Warrior mermen dominate Grizzlies in season opener

Fallbrook High School’s boys swim team opened its 2014 season March 18 at home and ended the meet with a 119-50 victory over Mission Hills High School.

“It was a good win for us,” said Fallbrook coach Bill Richardson. “It was just a great opening meet for us. We had a lot of personal bests.”

The Warriors had not seen the Grizzlies as a team. “I wasn’t quite sure how we would do or how the competition would stack up,” Richardson said. “We haven’t swam them in a few years, so I put the kids in the best events I thought that they could do.”

The team results of a non-league meet are irrelevant for CIF meet purposes, as only individual swimmers or relay teams earn lanes at the CIF meet and qualifying times are the sole criteria, but times at a non-league meet can be used for qualifying and seeding and a non-league meet also provides competition for the swimmers and assessment for the coaches.

Fallbrook won 10 of the 11 events against the Grizzlies. All three relay teams achieved consideration times for the CIF meet while junior Bobby Guerra had automatic times in his two individual events and two other swimmers completed races in consideration times.

Guerra won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:03.00 and the 100-yard backstroke in 55.72 seconds. “He can place in the top three (at the CIF meet) in probably just about any event other than the breaststroke,” Richardson said.

Regardless of the number of events in which a swimmer records an automatic qualifying time, he can enter no more than two individual events at the CIF meet. Guerra will swim other events during the year, and prior to the entry deadline for the CIF meet Guerra and Richardson will review their options.

A school may enter up to three swimmers for each individual event, and the Warriors took the top three positions in the 200-yard individual medley. Nick Garcia was second, behind Guerra, with a time of 2:32.04 and Taylor Marine swam the race in 2:34.60.

The Warriors also swept the top positions in the 200-yard freestyle. Toby Fast posted a consideration time of 1:57.37, Quinn Harrison took 2:00.64, and Jake Smyth completed his eight laps in 2:14.80.

Fallbrook had the first two finishers in the 100-yard freestyle. Jacob Karasek won the race in 54.63 seconds while Harrison had a time of 55.61 seconds.

Fast also had a consideration time in the 500-yard freestyle, which he won in 5:14.52. Tristan Curnow won the 100-yard butterfly with a consideration time of 1:00.16.

Curnow was also the winner of the 50-yard freestyle, touching the finish line 23.96 seconds after the starter’s gun was fired. The Grizzlies’ only first-place points were for the 100-yard breaststroke, but Fallbrook took the next three positions.

Fast, Eli Foli, Curnow, and Harrison won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:51.18. Curnow, Karasek, Foli, and Guerra had a winning time of 1:37.00 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Fast, Karasek, Harrison, and Guerra took first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay 3:36.50 after the race started.

“It was a great starting point for us,” Richardson said. “Looks like we’ll have a good season this year.”