By Madeleine Coate
Sports Editor
The Mira Costa swim team found itself in tight competition at Palos Verdes High School on May 9, competing in the Bay League Finals against Palos Verdes, Peninsula, West Torrance and Redondo.
The boys swim team placed second, while the girls team came in third. Overall, the Mustangs had a score of 768 points, securing second place behind Peninsula High School.
Junior Ed Jeon, with sophomores Ian Campbell, Mikey Portis and Matt Woicik, placed first for the boys in the 200-medley relay, with a time of 1:41.51. Jeon, Portis and Woicik competed together again in the 200-free relay, along with junior Forrest Wu, taking first with a time of 1:32.31.
“I did really well and dropped my time mainly because I had great people to race with and also had the support of my team,” Campbell said.
In individual events, Jeon also contributed with victories in the 50-freestyle and the 100-breaststroke, with times of 22.39 and 59.84, respectively. With these times, Jeon qualified to compete in both events in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
Woicik took first for the boys in the 100-fly and the 200-free, finishing in 52.84 and 1:44.93, respectively. He qualified for CIF in the 100-butterfly. Campbell also qualified after placing second in the 500-free at 4:51.42.
“I was pretty excited because I didn’t expect to break a minute in the breaststroke,” Jeon said.
The girls team consisting of seniors Gigi Franco and Kjahna O with freshmen Katie Barnhill and Shannon O’Brien also placed first in the 200-free relay, finishing in 1:44.89. Franco and O’Brien competed again in the 200-medley relay with sophomores Sydney Hong and Annika Gilbroy, placing third at a time of 1:58.
“We have a really good relay team, and I’m really happy that I swim with them,” O’Brien said.
O also added points for the Mustangs after placing second in the 100-fly, at 1:02.73, becoming the first alternate for the event at CIF. Barnhill placed third in both the 200-individual medley at 2:13.55 and the 100-backstroke at 1:00.07, securing herself a spot to compete again in both events at CIF.
O’Brien also qualified after finishing in fourth place in the 100-backstroke at 1:01.26. Franco also became the fourth alternate for the 50-free after finishing in sixth place at 26.36 seconds.
“I am really proud of my performance,” O said. “I have been doing well and dropped five seconds off of my time.”
All of the relay teams and swimmers who qualified individual events will compete again today in the CIF Preliminaries at 9 a.m. at the Riverside City Community College.
“We should be prepared and ready to compete,” Franco said.
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