the meet.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
