Los Gatos High swim coach Jim Deming felt great about all of the boys and girls junior varsity and varsity teams after the Santa Clara Valley League De Anza Division Finals were contested on April 29 at Gunn High.
The JV girls won the league championship meet and nearly completed a perfect season after capturing five of the six league dual contests. The JV boys and varsity girls each took third place in their classification and the varsity boys finished in fifth place.
“Things went very well this season and the kids swam really well,” Deming said. “The JV girls taking first overall for the whole season was awesome.”
For the JV swimmers, the season is over. For the varsity swimmers and divers who qualified, they have the Central Coast Section Championships on May 5-6 at the Santa Clara International Swim Center.
A fleet of Los Gatos athletes have qualified for individual events, including sophomore Karly Frangieh (100 freestyle, 200 free), senior Zoe Frangieh (50 and 100 free), junior Katy Hawk (100 butterfly, 100 free), freshman Ava Taylor (200 and 500 free) and junior Lily van Putten (100 fly and 200 free).
Individual CCS qualifiers from the boys team include freshman Mathew Cheang (200 individual medley), sophomore Ewan Lonergan (100 breaststroke, 200IM), sophomore Josh Naim (100 backstroke), junior Tyler Newton (100 back) and sophomore Connor Sullivan (100 and 200 free).
Four girls from Los Gatos’ diving team also qualified for CCS, including junior Mia Frolich, sophomore Ava Lazovsky, senior Isabella Scalise-Royston and sophomore Madeleine Wong. Several other boys and girls including some of the aforementioned names are in the running to make up the two free relay and medley relay teams, though those won’t be finalized until after this goes to publication.
Zoe Frangieh broke her own school record in the 50 free in the league finals, clocking 23.81 seconds to win the event. She previously set the record last year with a 23.81. Deming said the Frangieh sisters along with Lonergan are the best bets to get out of the preliminary round and make it to the second day of the CCS Championships.
“The other ones, it will depend on how fast they swim and how fast others from other schools swim,” Deming said. “Our girls free relay teams also have the ability to make it to the finals.”
Lonergan’s season-best time of 56.89 seconds in the 100 breaststroke would’ve made him the runner-up in last year’s CCS Championships. Granted, not all of the top swimmers competed in CCS last year, but it still gives a glimpse into Lonergan’s talent and ability.
Zoe Frangieh’s personal-best of 23.81 in the 50 free would’ve been the third best time in last year’s section final. Karly Frangieh’s season-best time of 52.77 in the 100 free would’ve placed her fourth in the 2021 final.
Track and Field
Los Gatos didn’t win the SCVAL De Anza Division Finals on April 28, but it did have plenty of standout performances. In the boys competition, Wil Brennan won the 400 meters in 50.45 seconds. He also was on the victorious 4×400 relay team with Levi Romero, Brady Kamali and Luke Pittock, who finished in 3:27.81.
The squad has a CCS-leading time of 3:23.97. Charlie Winokur took second in the shot put in 39-8 1/2. On the girls side, Nicole Steiner won the shot put in 36-7 and took second in the discus, while Hannah Slover won the high jump in 5-4.
Emma Curran took second in the 400 in 1:00.29 and also was a part of both relay teams that finished as runner-ups. The 4×100 relay team of Emma Arbitaylo, Gianna Golino, Jeanette Li and Curran finished in 51.39 seconds and the 4×400 relay squad of Curran, Golino, Addison Lundstrom and Sarina Salzer-Swartz clocked 4:17.67.
The SCVAL Championship Meet, featuring competitors from both the De Anza and El Camino Divisions, is set for May 6 at Santa Clara High.
and 100 freestyle, and most likely the two free relay events in the upcoming CCS Championships. Photo by Ty Hawk.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at el**@we*****.com
