The Northwood High School Timberwolves displayed sheer dominance competing with (50) fifty Central and Southern California high schools to lift the championship banners at the 2022 Spring H.S. Meet of Champions held at Mt. SAC Aquatic Center. Photos courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.
The Northwood Timberwolves strong 2022 campaign thus continued with a highly successful weekend against (50) fifty high school squads in Orange County, Los Angeles, Fresno, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tuolume at the 2022 Spring H.S. Meet of Champions held at the Mt. SAC Aquatic Center on Friday, April 15th (PRELIMS) and Saturday, April 16, 2022 (FINALS).
Northwood's boys captured their first 2022 Spring H.S. Meet of Champs crown by scoring 878.5 points. Northwood boys not only set two meet relay records, but a blistering pool record in the finals session. The weekend success shined for the girls as well with a 529.5 point third-place showing, and featured several strong swims. Their combined scores left a lasting paw print by winning the overall team title.
The Timberwolves came in under the meet and pool record in the 200 medley relay, from Derek Hitchens, Eric Zhu, Younghun (Jason) Kim, and Christopher Leung in 1:32.57. The race moved the foursome to tenth in Orange County history.
The boys team also downed another meet record in the 400 free relay that took 0.75 seconds off the old mark in 3:06.32 with the quartet of Derek Hitchens, Will Chen, Elson Lee, and Christopher Leung.
Northwood's boys and girls have a shot at finishing their dual meet competition undefeated this season in the Pacific Coast League play. The No. 1 ranked PCL team will face Laguna Hills on Wednesday, April 20th away. They will also look to bring home a Pacific Coast League Championship title, and eyeing the prize just as carefully a title run at the CIF Southern Section D1 Championships to come.
“I am pleased overall on how well we worked together as a team today," Northwood Head Coach Alex Nieto said. "We have to identify some areas where we can continue to score a lot of points and make sure our team is racing not only for a top spot, but to get there for the second-, third- and fourth-place finishes, like we did today."
“It's gone pretty well so far, and we're definitely in the right direction," Northwood's Derek Hitchens said. "We have a lot of great leaders on our team that are stepping up and leading the team. Our team has put in a lot of hard work, and it shows."
Additional Venue News
OCVarsity Orange County Register News Article by Dan Albano
Boys Top 10 Team Scores: Girls Top 10 Team Scores:
1. Northwood 878.5 1. Clovis North 634.5
2. Clovis North 475 2. San Marcos 555.5
3. Eleanor Roosevelt 413 3. Northwood 529.5
4. Mark Keppel 396 4. Carondelet High School 425
5. Murrieta Mesa 370 5. San Marino 414.5
6. Damien 353 6. Crescenta Valley 389
7. Los Osos 350.5 7. Ruben Ayala 376
8. San Marino 344.5 8. Santiago-Corona 335.5
9. La Canada 328 9. Mark Keppel 319
10. Crescenta Valley 235 10. Los Osos 267
Additional TOP 27 Event Winners:
| Event |
Swimmer |
Finals Rank |
Finals |
Prelims |
| Girls 200 Free |
Carolyn Nguyen |
8th Place |
1:57.56 |
1:56.92 |
|
Kim Huynh |
11th Place |
1:55.81 |
2:00.03 |
|
Katerina Tolkachev |
18th Place |
2:01.98 |
2:00.19 |
|
Tanya Ahmed |
23rd Place |
2:01.66 |
2:01.66 |
| Boys 200 Free |
Michael Abshier |
5th Place |
1:44.00 |
1:42.55 |
|
Nolan Chomin |
7th Place |
1:44.18 |
1:44.11 |
|
Will Chen |
7th Place |
1:44.18 |
1:44.03 |
|
Kim (Jason) Younghun |
10th Place |
1:43.18 |
1:45.65 |
|
Benton Cheng |
21st Place |
1:47.84 |
1:48.49 |
| Girls 200 IM |
Corina Lee |
8th Place |
2:11.28 |
2:11.62 |
|
Taylor Inouye |
11th Place |
2:10.96 |
2:14.84 |
| Boys 200 IM |
Derek Hitchens |
2nd Place |
1:52.05 |
1:55.68 |
|
Elson Lee |
4th Place |
1:52.87 |
1:54.23 |
|
Ryan Connole |
10th Place |
1:57.90 |
2:01.18 |
|
Anthony Foo |
13th Place |
1:58.48 |
2:00.01 |
|
Eric Zhu |
18th Place |
2:05.64 |
2:02.19 |
| Girls 50 Free |
Lauren Kim |
14th Place |
25.08 |
24.77 |
|
Gabrielle Lan |
17th Place |
25.49 |
25.62 |
| Boys 50 Free
|
Ryan Xu |
6th Place |
21.86 |
22.23 |
|
Kevin Hong |
8th Place |
22.40 |
22.20 |
|
Brandon Cho |
15th Place |
22.57 |
22.72 |
| Girls 100 Fly
|
Carolyn Nguyen |
7th Place |
57.93 |
57.90 |
|
Addison Cadena |
12th Place |
58.67 |
59.22 |
|
Gabrielle Lan |
13th Place |
58.81 |
59.70 |
| Boys 100 Fly
|
Christopher Leung |
1st Place |
48.74 |
49.31 |
|
Kim (Jason) Younghun |
5th Place |
51.40 |
51.42 |
|
Ryan Xu |
6th Place |
51.83 |
51.98 |
|
Ethan Chen |
13th Place |
54.16 |
53.63 |
| Girls 100 Free
|
Kim Huynh |
10th Place |
53.15 |
54.45 |
|
Acile Jammoul |
16th Place |
55.08 |
54.73 |
|
Lauren Kim |
17th Place |
55.18 |
55.10 |
|
Katerina Tolkachev |
24th Place |
55.93 |
56.30 |
|
Mutiara Schechinger |
26th Place |
56.65 |
56.76 |
| Boys 100 Free
|
Kevin Hong |
7th Place |
48.31 |
48.75 |
|
Benton Cheng |
14th Place |
49.84 |
48.90 |
|
Brandon Cho |
17th Place |
50.32 |
49.97 |
|
Gavin Lai |
23rd Place |
50.40 |
50.39 |
| Girls 100 Back |
Genevieve Chomin |
19th Place |
1:00.18 |
1:01.73 |
|
Acile Jammoul |
24th Place |
1:01.48 |
1:01.71 |
| Boys 100 Back
|
Derek Hitchens |
2nd Place |
50.42 |
51.10 |
|
Elson Lee |
10th Place |
53.82 |
54.10 |
|
Daivik Patel |
21st Place |
58.05 |
57.74 |
| Girls 100 Breast |
Taylor Inouye |
6th Place |
1:06.16 |
1:05.98 |
|
Corina Lee |
7th Place |
1:07.18 |
1:07.71 |
| Boys 100 Breast
|
Eric Zhu |
2nd Place |
57.24 |
57.83 |
|
Anthony Foo |
8th Place |
1:00.71 |
1:01.24 |
|
Ryan Connole |
12th Place |
1:00.93 |
1:02.38 |
|
Evan Fu |
25th Place |
1:03.21 |
1:03.06 |
|
Ethan Chen |
27th Place |
1:04.34 |
1:02.62 |
Relay Events Winners:
| Event |
Rank |
Time |
| Girls 200 Medley Relay (Team A) |
5th Place |
1:49.22 |
| Boys 200 Medley Relay (Team A) |
1st Place |
1:32.57 * Meet & Pool Record
|
| Girls 200 Free Relay (Team A) |
5th Place |
1:39.57 |
| Boys 200 Free Relay (Team A) |
4th Place |
1:28.01 |
| Girls 400 Free Relay (Team A) |
5th Place |
3:36.57 |
| Boys 400 Free Relay (Team A) |
1st Place |
3:06.32 * Meet Record
|
Video Footage Courtesy of NHS Swim Staff
200 Medley Relay Boys Finals - 1:32.57 New Mt. SAC Pool & Meet Record
- Derek Hitchens (23.06)
- Eric Zhu (26.42)
- Kim (Jason) Younghun (22.78)
- Christopher Leung (20.31)
400 Free Relay Boys Finals - 3:06.32 New Mt. SAC Meet Record
- Derek Hitchens (46.48)`
- Will Chen (47.03)
- Elson Lee (47.47)
- Christopher Leung (45.34)