By Jason Greenwald
For The Signal
Trinity Classical Academy swim put an exclamation point on their season Tuesday at the Castaic Aquatic Center, winning their fourth straight Heritage League title.
The Knights completed their quest behind a triumphant effort from the entire team, capturing a goal that a majority of the Trinity seniors set out to accomplish three years ago.
“I’m very excited, especially for my seniors Emma Leathers, Rachel Rackerby and Sam Alfsen, who were here all four years and never knew defeat,” said Trinity head coach Mike Leathers. “They were a critical part of the team this season and today as well.”
The combined team score for the meet was won by Trinity collecting 770. Palmdale Aerospace accumulated 392, Vasquez High School amassed 202, Saint Monica Academy scored 180, SCVi had 104 and Santa Clarita Christian School had 72.
The Knight girls had a dominant performance to start the day in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of two minutes, 14.06 seconds. The team was comprised of Leathers, Rackerby, Helena Salvino and Eva Linteruer.
Junior Lance Lott earned points for Trinity boys, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:00.80. He also won the boys 50-yard freestyle in 24.89.
“I felt really good but there’s always room for improvement. I pushed myself and was able to get a PR,” said Lott.“The boys team really improved this year, especially since we have always had low numbers.”
Rachel Rackerby continued the big day for the Knights, winning the girls 200-yard individual medley and clocking a 2:41.11 time. She also qualified for CIF during the race.
“It’s been really awesome. I’ve been swimming here for four years and every year I qualify in the same event,” said Rackerby. “Every year I’ve always dropped time at CIF, so I’m hoping to leave it all in the water this year.”
Freshmen Helena Salvino won two events during the meet. She took first place in the girls 200-yard freestyle (2:13.06) and also the girls 100-yard freestyle (59.67).
Leathers rounded out the girls in the 100-yard breaststroke, taking first with the time of 1:30.81. She will continue to swim after Trinity since she accepted her swimming scholarship to Westmont.
“We all did really well as a team, everyone says swim is an individual sport, but it’s really a team sport,” said Leathers. “This meet was bittersweet because I’ve been with all the seniors since the beginning and I’m going to really miss our team.”
Alfsen won the 500-yard freestyle in 7:10.74, which secured much-needed points for the boys to win their division.
The Trinity boys slipped past Palmdale Aerospace by five points, winning with a total score of 252.
The girls controlled their division, easily winning with 518 points. The next closest score was 171 from Vasquez High School.
