NCS swim championships: De La Salle three-peats, Campolindo girls win second title in three years

CONCORD — It was a full team effort from De La Salle. 

Despite not having an individual swimmer place higher than fourth and a relay team finish better than third, the Spartans won their third consecutive North Coast Section boys swimming title Saturday at Concord Community Pool. 

De La Salle had an overall score of 236, finishing ahead of second place Amador Valley which had a score of 209.

“We have a team culture and great leadership within this team,” said De La Salle coach Tom Johnson. “This was a huge team effort. We had amazing depth and the guys stepped up and swam out of their minds. I just got to sit back and watch these guys do their thing. It was a real pleasure.”

While the Spartans were led by a young nucleus this season, Johnson was proud of the way his two seniors, Logan Condon and Connor Halley-McCarty, performed all season. 

“To see our seniors get this final win in their final chapter is really special,” Johnson said. “They worked so hard for it and it has paid off. I get a little choked up thinking about some of these guys not being around next year but I’m happy to see where they’re gonna go because they’ve got great trajectory.”

Campolindo claimed the girls crown with an overall score of 310, marking the second NCS girls championship for the Cougars in the last three years.

One team was notably not at the section championships.

Acalanes High originally had 13 swimmers qualify for Saturday’s meet, but were disqualified after their names were not registered for the event before the April 28 deadline. 

Some swimmers dedicated their performances to the Acalanes swimmers by shouting them out during their pre-event introductions. 

Saturday’s championship final didn’t have ideal swimming conditions.

Heavy rain and cold winds made warmups much more important as swimmers attempted to stay warm. 

However, the weather didn’t stop Northgate senior and UC Santa Barbara commit Mason Wendler from winning his first-ever section championship event. Wendler won the boys 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.73, beating out Terra Linda’s Ben Butler who came in second at 45.37.

“I just wanted to get the win,” Wendler said. “It’s a good way to finish my senior year. I don’t usually compete in the 100, so it felt good for sure.”

Carondelet was looking to capture back-to-back section titles but fell short as the Cougars came in at second place in overall team scores with 258.5 points. 

Head coach Roque Santos thought his team could have done better, despite the poor weather conditions. 

“I think the team did as best as it could,” Santos said. “We had some great swims and some swimmers who probably could do better.”

Carondelet did have many standout performances, especially from Madison O’Connell.

The senior won the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.64 and the 100 backstroke as she clocked in with a time of 53.58. She also helped the Cougars win the 200 medley relay as the Concord school recorded a time of 1:43.56.

Still, Santos said he expects more from UC San Diego commit, especially at the state championships. 

“I didn’t think she did particularly well,” he said. “But I fully expect her to be better next week at state.”

Saturday also had a good showing from many East Bay underclassmen. 

Foothill freshman Luka Mijatovic won the boys 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.25 and finished the 500 freestyle in first place at 4:21.94.

Dougherty Valley sophomore Songrui Wu won two events in impressive fashion. Wu won the 200-individual medley in 1:47.88 and the 100 butterfly in 48.64.

De La Salle’s Matthew Nakayama had the highest individual finish for the Spartans. The sophomore finished fourth in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 47.55. 

Campolindo’s Emilia Barck had the Moraga school’s lone first-place individual finish, winning the girls 200 individual medley with a time of 2:01.94. She also helped Campolindo win the 400 freestyle relay as she, Elise Gratton, Adriana Smith and Madison Blackwell touched the wall in 3:25.34. 

San Ramon Valley dominated both the boys and girls 200 freestyle relays. 

The girls team of Alexis Parkinson, Avery Knapp, Sasha Babushkina and Miranda Stevenson edged out second-place Monte Vista with a time of 1:34.89. The boys team of Drew Arney, Chase King, Nick Tovani and Sawyer Jones beat out American High School, recording a time of 1:24.10. 

Winners from Saturday will move on to the state finals which are held from May 10-11 at Clovis West High School.