Northwood finished the meet with some stellar relay performances, showcased its versatility, and posted several top finishes across all four-stroke disciplines. Photo courtesy of Mitch Mallough.
The Northwood High School Aquatic Center buzzed with opening season excitement as the Timberwolves brought the speed and came away with split wins in a non-league triangular meet against Mater Dei and Santiago High Schools on Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
There were plenty of strong match ups all afternoon with some solid swims, but Northwood's main focus is on improving and getting back to a racing mindset. Timberwolves boys defeated the Cavaliers by a score of 111-57, and fell to the Monarchs 96-74. The overall boys team posted 12 overall top-3 finishes in 8 individual events. The Lady T-Wolves recorded a 110-60 lost against the Lady Cavaliers, and fell 123-47 to the Lady Monarchs. The overall girls team posted 3 overall top-3 finishes.
Relay events remain among Northwood's core strengths, as the Timberwolves boys won the 200 medley relay, and placed second in both the 200 and 400 free relays.
“I think as a team we did well across the board," said Head Coach Alex Nieto. "Sticking to what we came here to do which was focusing on the details that we've been making in practice, and we're really excited to get the season started."
The Timberwolves new season excitement continues this Friday, February 28th at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center hosting the Irvine City Relays, and a taste of fierce regular season competition in Southern California's Southern Section juggernaut, the Pacific Coast League.
200 FREE
Sophia Smith began the meet for the Open Girls posting the third fastest time in her division at 2:36.14. Open Boys Yuze Li turned in 2:10.54 for a third finish, while Mater Dei's Jacob Alvo claimed the fastest time in 2:02.25. That followed with a second placement from Mater Dei's Ryan Diaz ouching in at 2:07.14. JV Boys helped lead the charge in the 200 Free with Benton Cheng surging to the wall second in 1:56.88. Mater Dei's George Castillo (1:56.87) and Tanner Harrington (1:59.72) finished 1-3. Coming up third for the Varsity Boys was Colman Sun posting up a time of 1:48.37. Mater Dei's Louis Cerda finished with the top time of 1:45.96, while teammate Max Rossi took second in 1:46.22.
100 IM
Open Girls action saw sophomore Catlin Novak hit the wall in the 100 IM touching in a time of 1:19.97 for second. Yuna Cook was right behind for third with a 1:20.75. Mater Dei's Katherine Watson registered the fastest time in 1:16.67. Open Boys Michael Li posted second in the 100 IM (1:03.42) in a battle with Mater Dei's Charley McHenry (1:03.00) and Zachary Woods (1:05.88) going 1-3.
200 IM
JV Girls Claire Cho posted third in the 200 IM (2:44.01) in a battle with Santiago's Kendal Lee who went 2:29.17 for the win. Mater Dei's Kylie Eggers was second 2:33.12. In the Varsity Girls Kim Huynh pulled off a 28.57 backstroke split that led her through the last 150 of the race as the fastest performer in 2:15.86. Santiago's Kaitlyn Armstrong checked in for second with 2:16.30, while Mater Dei's Makenna Wright sits third in 2:21.19. Junior Henry Chen was out like a rocket turning at the 100 with fly/back over in 59.91, which kept him in control, but Mater Dei's Erik Frack's freestyle split 27.94 was just enough for a razor win (2:03.75) to (2:03.87). Mater Dei's Joshua Potter was 2:05.81 for third.
50 Free
The Northwood Open Boys showed real depth with Evan Eich taking first in 25.72. Mater Dei's Joshua Alvo (26.26) and Ryder Rhoads (26.24) took second and third. JV freshman Valerie Wraith contributed a second for the Timberwolves with a time of 28.24. Mater Dei's Olivia Krotts touched first in 27.00, and teammate Rylee Harrington 28.52 for third. In the Varsity Boys 50 Free, Enoch Lai showed his top end talent accomplishing a second overall in 22.82. Closing hard behind him was teammate Kenneth Duong (22.92). Mater Dei's Vinnie Merk finished first in 22.75.
50 Fly
Good vibes coming from Senior Caitlin Novak who picked up first place finish in the Open Girls 50 Fly (34.67). Chloe Hughes (36.64) took the second placement for Mater Dei, while Santiago's Natalie Gomez joined her for third in 40.51. Northwood teammates Andrew Zhang and Evan Eich didn't disappoint as they produced a top two for the Open Boys. Zhang put up a 28.60 to lead the group. Eich finished second in 29.28, while Mater Dei's Charley McHenry for third in 29.31.
100 Fly
Enoch Lai put in a good race for second touching in a 56.24. Santiago's Dylan Amancio won the event in 54.47, while Mater Dei's Paul Finby rolled in for third in 57.40.
100 Free
Open Girl's Sophia Smith took a victory by winning the 100 Free (1:05.78). Mater Dei's Madina Delaney took second position in 1:08.45, while teammate Katherine Watson rounded third (1:10.01). Freshman Michael Li powered in a 55.93 for first in the Open Boys 100 Free. Mater Dei's Joshua Alvo marked second in 57.10, while teammate Alex Coury round third (57.75). JV Girls Emilie Harper locked down a second place in 1:03.15, while Mater Dei's registered the fastest time in 1:00.46. Santiago's Ilexi Cervantes held onto third (1:03.39). For the JV Boys junior Justin Chung finished with the top time of 52.36. Mater Dei's Julio Delgado (52.69) and Nathan Tauscher (53.15) went 2-3.
500 Free
In the JV Boys 500 Free, Benton Cheng (5:17.17) showed his distance talent touching in for second. Mater Dei's Cole Constantino registered the fastest time in 5:10.31, while teammate Landon Akerstrom rounded third in 5:20.48. Among other notable performances on the Varsity Girls side included Kim Huynh touched the wall in 5:34.26 for second. Genoa Rossi delivered the win for Mater Dei in 5:24.59. Sierra Valentin took third for Mater Dei in 5:39.35. Varsity Boys Rijad Ceranic raced to a quick second finish touching the wall in a time of 5:04.13. Mater Dei's Ty Nguyen took the top time in 4:55.81, while Santiago's Brodie Halter rounded third in 5:45.08.
50 Back
Northwood's Open Girls put two in the top three with Henna Cook (37.13) taking first, she was separated by teammate Nicole Karraa (40.15). Mater Dei's Sofia Reyes-Franco rounded third in 40.85. Open Boys Joshua Bonode won the event with a solid 30.09. Mater Dei's Nicholas Bryant (30.35) and Ethan Jackson (30.44) went 2-3.
100 Back
Behind the strength of backstroker Avery Liu the Northwood Varsity Girls had another top time success turning in a 1:03.82 for the win. Santiago's Morgan Bienias (1:05.96) took second followed by teammate Samantha Macpherson (1:06.74). Timberwolves Kendrick Pham closed out his individual events with a third touch finish for the JV Boys in 1:00.83. Mater Dei's Ethan Kaplan finished first in 59.61, while teammate George Castillo touched the wall for second in 1:00.04. Varsity Girls freshman Acile Jammoul charted a third placement in 1:04.85 for the Lady T-Wolves. Santiago's Rachel Oler won the event in 1:02.00, while teammate Brooke Robbins checked in second (1:03.35). Timberwolves Yagiz Guner battled throughout the Varsity Boys 100 Back finishing second in 57.80. Guner edged out teammate Danny Kim (58.99), while Mater Dei's Ryan Hatcher took the victory in 56.52.
100 Breast
Another tight race in the JV-Girls division with Valerie Wraith racing to a quick finish touching the wall with 1:19.97. Mater Dei's Kylie Eggers snared second in 1:20.19, and teammate Jackie Yocam leveraged a third touching in 1:21.09. The Northwood JV-Boys produced first place accolades with junior Grant Lai stopping the clock in 1:06.18. The battle for second went to Mater Dei's Cody Quach (1:07.39), while teammate Max Shaw sealed third in 1:09.91. Northwood's Varsity Boys showed real depth with sweeping the top three positions with Colman Sun (1:00.72), Ben Liu (1:00.96), and Henry Chen (1:03.59).
Relays
Open Girls 200 Medley - 1st place 2:18.62 Yuna Cook (36.09), Kylie Kenyon (38.08), Caitlin Novak (34.69), Sophia Smith (29.76)
Open Boys 200 Medley - 1st place 1:55.75 Andrew Harper (29.76), Orlando Olague (33.52), Michael Li (27.79), Jake Compton (24.68)
JV Boys 200 Medley - 3rd place 1:48.72 David Patel (28.43), Grant Lai (29.24), Ryan Xu (27.07), Aaron Kim (24.28)
Varsity Boys 200 Medley - 1st place 1:41/15 Danny Kim (27.08), Ben Liu (26/95), Enoch Lai (24.61), Kenneth Duong (22.51)
Open Girls 200 Free - 2nd place 2:09.14 Lauren Thorpe (32.45), Yuna Cook (31.39), Nicole Karraa (32.36), Sima Yildiz (32.94)
Open Boys 200 Free - 1st place 1:41.79 Michael Li (25.48), Jake Compton (24.68), Brandon Cho (25.96), Evan Eich (25.67)
JV Girls 200 Free - 2nd place 1:55.68 Joyce Kim (32.45), Ariel Lee (28.88), Valerie Wraith (28.90), Daniella Ela (28.82)
JV Boys 200 Free - 2nd place 1:37.89 Justin Chung (24.09), Aaron Kim (25.36), Ryan Xu (24.46), Anthony Foo (23.98)
- 3rd place 1:41.18 Andrew Chen (25.48), Daivik Patel (24.83), Oliver Allen (25.04), William Chen (25.83)
Varsity Girls 200 Free - 3rd place 1:49.87 Acile Jammoul (26.65), Sarah Buting (27.92), Marley King (28.32), Isa Munoz (26.98)
Varsity Boys 200 Free - 2nd place 1:32.24 Adrian Fontao (24.06), Henry Chen (22.86), Colman Sun (22.49), Enoch Lai (22.83)
Open Girls 400 Free - 2nd place 4:43.11 Lauren Thorpe (1:14.19), Sophia Smith (1:05.80), Caitlin Novak (1:10.47), Kylie Kenyon (1:12.65)
Open Boys 400 Free - 2nd place 3:49.69 Orlando Olague (57.38), Brandon Cho (58.10), Xuchao Li (57.71), Evan Eich (56.50)
JV Boys 400 Free - 2nd place 3:43.80 Andrew Chen (57.08), Aaron Kim (57.85), Benton Cheng (53.64), Justin Chung (55.23)
Varsity Boys 400 Free - 2nd place 3:22.71 Colman Sun (50.56), Alec Overbaugh (51.58), Henry Chen (50.55), Kenneth Duong (50.02)
Tri-Meet Scores
Men
Northwood High School 111.00 vs 57.00 Santiago High School
Mater Dei High School 122.00 vs 47.00 Santiago High School
Mater Dei High School 96.00 vs 74.00 Northwood High School
Women
Santiago High School 110.00 vs 60.00 Northwood High School
Santiago High School 104.00 vs 66.00 Mater Dei High School
Mater Dei High School 123.00 vs 47.00 Northwood High School