- Share via
It was all green and white at the City Section swim championships on Saturday at Valley College.
Granada Hills won both the boys and girls titles for the second straight year thanks to its overall depth and several standout individual efforts.
Junior Ryan Zheng defended his titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events and anchored the victorious 4x50 and 4x100 freestyle relays. Senior Kenneth Devis won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke for the third year in a row and led off the 4x100 freestyle relay as the Highlanders amassed 473 points to far outdistance runner-up Palisades (314).
Zheng clocked a personal-best 1 minute, 42.23 seconds in the 200 freestyle to beat teammate Kyle Lee, who finished second, by more than four seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Zheng clocked 4:42.33 to win easily while Christopher Goodman of Palisades (4:55.05) edged Lee (4:55.18) for second.
In one of the closest races of the day, Zheng held off a last-lap surge by Taft’s David Abarbanel to clinch the Highlanders’ 200 freestyle relay win by 65 hundredths of a second, posting a time of 1:29.12. In the final event, Zheng outkicked Cleveland sophomore Aleksander Fadipe to secure the Highlanders’ first-place finish in 3:16.79. The Cavaliers were second in 3:18.02, and Palisades was third in 3:32.44.
“Freestyle’s my specialty — that’s pretty much all I do,” Zheng said. “I’m really proud of us winning the 200 [relay]. That was the big one. As for the two individual events, hopefully next year will be my three-peater. Fingers crossed!”
Devis, who transferred from Eagle Rock, has dominated his two individual events since his sophomore year. On Saturday, he won the breaststroke, his favorite event, in 56.35 seconds and the butterfly in a personal-best 49.59 seconds.
“My goal is to swim Division I in college,” said Devis, who competes for Rose Bowl Aquatics during the club season.
Also contributing to the boys’ win was senior Jean Darbo, a transfer from Grant who took first in the 100 backstroke in 51.91.
Taft’s Itay Goudz (47.94) edged top qualifier Riley Amis of Palisades in the 100 freestyle and clocked 22.37 for second behind Palisades’ Roi Levertov (21.96) in the 50 freestyle.
On the girls’ side, the Highlanders won their third straight crown and ninth overall, racking up 426 points to outscore runner-up Palisades (252), the team with whom they shared the title last spring.
Granada Hills won all three relays and sophomore Isabella San Jose won the 200 individual medley in 2:08.62 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.69, then anchored the 4x100 freestyle relay. Her senior sister, Ava, swam the second leg in the 4x50 freestyle relay and the third leg in the 400. Freshman Meygen Flores picked up valuable points by placing third in the 200 freestyle in 1:58.21 and winning the 100 butterfly in 57.75.
GALA’s Jordyn Hale won the 50 freestyle in 24 seconds flat and finished second behind Iris Paek of LACES (52.93) in the 100 freestyle in 53.57. Venice’s Elise Kao won the 200 freestyle and was second in the 100 butterfly. Garfield’s Kelia Naranjo-Champion won the 100 backstroke.
Santa Margarita extends streak
Temperatures soared to 100 degrees in certain areas of the Southland on Saturday, but that did not deter senior Teagan O’Dell from breaking more records and helping Santa Margarita’s girls team to first place in both freestyle relays on its way capturing the Southern Section Division 1 championship at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Cal signee set the Division 1 record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:53.43 — five hundredths of a second off her national record set as a sophomore in 2023. She also touched in 51.09 in the 100 backstroke to break the Division 1 record in that event.
The Eagles claimed their record-tying 11th straight girls title and fifth straight boys title (all in the top division) under coaches Rich and Ron Blanc.
In Friday’s Division 2 finals, also at Mt. SAC, Ayala edged Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for the boys title and Santa Monica took the girls crown with the help of freshman Gabriella Brito, who won the 200 individual medley (1:56.70), won the 100 butterfly (52.50), swam the backstroke leg of the victorious 4x50 medley relay and anchored the Vikings’ winning 4x100 freestyle relay.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
