The West Ranch Wildcats swim teams completed a sweep over the Hart Hawks on Tuesday, keeping the West Ranch boys undefeated in the Foothill League with just one week left in the regular season.
Shining for the West Ranch boys were Brandon Keating in the 200-yard freestyle and Gabe Eke in the 50-yard freestyle. They helped the Wildcats to a 119-50 win.
On the girls’ side, Emma Hussein in the 200-yard individual medley and Kailun Zhang in the 100-yard butterfly were standouts on the day, helping to pick up a 117-68 win. The only loss for the West Ranch girls on the season came against undefeated Valencia.
West Ranch head coach Kearsten Livingstone said she thinks both the boys and the girls should put up fights across the board in the upcoming league finals, and that Tuesday’s results were just another step along the way,
“I am proud of all the kids today,” Livingstone wrote in an email. “I asked them to show up and race, and they did just that. The varsity girls gave it their all. My favorite thing about this team is that we have created a culture in which first place and fifth place are both crucial to the team’s success. It’s not just up to the seniors or the fastest person in each event to go out and win. It’s up to everyone to show up, give it their all, and race the person in the lane next to them.”
Hussein recently broke the school record in the 200 individual medley and is expected to challenge for both the league title and at the CIF finals.
In total, West Ranch has qualified for 26 individual events, the highest number the program has ever had going into the league championships.
Other swimmers Livingstone mentioned as contenders at the league finals are Jace Lloyd, Dustin Saguros and Mahdi Karim on the boys’ side, and Allison Chen, Nadine Fernando and Emma Piltzer on the girls’ side.
“We’re excited for another strong championship meet and are aiming to compete for titles across all four divisions (junior varsity and varsity),” Livingstone wrote.
For Hart, Aly Yokoyama came second behind Hussein in the girls’ 200 IM and first in the 100-yard backstroke. Caitlin Brown was first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle.
West Ranch is set to finish off league play next week against Golden Valley, while Hart has a meet against Canyon.
