After a six-year consecutive win streak, the Lady Lancers went undefeated in the new, revamped Freeway League, qualifying for CIF-SS preliminaries and finals with a 4-0 league record and a 7-0 season record after winning against El Dorado High School and placing first.
Similarly, the boys, who also went undefeated in league with a 4-0 record but saw a 6-1 season record after losing to Troy High School, finished in second place, also qualifying for CIF-SS preliminaries.
“I expected our girls to be very successful this season, and that expectation was met and exceeded,” head swim and dive coach Sergio Dorrego said. “As for the boys, I expected them to do well in league and have a lot of them qualify for CIF, and this expectation was also met.”
CIF-SS preliminary qualifiers for the girls include seniors Cayenne Bagnol, Mia Carley, Caelyn Feetham and Jessica Luna, junior Eveline Grannis, sophomore Isabella Zia and freshman Claire Yoo. For the boys, seniors David Kim, Miles Kim, Casey Shin, James Sy and Liam Weinreich, juniors Cheney Mo and Rohan Parker and sophomore Troy Jung qualified for CIF-SS preliminaries.
Carley, Grannis, David Kim, Miles Kim, Mo, Parker, Sy and Weinreich all qualified for CIF-SS finals.
“Our swimmers this year also seemed to be more dynamic than in previous years, which means they were open to swimming events that they were not comfortable with in the past,” Dorrego said.
The team started their league season against Crean Lutheran High School (1-2 for girls and 3-1 for boys) at the Sunny Hills pool on Wednesday, March 26. Both groups brought home a victory, with a 104-65 score for the girls and an 88-82 final score for the boys.
“One big strength we had was the camaraderie,” the head coach said. “Our team would always cheer their teammates on, which definitely helps in races.”
Not only did the boys maintain their win streak, but many set new school records at CIF-SS finals.
Miles Kim, David Kim, Mo and Weinreich together set a school record for the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:37.60. Lady Lancers Carley, Feetham, Grannis and Zia set a new record for the 200-yard freestyle relay with 1:42.05.
“It’s always a great feeling when records are broken,” Dorrego said. “These athletes will be remembered for having the fastest Sunny Hills time until it is broken again.”
To finish the season off strong, Sunny Hills faced El Dorado High School (2-2 for girls and boys) on Friday, May 2 at the El Dorado pool, extending their win streak even further. The Lady Lancers won with a score of 117-53, staying undefeated, and the boys won 103-67.
“The schools we were going against were much closer in skill, so it wasn’t like last year where sometimes it was a hit or miss,” Sy said. “I think each school offered a really challenging, but also good, opportunity.”
