In the pool, Valencia girls swimmer Izabella Adame never faced a challenge she didn’t think she could overcome. Winning four Foothill League titles and attending the CIF state meet for the first time in 2019, there should be no doubt going the Vikings sophomore swimmer is the All-SCV Girls Swimmer of the Year.
“My goal was to get All-CIF times in every stroke and in every single event and I feel like I did accomplish that, but I feel like maybe next year I can get auto times for most of them,” Adame said. “A lot of them were consideration times, but I feel like I can definitely get all of them auto. Hopefully next year I’m able to persevere and get my goal.”
Setting lofty goals isn’t unusual for Adame as she has already accomplished so much in her two-year Valencia swimming career.
Adame finished her sophomore year as part of the back-to-back title-winning 200-yard medley relay (Adame, Jin Young Yi, Julia Unas, Allison Cho) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (Adame, Unas, Emma Hiett, Cho).
“We are literally like sisters, we are that close with each other, and we can tell each other anything and I feel so comfortable with them,” Adame said. “Once you feel comfortable with your team and teammates that’s how you’re going to get things done because you have a great team by your side. My team this year was amazing. I talked to everyone on the Valencia team this year and just getting to know each and every one of the swimmers made my year and this season really fun.”
She also won individual league titles in the 200-yard IM and 100-yard butterfly, qualifying for CIF-Southern Section Division 1 Preliminaries in all four races.
Breezing through prelims, Adame advanced to the CIF-SS Finals and qualified for the state meet in 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke, in fourth and second place, respectively, with both the relay teams advancing as well.
At the state meet, Adame and her 200-yard medley relay faced some adversity with 100-yards to go. With her relay team behind Adame and Valencia senior Allison Cho rallied to take fifth place and podium.
“My relay was towards the back of the heat for finals,” Adame said. “Once I dove in and swam fly, we ended up getting fifth. Allison had a really strong finish and she helped us as well. That has the be my favorite memory because we medaled at state.”
Adame followed up her fifth-place medley relay finish with an All-American Auto time in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming her way to a third-place finish.
“I was really surprised because I messed up one of my turns and I thought I wasn’t going to get third, but when I looked up at the board, I got third,” Adame said. “I was so surprised.”
Adame’s year isn’t over yet as she still has a couple of other feats that she hopes to accomplish by the end of 2019.
“Hopefully this year, I will end with a bang,” Adame said. “I’m 0.1 off my Olympic trial time in the 100 breaststroke and two seconds off the 200 breaststroke, so hopefully I can get my Olympic trial times in both and maybe go travel up to Omaha for 2020 and try out for the team, I guess.”
All-SCV Girls Swim Team
Maxine Catig, Hart, junior
Winning the Foothill League title in the girls 100-yard backstroke for the third year in a row with a time of 54.90 seconds, Catig also repeated as part of the Foothill League’s 400-yard freestyle relay team (Catig, Ellie Horst, Alyssa Hamilton, Hope Hill) for the second straight year. Qualifying for the CIF-Southern Section Prelims and Finals in both races, Catig got an All-American Auto time with her first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 54.44 and fifth place in the 400-yard freestyle relay team.
Allison Cho, Valencia, senior
A born leader, Cho was a constant staple among Valencia’s girls swim team, doing whatever the team needed on the way the regular season crown and Foothill League Finals title. Serving as the anchor, Cho was part of the league title team in the girls 200-yard medley relay (Jin Young-Yi, Julia Unas, Adame, Cho) as well as the 200-yard freestyle relay team (Adame, Unas, Emma Hiett, Cho). Advancing to the CIF-SS Finals, both teams placed third in Division 1 to qualify for the state meet. At the state meet, the girls 200-yard medley relay team finished in fifth place.
Ellie Horst, Hart, sophomore
The second-year Indians swimmer continued her dominance in the 200-yard winning the Foothill League title for the second time in as many years. Establishing herself as a speedy freestyler, Horst added to her impressive repertoire doubling up on Foothill League title winning the 500-yard freestyle race by more than seven seconds in 4:58.71. At CIF-SS Finals she placed ninth 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle.
Genesis Lewis, Hart, senior
A Howard University commit, Lewis was one of the Foothill League’s fastest freestylers and butterfliers finishing inside the top three at league finals with her third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and runner up honors in the 100-yard butterfly.
Reagan Nibarger, West Ranch, junior
Continuing to lead the West Ranch girls into battle, team captain Nibarger cemented her place as one of the fastest short-distance freestylers, repeating as the Foothill League girls 50-yard and 100-yard champion. At CIF-SS Finals, the junior finished seventh in the 50-yard race and sixth in the 100-yard race, qualifying for the state meet in both.
Julia Unas, Valencia, sophomore
Undoubtedly the future of Valencia girls swimming, along with Adame, Unas was one of several Valencia girls swimmers that walked away with multiple Foothill League titles. As versatile a swimmer as any, Unas added the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay, and the 100-yard breaststroke titles to resume. At CIF-SS Finals, she had a pair of ninth-place finishes in the 200-yard IM and in the 100-yard breaststroke along with a pair of third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Qualifying to the state meet in every race, her fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay was the most notable finishes
Honorable Mention
Canyon – Anika Elarton Selig, sophomore
Golden Valley – Michelle Malin, freshman
Hart – Hope Hill, junior
Saugus – Viviana Raker, junior
Trinity – Helena Salvino, freshman
Valencia – Jin Young Yi, junior
West Ranch – Marika VanGent, senior
