Warrior girls win first two dual swim meets

Fallbrook High School’s girls swim team won the Warriors’ first two dual meets of the 2011 season.

The March 9 meet against El Camino and Fallbrook’s March 11 victory over Rancho Buena Vista both took place at the Fallbrook High School pool. The Warriors won convincingly over El Camino, 112-61, while prevailing over the Longhorns by an 86-84 score.

A dual meet begins with the 200-yard medley relay, and Fallbrook won that race against El Camino after senior Tamzen Sommer, freshman Kierstin Dowden, junior Sarah Bushnell, and senior Lisa Walker completed their portions in 2:01.97, which is an automatic qualifying time for the CIF meet.

Although El Camino won the 200-yard freestyle, which is the first individual event of a dual meet, senior Jackie Verdon won the 200-yard individual medley with a CIF meet consideration time of 2:28.33. Bushnell took 27.81 seconds to win the 50-yard freestyle race, and her winning time of 55.01 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle gave Bushnell automatic entry into the CIF meet.

Dowden’s first high school individual race was the 100-yard butterfly. She won that race with a time of 1:08.01, which is a consideration time for the CIF meet. The first high school race for freshman Raeann Neibel was the 50-yard freestyle won by Bushnell, but Neibel’s first win came in the 500-yard freestyle event. Neibel took first place in that competition with a time of 6:03.72.

Fallbrook posted an automatic time of 1:49.62 in the 200-yard freestyle relay won by Walker, Sommer, junior Tiffany Beye, and Bushnell. Sommer won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:10.97. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of freshman Aimee Steen, Dowden, Neibel, and Verdon won their race and had a consideration time of 4:07.62.

In a dual meet the diving is only scored if both teams have divers, but if only one team has a diver she can still compete for qualifying purposes. Haylee Jameson scored 208.05 on six dives, giving her automatic qualification for the CIF meet.

“It was a good first start, just to see where they’re at and give us a barometer of what we need to do,” said Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond.

A school may enter up to three swimmers in each individual event and up to two quartets in each relay. Scores are given for the top five positions in individual races and the top three relay positions. Fallbrook avoided sixth place against Rancho Buena Vista in seven of the eight individual events, and both Fallbrook teams finished at least third in two of the three relay races. “That definitely showed the depth that we had for that meet,” Redmond said.

The Longhorns won the meet’s first two races before Dowden posted a consideration time of 2:28.55 while taking first place in the 200-yard individual medley. Bushnell then won the 50-yard freestyle with an automatic time of 24.93 seconds.

Bushnell’s second individual win gave her an automatic time of 55.63 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle while Verdon picked up the second-place points. “That was a difference right there,” Redmond said.

Dowden also won a second race, posting a consideration time of 1:15.50 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The Warriors and Longhorns split first place for the eight individual races while Rancho Buena Vista won two of the three relays. Fallbrook’s win in the 200-yard freestyle relay involved Sommer, Verdon, Walker, and Bushnell swimming the race in 1:47.54.

A dual meet’s final race is the 400-yard freestyle relay. Although the Longhorns obtained the eight first-place points, Fallbrook finished second and third to garner six points, including the two third-place points.

“It was quite a fun meet,” Redmond said. “Anyone who was there watching it had fun.”

That included the Warriors, who had a competitive victory rather than an easy one. “I love meets that way,” Redmond said.

Fallbrook took its first loss of the season March 17 at Canyon Crest, winning three of the twelve events including taking the top three diving positions. Jameson’s score of 189.2 points won the diving while Diana Riddle took second place with 157.6 points, which is a CIF meet consideration score. Dowden won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:29.06 while the winning 200-yard freestyle relay time of 1:49.84 was posted by junior Jenny Chavez, Sommer, Verdon, and Bushnell.

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