Swimming: Spartans Flex Muscles in RHL Finals

As many had come to expect, the La Canada boys and girls swim team dominated at the Rio Hondo League finals Friday at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, setting the pace throughout the afternoon. On the boy’s side, the Spartans recorded a first or second place showing in every single varsity event, while the girls shattered several league records.

“I was really proud of the kids today. We decided to do some shifting in our lineup because we didn’t want to do that next week in CIF and I think it worked out well for us,” said boys coach Art Lopez.

Girls coach Tiffany Quash added about her girls, “We got great results from our combo of Katy Campbell and Samantha Campbell, and I think these results will really calm us down heading into next week.”

Katy Campbell recorded her first of a meet-high four first place finishes when she took the 200-yard freestyle in 50.99 seconds.

Katy also recorded arguably the most impressive time of the day when she crushed the 500 yard freestyle record in4:53.10. Not only did she beat the second place swimmer by 16 seconds, she also beat the guys winning time, set by South Pasadena’s Evan Maccarthy, by eight seconds.

“Katy sent a great message today that gender doesn’t matter in sports,” Quash said. “She’s not just an amazing female swimmer, she’s an amazing swimmer. Period.”

Another top moment for the Spartan girls occurred when they recorded the only 1-2-3 sweep of the day in the 50-yard freestyle. Sarah Olson won with a league record time of 24.15, with Samantha Campbell finishing second (24.44) and Mackenzie Heaton finishing third (24.58).

For the boys, the Spartans were led by senior Christian Renfro and sophomore Brandon Nguyen -- who both recorded four first place times.

Nguyen recorded victories in the 200-yard medley relay (1:40.03), the 200-yard individual medley (1:54.32), and the 100-yard breaststroke (59:02).

Renfro took first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.23), the 100 free ( 46:50), and the 200 free relay (1:29:24).

In that event, La Canada actually took second to Temple City, but the Rams were disqualified when a swimmer jumped into the water in celebration while the race was still going on.

Nguyen and Renfro teamed up to close the event out in style, winning the 400 freestyle relay (3:13.18), the last race of the meet.

“Both Christian and Brandon were great today but truthfully they were tired and I think they will both be better next week,” Lopez said. “We are with the big boys in CIF, and they will need to be even better then today.”

Despite their domination, La Canada only set one Rio Hondo record at the meet, with Bradley Mattix winning the 100-yard backstroke (52:05).

In other action, the South Pasadena boys team performed well, with several swimmers setting personal best times. The Tigers were led by senior Evan MacCarrthy, who did well in both the shortest and longest individual races in the meet.

MacCarrthy tied for third in the 50-yard freestyle (22:59), and won the 500-yard freestyle (5:01.84). South Pasadena senior Sean Grab also fared well in the 500, clocking in at 5:12.46.

Carlton Lew was also a standout for the Tigers, placing second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.57). For coach Tyrone Brown, the meet was a big success.

“I’m really happy with my kids nearly all of them posted personal bests,” he said. “Evan MacCarrthy was fantastic he’s the team captain, and he does all the little things with a great attitude one of the best kids I’ve ever coaches. I’m also really happy for Carlton Lew, Sean Grab and Jack Sinclair, who all qualified for CIF.”

For the South Pasadena girls, they started the meet off on a good note, winning the first race, the 200-yard medley relay. Sabrina Cha, Liza Echeverria, Samantha Zavala, and Anna-Lena Hathaway recorded a time of 1:58.75.

Freshman Devin Grab recorded a second in the 100-yard butterfly (1:05.00). Samantha Zavala also recorded a pair of third place finishes in the 200 freestyle (1:59.34) and the 500 freestyle (5:10.61).

The highlight for San Marino was in the 100 butterfly, where brothers Stephen and Samuel To took first (50:74) and third (53:34).

Senior Joe Costa also recorded a pair of second place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.18) and the 100 yard freestyle (46:82). Costa also teamed up with Stephen To, Nathan Tsai, and Everett Phillips to take second in the 400 free relay (3:15.10).

Sophomore Tiffany Warmuth was the lone standout for the San Marino girls, taking second in both the 200 free (1:55.34) and the 500 yard free (5:09.37).

The Monrovia teams struggled mightily all day, only qualifying one swimmer, junior Jeff Lucas, who tied for third in the 50-yard freestyle (22.59).

Now all of the swimmers have their eyes set on next week, when those who qualified will move on to the CIF championships. The prelims will begin in Long Beach on Wednesday with the divisional finals slated for next Friday