Swimming preview: Santa Margarita boys aren’t slowing down

It seems almost incomprehensible.

Santa Margarita’s boys swimming team will be stronger than last season? In 2016, the Eagles were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Orange County and paced by national record-setting Grant Shoults and sidekick Marc Morizono.

But the Eagles expect to be faster overall at dual meets this spring.

“We’ve got better depth,” said Santa Margarita co-coach Ron Blanc, whose squad is the Register’s preseason top-ranked team.

“We had our pentathlon … (and) had about 10 guys under a minute in the 100-yard individual medley. In years past, we’ve had a couple guys ready this time of the year to do that. That was a good sign.”

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BOYS PREVIEW

• Orange County top 10
• Top swimmers & divers to watch
• Santa Margarita boys aren’t slowing down
• Other swimmers & divers to watch
• Important dates

While Shoults and Morizono now race for Stanford and Cornell, respectively, the Eagles’ new-look core features rising sophomores Kevin Tu (backstroke) and Noah Brune (500-yard freestyle) and senior breaststroker Alex Qu. Tu and Qu are school-record holders.

The emerging depth will come from swimmers such as A.J. Rossman, Kyle Monteleone and Jackson Odgers.

At the pentathlon, Odgers, a junior, clocked the second-fastest 50-yard freestyle, behind Rossman’s lifetime-best time of 22.89 seconds. He is the brother of Isa Odgers, the standout breaststroke on the Eagles’ No. 1 girls team, and freshman Jo Odgers.

Rossman, a 6-foot-4 junior, is a transfer from Washington who was a key addition to the Eagles’ CIF Division 2 championship boys water polo team. At the pentathlon, he touched in 22.15 for the 50 free and also races the 200 IM and backstroke.

Rossman won the 200 IM and placed second in the 100 back at the Washington 3-A state meet last season.

Monteleone, a senior, unites with Brune in the 500 free. Monteleone clocked a 4:42.85 in December. In November, Brune set the Southern California Swimming record in the 1,650 freestyle for the 13-14 age-group with a 15:21.16.

Santa Margarita’s boy team also feature transfers Kaikea Wilinski (Mater Dei, butterfly) and Yurian Quinones (Tesoro, sprint freestyle).

“Our approach to meets is probably going to be a lot different,” Qu said. “We have a lot more solid swimmers around the team. … People are definitely improving, too.”

Santa Margarita will need to be fast to dethrone Mater Dei, the defending Trinity League champion. The Monarchs split time atop the rankings with the Eagles last season.

Northwood, Dana Hills and University also feature swift Division 1 boys teams.

“This is probably the closest the top 5 have ever been,” Mater Dei coach Ken Dory said. “One any given day, and you change to the style of the meet, a different team wins.”

NOTES

Capistrano Valley’s Cami Hidalgo is feeling the pressure as she begins her pursuit of a fourth consecutive CIF-SS Division 1 title. The Georgia Tech-bound senior would be the first county female diver to capture four consecutive CIF titles.

“I’m sort of nervous,” Hidalgo said. “Everybody thinks that I’m going to win, so it’s like the pressure is on. I usually feel nervous with every competition but I try to control my breathing before each dive.”

Crean Lutheran’s Colten Young can become the first O.C. male diver to claim four consecutive CIF titles. The Princeton-bound senior has won Division 2 twice and Division 3. …

The Mission Viejo Invitational will be held at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine on March 24 (diving) and March 25 (swimming) because of the renovation of the Marguerite Recreation Center. …

Santa Margarita’s girls feature three star freshmen in twins Ella and Mia Ristic and Anicka Delgado. At the pentathlon, Delgado posted the fastest 50 butterfly with a time of 25.36, two hundredths of a second ahead of reigning Register swimmer of the year Samantha Shelton (25.38). …

The new pool at Servite is about six weeks away from opening, the school reports. …

Coaches indicate that the Millikan Southern Section Relays won’t be held this season.