Brahmas compete for state bid
SWIM Fourteen swimmers participated in the CIF Prelims at the Riverside Aquatics Complex last weekend.
The boys team finished the season first in the Palomares League with an undefeated record while the girls finished third.
May 17, 2017
The Diamond Bar High School swim team continues to conquer, placing first at league finals and best CIF playoff and final score in school history.
Last weekend, the Brahmas competed in the CIF at the Riverside Aquatics Complex. The competition consists of individuals, relays, both medley and freestyle, for both genders. The boys ranked fourth, while the Lady Brahmas ended up in eighth place.
After CIF finals two Brahmas finished with CIF champion title. Junior Kelsey Lloyd, who was previously CIF Women 100 breaststroke champion, repeated as she broke her own school record with 1:02.21 minutes. Junior David Wang, having previously won the Palomares League MVP title, was named CIF champion for Men 500 freestyle, with 4:26.70 minutes, and broke his the school record at CIF prelims.
Additionally, the Brahmas finished top five at the CIF meet. Senior Kathleen Gani finished fifth in 200 medley, while Wang finished fourth in boys, following Kevin Vargas in third. Junior Michael Lee finished fourth in 500 free.
Not only did the Brahmas place well at CIF finals, but they also broke school records. Having broke a school record for 500 free, Wang also set a new time for 200 IM. Furthermore, junior Kelly Cheng broke two school records: 200 free and 100 fly.
On May 4, the Brahmas competed in league preliminaries and finals on campus with the boys winning the League Championship, while the Lady Brahmas placed third.
In their final season meet against Claremont and Bonita, the boys dominated 132-38 and 114-55, respectively. The girls also won both their meets, 108-62 and 117-52. The boys finished the unseason undefeated, 5-0 while the girls went 3-2.
“I was really happy with the results,” head coach Darlys Ankeny said. “I would say that we did a little bit better last year.”
Junior captain Michael Lee placed first in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle at the league finals.
“The relays were really great because it felt like the entire team was actually there cheering and the atmosphere just was amazing,” Lee said
CIF qualifier sophomore Dylan Hou finished third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 500 freestyle in the league finals.
“I felt pretty good about competing in CIF after having competed in CIF last year,” Hou said. “My goal is to get faster and to get more points for the team.”
Ankeny said she plans to find more divers for next season. According to Ankeny, there were hardly any pool times available for the teams, due to time conflicts.
“We barely had any pool time this season, and it was very hard to get time to practice that in the beginning of the season,we practiced only twice before the first meet,” Ankeny said.
Not only do the coaches look forward to make improvements in the team, but so do the team’s captains.
“This season I felt that our team was talented, but the issue was that the goals of each individual seemed to be slightly off what the team’s goal was,” Lee said. “First thing next season will be aligning those goals and making sure that we are all making an orchestrated effort in the same direction.”
