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May 21, 2009
Photo by Joel Capra - Freshman Caitlin Jorgens races in the breast stroke event against American on March 13. Jorgens placed second in the breast stroke race at the MVAL championships.
By Christian Castillo & Jordan Brahaney
The Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL) swimming championships for both boys and girls, varsity and junior varsity, were filled with highlights and broken records. MVAL championships were held May 8-9 at American High School.
Varsity girls’ highlights included freshman Caitlin Jorgens’ second place finish in the breast stroke event, the 200-yard freestyle relay team’s third place finish, and the 400-yard freestyle relay team’s third place finish.
The 200-yard medley relay team, consisting of Jorgens, sophomore Megan Sanders, senior Erin Carscadden, and sophomore Ally Hokanson, was seeded fifth, but placed second at MVALs.
All of the girls relay teams earned North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs consideration, but only the 400-yard freestyle relay team made it to the NCS playoffs.
Hokanson, Carscadden, and Jorgens are also on the 400-yard freestyle relay team, along with senior Janiece Jarman. The team finished 32 out of 36 at NCS.
“I am really proud of the girls. They worked really hard and did well this season,” coach Brian Accurso said.
The boys 200-freestyle relay team, consisting of seniors Kevin Hokanson and AJ Griffeth, junior Craig Perry and freshman Grant Perry, came in second at the MVAL championship meet, and set a school record.
Individually, Griffeth finished in first place in the 50-yard freestyle and earned NCS consideration for the race. Griffeth also earned NCS consideration for his 100-yard backstroke.
Freshman Brock Liebhardt earned NCS consideration in his 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle races.
The boys junior varsity 200-medley relay team, made up of freshmen Mitchell Youhanna, Joshua Christy, Elijah Mora, and sophomore Michael Bauer, came in first place and broke the school record by 9 seconds and the meet record by 5 seconds.
Apart from their strong finish as a team in the relay, the relay swimmers also performed well in their individual events.
Youhanna came in first place in both his 50-yard freestyle and his 100-yard backstroke. He broke the school, meet, and league records, for the 100-yard backstroke.
Bauer placed second in his 100-yard breast stroke and broke the school record. Christy set school records in both his 200 and 500-yard freestyle. Mora placed first in his 50-yard fly.
Despite not receiving more NCS considerations, the swim team had a successful season; many records were broken and pride from winning important races swept through the team.
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