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Santa Margarita will be challenged this weekend at the CIF State swimming and diving championships in Fresno as the Eagles seek to defend their boys and girls team titles.
Santa Margarita’s girls will be competing without their best swimmer, Teagan O’Dell. Santa Margarita’s boys are expected to face more tough rounds against Loyola and Northwood.
The three-day meet at Clovis West High begins Thursday with boys and girls diving. The swimming prelims are Friday afternoon with the finals Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Santa Margarita’s girls, the four-time defending state champion, will be without O’Dell, a record-setting junior who is not competing at the state meet so that she can focus on the Olympic Trials next month in Indianapolis.
Based on her strong performance at last week’s CIF-SS Division 1 finals, O’Dell was positioned to be top seed in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly and a major contributor on the relays.
The Eagles will turn to their depth this weekend, especially in the freestyle events.
Santa Margarita has four swimmers seeded in the Top 16 in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
In the 50 free, the group features juniors Gracyn Aquino (second seed), Chloe Stinson (fourth) and Audrey Lee (eighth), and senior Ariel Lee (ninth).
In the 100 free, the Eagles’ seeded swimmers are Aquino (fourth), junior Victoria Mori (ninth), Lee (13th) and Lin (15th).
Santa Margarita’s strength in the freestyle events also bodes well for the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. With the absence of O’Dell, the Eagles will need a new backstroker for the 200 medley relay and a new member for the 400 free relay.
Santa Margarita’s boys, who claimed their first state title last season, appear to be at full strength. Loyola, the runner-up last season, and 2018 state champion Northwood figure to challenge the Eagles.
Northwood and Santa Margarita could duel again for the county record in the 400 free relay. At the CIF-SS Division 1 finals, both teams raced under the standard with the Timberwolves winning in a county-record 2:59.15.
Northwood sophomore Andrew Maksymowski faces two intriguing competitors in his individual events.
In the 200 free, he could clash with Arizona State commit and top-seeded Quin Seider of Nordhoff. In the 500, he could tangle with Foothill of Pleasanton star freshman and No. 1 seed Luka Mijatovic.
Orange County has two top-seeded swimmers. Santa Margarita senior Daniel Verdolaga has the fastest entry time in the boys 200 individual medley (1:46.07), and Liberty Christian freshman Bianca Nwaizu holds the distinction in the girls breaststroke (1:01.03).
In diving, Mater Dei sophomore Gianna Kenrick and San Clemente senior Nolan Rooker are the top seeds for the girls and boys, respectively.
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