The boys swim team remained undefeated on Thursday afternoon, clinching a 100-70 victory against the Hillsdale Knights. The girls also easily destroyed Hillsdale, winning 131-36.
The meet opened with the 200-yard medley relay, in which the girls dominated. Freshmen Kate Wong and Hana Lai teamed with seniors Jocelyn Chang and Hailey Preuss to win the event and get a CCS cut, with a time of 1:57.80. The boys relay team, consisting of freshmen Ryan Powell, Agustin Araya, Theodore Laster, and junior Chan Na placed second in a narrow race, finishing less than two seconds behind first.
“Our teamwork was really good. Everyone was doing great together,” R. Powell said.
The boys redeemed themselves in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior Jack Bullard took first place, speeding past the finish line over three seconds faster than the runner-up. In the same event, girls continued their winning streak and swept the podium with Lai, junior Harper Williams, and senior Kat Savchenko, finishing first, second, and third, respectively. The Bears did the same in the girls 200-yard individual medley; K. Wong placed first, followed closely by junior Maya Earley and J. Chang.
In the boys 200-yard individual medley, junior Alex Powell secured the victory and a CCS cut, finishing with a time of 2:01.58
The Bears continued to excel during the 50-yard freestyle. Senior Elise Miller emerged victorious after a close race in the girls division, and R. Powell prevailed over Hillsdale for the boys. The 100-yard butterfly had the same result, with K. Wong and M. Powell triumphing.
“Our strength is our numbers, really,” senior Zachary Quintana said. “We just have such a wide team and a grand variety of swimmers, and that’s just something that Hillsdale, quite frankly, every other school in our league, just lacks.”
Junior Michael Powell dominated his competition in the 100-yard backstroke, beating the second-place swimmer in his race by 9.35 seconds. In doing so, M. Powell broke the school record by over a second with an impressive time of 52.25. The previous record was set by Kei Matsuda in 2011 with a time of 53.72.
The 200-yard freestyle relay was another success for M-A. The boys team, comprising Bullard, M. Powell, junior Alex Powell, and R. Powell and the girls team of freshman Zara Wong, K. Wong, J. Chang, and Lai both qualified for CCS and won the event.
The meet closed with the 400-yard freestyle relay, in which senior Sarah Chang, freshman Maddie Webb, J. Chang, and Preuss took the win for the girls. Bullard, A. Powell, Laster, and M. Powell also claimed the victory, as well as a CCS cut, for the boys.
The girls team performed exceptionally well, winning all eleven events.
“Despite a lot of setbacks, like people being injured or not being able to swim, the team still kept it together,” senior Addison Finn said.
“We’re going to prepare by consistently practicing. We really hold the team accountable. Attendance is a really good policy here, and the mentality, we’re swimming because we want to put in the work,” Quintana said.
The Bears race next at home for their senior night against Carlmont on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
