Granada Hills dominated the City Section swimming finals, sweeping both boys' and girls' titles. The girls secured their fourth consecutive championship with 458 points, far ahead of Cleveland and Palisades.
Key points
Granada Hills swept boys' and girls' swimming titles
Girls' team won their fourth consecutive championship
Isabella San Jose won the 200 individual medley
Granada Hills scored 458 points
Cleveland and Palisades were the runners-up
Granada HillsIsabella San JoseCity Section swimming finalsCleveland
Isabella San Jose of Granada Hills won the 200 individual medley in 2:08.64.
Isabella San Jose of Granada Hills won the 200 individual medley in 2:08.64 during the City Section Finals at East Los Angeles College on Friday. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
The pool dynasty continues at Granada Hills.
The venue was different, but the result was the same as the Highlanders swept the boys' and girls' titles Friday in the City Section swim championships at East Los Angeles College.
It was the girlsâ fourth title in a row (two short of the school-record six straight they won from 1995-2000) and their 10th overall. They finished with 458 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Cleveland (226) and third-place Palisades (222).
âWeâve won City every year since I was a freshman so Iâm pretty happy,â said co-captain Elaina Brier, a senior committed to UC Santa Cruz. âI got second in both of my individual events and won my relays (200-meter medley and 200-meter freestyle). We turned into such a dominant team and this is the strongest one.â
GALAâs Jordyn Hale defended her crown in the 50 freestyle in 24.14 seconds (she won in 24 flat last year), followed by Brier (24.67). Hale also won the 100 freestyle in 53.06 after placing second last year to Iris Paek of LACES in 52.93. Brier was the runner-up this time in 54.24.
Elise Kao of Venice repeated as 200 freestyle champion with a time of 1:54.98 and Granada Hillsâ Meygen Flores was second in 1:57.90. Kao (59.63) was second to Flores (58.21) in the 100 butterfly and Floresâ teammate Sahasi Mahat was third.
Q&A
How many titles has Granada Hills girls' swimming won?
Granada Hills girls' swimming has won a total of 10 titles.
What was Isabella San Jose's time in the 200 individual medley?
Isabella San Jose won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:08.64.
Who were the runners-up in the City Section swimming finals?
Cleveland finished as the runner-up with 226 points, followed closely by Palisades with 222 points.
How many consecutive titles have the Granada Hills girls' swimming team won?
The Granada Hills girls' swimming team has won four consecutive titles.
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Venice captain Elise Kao repeated as the girls' 200-meter freestyle champion.
Venice captain Elise Kao repeated as the girls' 200-meter freestyle champion at the City Section Finals with a time of 1:54.98 on Friday. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Granada Hillsâ Isabella San Jose won both the 200 individual medley (2:08.64) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.66), Mahat was second in the 100 backstroke and Abigail Sirichalermchai was second to San Jose in the 100 breaststroke. The Highlander girls took third, fourth and fifth in the 500 freestyle and closed strong with a winning 3:42.78 effort in the 400 freestyle relay.
Not to be outdone, the boys racked up a whopping 512 points for their third straight title and fourth total (the first was in 2001).
Palisades (275) placed second for the fourth year in a row, two points ahead of Cleveland.
Princeton-bound captain Ryan Zheng capped a stellar career by winning the 200 and 500 freestyles for the third straight time and anchoring the Highlandersâ winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays for the third year in a row.
Granada Hills' Ryan Zheng won the 200-meter freestyle for the third year in a row.
Granada Hills' Ryan Zheng won the 200-meter freestyle for the third year in a row in 1:41.75 seconds at the City Section Finals on Friday. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
âFour golds for the third year in a row â it makes all the hard work worth it,â Zheng said.
Zheng swam the 200 in 1:41.75 seconds, bettering his 1:42.23 in last yearâs finals meet at Valley College, to beat teammates Kyle Lee (1:44.77) and Ryan Cha (1:46.71), who were second and third. Zheng topped last yearâs winning time in the 500 by nearly two seconds in 4:40.42.
Granada Hills' depth was most evident in the 100 breaststroke, as Joel Shin (59.27), Ethan Gonzalez (1:00.97), Arya Shahriari (1:01.05) and Jairus Paita (1:03.07) swept the top four spots.
The Highlanders lowered their times in the 200 freestyle relay (1:28.14) and 400 freestyle relay (3:12.61) and took first in the 200 medley relay by nearly three seconds but got disqualified when officials ruled Kenny Brier left early on the freestyle leg.
Reseda's Volodymyr Balaban wins the 200-meter individual medley.
Reseda's Volodymyr Balaban won the 200-meter individual medley in 1:57.11 at the City Section Finals at East Los Angeles College on Friday. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Brier (Elainaâs sophomore brother) won the 50 freestyle (21.54) and 100 freestyle (48.53) while Resedaâs Volodymyr Balaban took the 200 individual medley in 1:57.11, followed by Shin (1:58.64).
âEvery point matters every single year. ... Iâve never seen such unity in a team,â said Granada Hills coach Joshua Cheng, the architect of the dynasty, who swam for Cleveland (graduating in 2015) and is now in his fifth year with the Highlanders. âWe finished right where we belonged â at the top!â
As his team chanted, âOne more!â Cheng said: "Why stop there?"
