Mission Viejo, Edison relay teams stand out at Masters
Diablos challenge state record in 200 freestyle, and Chargers reach elite level in 200 medley.
LONG BEACH Fatigue managed to slow several of the top individuals at the CIF-SS Masters swim meet Tuesday night.
But when it came to the girls sprint and medley relays, that pesky opponent was no match for No. 1 Mission Viejo or No. 2 Edison.
Mission Viejo coach Jeff Boss and Edison coach Crystal Whitmore each juggled their relay lineups and their teams responded with blistering times to highlight county performances at Belmont Plaza.
Mission Viejo’s 200-yard freestyle challenged the county and state record. The relay of Camille Hopp (23.95), Ashlyn Acosta (24.23), Alison Godbe (24.25) and Meghan Dwyer (23.82) combined to touch in a Masters record time of 1 minute, 36.25 seconds.
The time ranks Mission Viejo second in county and state history, behind Irvine’s 1:35.77 in 2004.
“That time is exciting,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer helped make it possible by dropping her two individual races to swim on three relays. The Duke-bound senior didn’t swim on the sprint relay at the Division I finals.
Edison’s 200 medley relay also reached elite company. The team of Cindy Tran, Sarah Moss, Yasi Jahanshahi and Kierstin Colesen won in a Masters record 1:44.80. The time ties Edison for third on the county’s all-time list and fifth on the state’s all-time list.
“They were pumped,” Whitmore said of the relay.
Tran and Jahanshahi were especially fast. Tran opened with a 24.84 backstroke split and Jahanshahi split a lifetime-best 24.79 for the butterfly.
“It’s another chance to go fast,” Jahanshahi said of Masters.
Whitmore inserted Colesen to the anchor and the junior responded with a 23.90. At the Division I final, Colesen raced on the freestyle relays.
Beckman’s Charlie Rimkus was the only county individual to record a new county-leading time. The junior finished third in the 200 individual medley in lifetime-best 1:51.06.
He then took aim at Chad La Tourette’s meet-record in the 500 freestyle but fell short by about three-quarters of a second with a 4:25.77. Rimkus still won the the race by a whopping 8 ½ seconds.
“It gives me a lot of confidence for next year,” he said of the race.
The marquee race of the night again belonged to Redlands’ Joey Hale and Yucaipa’s Karl Krug.
At Friday’s Division I final, they became the first high school swimmers to break the 20-second barrier in the 50 freestyle in the same race. The club teammates from Redlands Swim Team fell short of the barrier this time. Hale won another close race by touching out Krug in a Masters record 20.22 seconds. Krug reached the wall in 20.24.
“It was tiring – that’s for sure,” Hale said. “The taper has definitely worn off and everyone is pretty tired.”
Irvine’s Rikiya Yano touched third in 20.94 – matching his county-leading time.
In another anticipated showdown, Hart of Newhall’s Jordan Danny rallied in the second half of the breaststroke to beat early-leader Mater Dei’s Melissa Bates. Danny finished in a Masters record 1:02.19; Bates in 1:02.65.
Bates, the Division I champion, opened with a 29.09 split – not too far off her 28.70 from Friday. Danny, the Division II champion, was almost a second behind at the 50 but came back a 1 ½ seconds faster in the final two laps.
Thirteen meet records fell. Corona del Mar’s Yutaro Yamahsita set one in the 200 free (1:40.65) and Tran set one in the backstroke (54.46). Jahanshahi (54.58) and Laguna Hills’ Robbie Sullivan (49.10) swept the butterfly races and Edison’s girls also won the 400 free relay (3:31.10)
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
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