Warriors win boys swim league championship

Fallbrook High School won the Valley League boys swimming championship.

The final positions are based on a combination of league dual meet standings and the results of the league meet. Fallbrook posted a 5-0 record in league dual meet competition and also finished first in the league meet which took place at Fallbrook High School and consisted of swim preliminaries May 5, diving May 6, and swim finals May 7.

"The boys swam really well," said Fallbrook coach Bill Richardson.

A Fallbrook diver as well as two Warrior swimmers won events at the league meet and are thus the league champions for the 2016 season. Fallbrook freshman Tiane Maestus won the league diving championship, senior Toby Fast finished first in the 200-yard freestyle championship race, and sophomore Aria Firooz had the fastest time in the 100-yard breaststroke finals.

Each of the six Valley League teams was allowed up to four swimmers or divers in each individual event. The preliminaries swimmers with the six fastest times in each event qualified for the championship finals and the next six fastest swimmers were given lanes in the consolation race. Position points were awarded for the top twelve finishes.

"We had a lot of guys score points," Richardson said. "We had a deep team."

Two Fallbrook juniors, Jake Baker and John Litvak, qualified for the finals in their events but missed the May 7 portion of the meet to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SATs). Matthew Kuhn had lifeguard training May 5 and the sophomore had to leave the preliminaries prior to the 500-yard freestyle race in which he was entered. Fallbrook had four finals swimmers in three events and three in the other five swimming events. "Everybody that swam qualified to go on," Richardson said.

Only three Fallbrook divers competed, but all three finished with a position among the top six. Maestus had a score of 173.75 points on his six dives to edge Ramona's Dylan Webb, who accumulated 171.65 points.

"I think it's great that he was able to win as a freshman. He's got a lot of potential as a diver. He's a great swimmer, too," Richardson said.

A score of 157.35 points gave Fallbrook sophomore Andrei Smith fifth place while junior Jake McKinnon placed sixth with 139.40 points.

A time of 1:50.15 gave Fast his second consecutive Valley League championship in the 200-yard freestyle. Fast was on the varsity for all four of his Fallbrook High School years.

"He did an amazing job for us," Richardson said. "He's going to be missed."

Chris Bridgeman was fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.77, Kuhn had the fifth-place time of 1:58.47, and Anthony Vazzana earned seventh place with a consolation final time of 2:00.55.

Firooz won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.29.

"He had a great swim. Last 25 (yards) he pulled away from everybody," Richardson said. "He did a great job all year. He really came on strong at the end."

Maestus was fifth in the breaststroke championship race at 1:10.88, Jacob Cain placed seventh with a finals time of 1:17.91, and Vazzana had the tenth-place time of 1:18.35.

Tanner Curnow gave Fallbrook second-place points in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.50 seconds. Because the championship race participants are guaranteed a position in the top six, Greg Jameson placed fifth and Spencer Wallace was given seventh place even though Jameson had a time of 52.11 seconds in the championship race and Wallace finished the consolation race in 51.78 seconds. David Moran took 11th place with a 55.74-second performance.

Fallbrook finished third in all three relay races. Declan Harrison, Firooz, Fast, and Mason Burkhart had a time of 1:47.25 in the 200-yard medley relay. Burkhard, Wallace, Caleb Smedley, and Jameson completed the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:33.91. Curnow, Wallace, Jameson, and Fast posted a 400-yard freestyle relay time of 3:26.82.

Burkhart, Fast, and Spencer Mason (who did not compete in the league meet due to medical issues) were Fallbrook's only seniors this year, so the third-place relay race finishes weren't disappointing for Richardson.

"The Valley League has some good teams, a lot of good swimmers," Richardson said. "We're a young team and typically that good speed comes the last two years as the kids physically mature."

Smedley had the third-place time of 2:12.81 in the 200-yard individual medley with Chase Norfolk finishing fourth at 2:13.11 and Firooz taking seventh place with a time of 2:15.83.

Fast obtained third-place points for Fallbrook in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:00.21. Harrison placed fifth with a 5:11.35 performance. Bridgeman took seventh place after completing his laps in 5:15.20.

Harrison became the third 100-yard backstroke finisher 58.48 seconds after the start of the championship race. Norfolk touched the finish wall 1:01.31 after the start of the consolation race to take seventh place. Smedley was eighth with a swim of 1:05.29.

Burkhart had a time of 23.58 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle which was worth fifth place. A time of 23.61 seconds gave Jameson sixth place in the championship race while Wallace was second in the consolation race and given eighth place for his time of 23.25 seconds.

John Brodak was the only Fallbrook swimmer in the 100-yard butterfly championship race; he posted a time of 59.46 seconds for fifth place. Nathan Carner took seventh place after winning the consolation race in 1:02.24. Bryce Sammons-Trafford had the ninth-place time of 1:07.82.