Boys and girls swimmers throughout California can finally take a second or two to catch their breath now that the 2019 swimming and diving season has come to a close. With the season’s end comes league awards as the fastest boys and girls Foothill League swimmers and divers were announced.
Canyon boys swimmer Kevin Childs and Valencia’s Izabella Adame repeated as the Boys and Girls Foothill League Swimmers of the Meet at league finals as Childs swam to two first-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly (48.30 seconds) and the 100-yard backstroke (47.92).
Adame ended the meet with two first-place relay finishes with a time of 1:43.52 in the 200-yard medley relay (Jin Young Yi, Julia Unas, Adame, Allison Cho) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (Adame, Unas, Emma Hiett, Cho) in 1:36.38, and two individual first-place finishes in the 200-yard IM ( 2:02.08) and the 100-yard butterfly (53.85).
“My grandpa passed away a few months ago in February so I just dedicated all my swims to him because he was my No. 1 fan following my mom,” Adame said after league finals.
After all was said and done, senior Hart boys teammates Dawson Waage and Jonathan Quick finished with three blue ribbons each to tie for the most among the boys swimmers at Foothill League finals and end their swimming careers as league champions.
Quick won the 500-yard freestyle (4:29.92) and Waage won the 50-yard freestyle (20.80) while both joined forces as part of the first-place 200-yard boys medley relay (Ryan Sevidal, Kyle Brill, Quick, Waage) that finished in 1:34.33 and the 400-yard boys relay (Sevidal, Jacob Gragas, Quick, Waage) with a time of 3:05.34.
“It means everything to me, just to be able to contribute to the points that went toward the finals win is such an honor, especially because it was Mr. Neale’s final year, ” Quick said via text message.
“It’s an incredible honor and I’ve worked very hard for it,” Waage said via text message. “When I started swimming high school my freshman year I never thought I’d be able to make it anywhere near some of the people who I looked up to at Hart, but now seeing my name next to those people is very rewarding and still a bit surreal.”
Sophomore girls swimmers Ellie Horst from Hart and Unas from Valencia trail Adame for the league’s most first-place finishes with three apiece.
Horst proved to be the fastest long-distance girls swimmer, winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.91) and 500-yard freestyle (4:58.71) as well as being a part of the 400-yard girls freestyle relay (Maxine Catig, Alyssa Hamilton, Horst, Hope Hill) who finished in 3:30.75 seconds.
Catig also took home the Foothill League girls fastest backstroker title, winning the 100-yard race in 54.90 seconds.
Unas was the Foothill League’s fastest girls breaststroker winning the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.79 seconds and showed her versatility as part of the title-winning the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
“I honestly have to thank the group I train with,” Unas said of her versatility via text message. “Every day I’m racing girls like Maxine Catig, Reagan Nibarger, Ellie Horst and Allison Cho. Along with my coaches, these girls have helped me dramatically improve in events besides the 200 IM and 100 breast.”
MORE: Foothill League swimmers close out season at CIF state meet
Valencia’s 200-yard boys freestyle relay team comprised of all upperclassmen: juniors Woo Young Yi and Ronit Shrestha, and seniors Dylan Parente and Jacob Gibbs finished in 1:25.69.
Saugus boys swimmer Justin Morsch won the boys 100 and 200-yard freestyle race winner to finish his high school swimming career as the back-to-back champion in both races.
Junior boys West Rach swimmer Ted Hwang did the same and repeated as the boys 200-yard IM (1:51.56) and 100-yard backstroke champion (56.72).
Wildcats girls swimmer Reagan Nibarger proved that she was not to be tested in the freestyle sprints winning the 50-yard freestyle in 23.77 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle in 51.04 seconds.
Hart girls diver Emma Williams and Saugus boys diver Ethan Edwards split the diving awards.
