Boys Varsity Swimming ties for 3rd place at Del Rio League Finals
Boys Finals
Cal Hi 333 points (Tied for first*)
La Serna 342 points (Tied for first*)
Whittier 151 (Tied for Third*)
El Rancho 147 (Tied for Third*)
Santa Fe 75 Fifth
Friday at 3pm, the Del Rio League (DRL) met at Whittier College for the 2023 League Finals. This meet is not only the culmination of our league, but also a chance to qualify for CIF’s Southern Section Championships. So, theoretically, a swimmer can finish 9th in league and still qualify for their Division in CIF SS Division 4, or, come in 1st place in league and miss qualifying for CIF SS Division 2. Both of these scenarios happened which kept everyone on their toes. It was fantastic. There was something to cheer for everyone! Let’s look at the highlights for the Boys…
Del Rio League crowns its team champion by combining the points you earned for winning a duel meet (1 point per win) and the points you earn during the DRL Championship (1 point for each team you score more than). For example, El Rancho defeated Santa Fe and Whittier in duel meets, earning 2 points. During the DRL Championship, we only beat Santa Fe, giving us 1 point for a total of 3. The reverse happened to Whittier… they only beat Santa Fe in duel meets (earning 1 point) and in the DRL Championship, they earned 2 points by outscoring Santa Fe and El Rancho (it was sooo close). So they also earned 3 points, thus Whittier and El Rancho Boys “tied” for 3rd place overall. Interestingly enough, the same scenario happened to La Serna and Cal Hi, thus sharing the DRL crown as “Co-Champs”.
Before I breakdown the meet, I want to remind you that there are two “times” to aim for in qualifying for CIF SS Division 4… Automatic times and Consideration times. Auto time are just that, you are automatically qualified to swim. Whether there is 1 swimmer or 50 swimmers, you are in. Consideration times are where they start the line for filling in swimmers so the heats are full (8 lanes per heat). The closer you are to the Auto time, the better chance you have of making it into the Preliminary Swim Meet. So, how did the boys do?
200 Medley Relay- David Tarazon, Michael Matchan, Jeremy Alonso, and Castor Villegas took the Bronze Medal in league and made an Automatic Qualifying time.
200 Free – Tarazon took the Bronze Medal and Auto qualified. Gio Cabrera took 12th and dropped a whopping 6 seconds for his personal best.
200 IM – Michael Matchan took 7th place and made a Con time. Vincent Mejia DQ’ed and missed his chance to qualify.
100 Fly – Alonso took 7th place and just missed his Auto time by 2 seconds. Daniel Bautista took 10th place and cleared his Con time by 4 seconds. Gio Cabrera took12th place and just squeezed under the Con time.
100 Free – Villegas took 9th place and just missed his Auto time by 0.63 seconds. Jay Vera took 11th and just cleared his Con time. Christian Elias took 12th and also just cleared his Con time by 0.3 of a second.
500 Free – Alonso took 8th and missed his Auto time about 8 seconds, but he looks to be in a good spot to get into CIF. Giovanni Eguao took 10th place and also made his Con time.
200 Free Relay -Villegas, Vera, Elias, and Mejia
100 Back – Tarazon took 1st place and cleared his Auto time. Vera took 12th.
100 Breast – Matchan took 5th in league and just missed his Auto time. Mejia took 9th and made a Con time.
400 Free Relay – Villegas, Tarazon, Vera, and Matchan took the Bronze medal and made Auto time for CIF.
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JV boys took second at the Championships and 2nd overall in league.
100 IM – Robert Robles took 5th
50 Free – Isaac Esqueda took 6th.
200 Free Relay – Esqueda, Robles, Ben Rodriguez, and Ismael Juarez took 3rd.
50 Back – Robles took 5th.
50 Breast – Juarez took 6th
400 Free Relay – Esqueda, Robles, Rodriguez, and Fausto Gonzalez took 2nd.