The Northwood Timberwolves boys swim put together an impressive 493 points this weekend at the 2018 46th Annual Foothill Swim Games, firing on all cylinders winning their consecutive coveted boys championship title.  Photos courtesy of Mitch Mallough.

The Northwood Timberwolves strong 2018 campaign thus continued with grit, determination, and fight against (13) thirteen fellow high school squads in Orange County at the 46th Annual Foothill Swim Games held at the Foothill High School Aquatic Center on Saturday, April 21, 2018.  

Northwood's boys captured their consecutive Foothill Swim Games crown, and orchestrated a scoring barrage of 493 points ahead of University (359), and Santa Margarita (338.5) high schools.  Northwood's boys flexed their collective muscles setting two meet records, won two relays, and broke two school records during a blistering finals session.

In the finals session, it was the same high level swimming consistency that we've seen all season as Northwood was on a tear for the white, silver and navy blue faithful.  Northwood college commit Shawn Lou  (Columbia University) blasted his way through a school record in the 200 free churning out a speedy 1:37.95, which knocked 1.26 seconds off his previous mark.  Lou also broke a meet record (2017 Daniel Kim, Tesoro-45:34) with a statement win in the 100 free (45.19), and lowering his previous school record set from last season by a few tenths.

Saturday's action also saw college commit Hunter Hitchens (Cornell University) firing on all cylinders accumulating the second highest points as a key contributor for the Timberwolves.  Hitchens finished runner-up in the 50 sprint freestyle, just .14 hundredths behind first place with a time of 21.28.  He also battled Lou for first place in the 100 free touching right after in 45.97.

Northwood's boys relay squads unquestionably shined bright locking down a meet record in the 200 medley relay (2017 Dana Hills-1:33.02), notching a title for college commits Gabe Munoz  (Georgia Institute of Technology), Henry Wu (Duke University), Hwa Min Sim (Emory University), and anchor Collin Press (New York University) in 1:32.83, which was .32-hundredths off their school mark.  The boys team also won the 400 free relay in 3:06.39 with the quartet of Shawn Lou, Henry Wu, Hwa Min Sim, and anchor Hunter Hitchens.

Amanda Hsieh was the driving force for the Lady T-Wolves, exemplifying the girl's firepower as the top scoring contributor.  Hsieh had a quick and explosive start in the 200 freestyle, which propelled her to a great breakout that carried through the race recording a season-best time of 1:50.71.  That time broke the Northwood school record previously held by Anju Shimura in 2004 by .26 seconds.

Northwood's boys have a shot at finishing their dual meet competition undefeated this season in the Pacific Coast League play.  The No. 1 ranked boys squad will face their last in-league away meet against Irvine High School on Wednesday, April 25th.  That talent and leadership gives the Timberwolves the look of a powerhouse swim program poised to three-peat at the Pacific Coast League Championship title, and eyeing the prize just as carefully a title run at the CIF Southern Section D1 Championships to come.

1. Northwood 493                                                                       1. Santa Margarita 590
2. University 359                                                                         2. Tesoro 339
3. Santa Margarita 338.5                                                            3. Foothill 298
4. Tesoro 297                                                                              4. Woodbridge 275
5. Foothill 292                                                                             5. Irvine 214
6. Yorba Linda 157                                                                     6. Northwood 132
7. Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana  82                                               7. Crean Lutheran 126
8. Arroyo Grande 70.5                                                                8. University 88
9. Woodbridge 55                                                                       9. Laguna Beach 55
10. Crean Lutheran 15                                                              10. Yorba Linda 51

TOP 16 Event Winners:

Relay Events Winners:

Video Footage Via Swim Team Staff

200 Free Boys Medley Final - 1:32.83 - Gabe Munoz (23.70), Henry Wu (25.90), Hwa Min Sim (22.05), Collin Press (21.18)

200 Free Girls Final - 1:50.71 Amanda Hsieh, 1:57.83 Malak Hassouna

                                                     * NEW Northwood High School Record

200 Free Boys Final - 1:37.95 Shawn Lou, 1:43.94 Felix Zhu, 1:48.72 Youssef Elseifi, 1:49.28 Colman Sun

                                                     * NEW Northwood High School Record

200 IM Boys Final - 1:52.60 Gabe Munoz, 1:53.20 Henry Wu

50 Free Boys Final - 21.28 Hunter Hitchens, 21.52 Collin Press

100 Fly Boys Final - 50.33 Hwa Min Sim, 50.63 Gabe Munoz, 52.82 David Xue

100 Free Girls Final - 51.97 Amanda Hsieh

100 Free Boys Final - 45.19 Shawn Lou, 45.97 Hunter Hitchens, 48.02 Collin Press

                        * NEW Foothill Swim Games Record, NEW Northwood High School Record

500 Free Boys Final - 4:45.08 Felix Zhu, 4:48.95 Christopher Pukszta, 5:00.47 Parker Mallough

200 Free Girls Relay Final - 1:43.29 - Haley Pham (26.14), Jenna Morley (26.74), Malak Hassouna (25.76), Jospehine Manuel (24.65)

200 Free Relay Boys Final - 1:25.27 - Shawn Lou (21.21), Gabe Munoz (21.98), Collin Press (21.36), Hunter Hitchens (20.72)

100 Back Girls Final - 1:01:13 - Josephine Manuel

100 Back Boys Final - 52.63 Hwa Min Sim, 54.52 Youssef Elseifi

100 Breast Girls Consolation - 1:09.52 Jenna Morley

100 Breast Boys Final - 55.80 Henry Wu, 1:00.64 Emiliano Olague, 1:01.21 Connor Budka

400 Free Relay Girls Consolation 3:53.74 - Lauren Hitchens (59.20), Sarah Buting (59.89), Victoria Nguyen (59.09), Malak Hassouna (55.56)

400 Free Relay Girls Final 3:36.55 -  Nancy Zhu (55.02), Josephine Manuel (55.32), Olivia Chen (55.22), Amanda Hsieh (55.99)

400 Free Relay Boys Final - 3:06.39 Shawn Lou (46.78), Henry Wu (47.14), Hwa Min Sim (46.20), Hunter Hitchens (46.27)

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