The Northwood High School boys swim team's drive to the 2018 CIF Southern Section D1 Championships title was fueled by several lightning strike title wins that took down a total of (9) nine school records (three on the girls side).   Photos courtesy of Mitch Mallough.

"No one can ever know the heart of a warrior, until the war is won!"  - HSPN Sports.

Paint the Town!...White, Silver & Navy Blue!   The Northwood High School swim team wins the 2018 CIF Southern Section D1 Swimming and Diving Championships boy's title at the Riverside Aquatics Complex on the campus of Riverside City College May 8th - 12th, 2018.   A total of 18 Northwood swimmers made quite the impact as they proved their public high school team is able to compete at the highest level.

And while Northwood's first CIF Championships crown was exciting enough, the win also involved breaking an astonishing nine school records (three on the girls side).

Northwood's boys were firing on all cylinders during the finals session as they captured the overall D1 title, which has added to one of the most spectacular seasons in the program's history.  The Timberwolves competed against a field of highly competitive high school teams, but their drive and lightning quick exhilarating performances piled points on top of points combining for a total of 282.  Out of the forty-eight teams, the Timberwolves had great races in a majority of the events, with swimmers asserting a presence in nearly every final.  Northwood boys turned in blistering performances that earned titles in (2) two individual and (2) two relay events, along with (6) six top-3 placements.  Each swim contributed to the Timberwolves momentum, and scored points in 9 of the 11 swimming events.

Collectively Northwood boys had a quartet of top-three individual event swimmers beginning with College commit Shawn Lou  (Columbia University) kicked off his double record breaking finals in an impressive fashion in the 200 freestyle (1:37.24), and 100 freestyle (45.05) once again lowering his own school marks in both events.  Lou swam a first leg freestyle split of 45.39, which helped break the 400 freestyle relay school record.

College commit Hunter Hitchens (Cornell University) obtained one of his most notable finishes placing third in finals reaching a personal life-time best of 45.15 in the 100 freestyle.  Hitchens put up two of the fastest anchor splits of 20.81 in the 200 freestyle relay, and closed out with a quick anchor leg of 45.06 on the 400 freestyle relay.  The 45.06 anchor split contributed towards the teams come from behind win widening the meet ending gap against Loyola by 44 points, and setting a new Northwood High School relay record (3:02.24).  The 400 freestyle relay team victory marks the second fastest time recorded in Orange County history - see menu RECORDS tab.

College commit Gabe Munoz (Georgia Tech Institute of Technology) followed suit taking third with a strong individual school record breaking performance in the 200 IM with 1:49.86.  Munoz swam one of the fastest backstroke splits in the 200 medley event with a time of 23.48, which opened the meet in school record breaking fashion (1:31.69).  Munoz also contributed with a third leg freestyle split of 45.14, which helped break the 400 freestyle relay school record.

College commit Henry Wu (Duke University) turned in a title school record breaking win in the 100 breaststroke with a speedy 55.00.  Wu opened the race with a 26.11 split at the 50, which is faster than the front half of his existing 2018 record swim.  Wu also participated in two relay school record breaking performances, first splitting a 25.45 breaststroke leg in the 200 medley, and second leg (45.39) in the 400 freestyle.  

Other notable Northwood swimmers in finals were College commit Hwa Min Sim (Emory University) who had individual swims in the 100 butterfly (49.47) for fifth, and recorded a fourteenth in the 100 backstroke (51.77).  Sim also got in on the relay record-breaking action putting up a 21.84 butterfly split in the 200 Medley.  College commit Collin Press (New York University) displayed some more of Northwood's hot sprint talent, blasting a 20.92 freestyle split as part of the 200 Medley relay team's record breaking performance.  

The Northwood Lady T-Wolves emerged with two individual top-18 races during finals with junior Amanda Hsieh, who added two double school record breaking performances.  Hsieh shot off the blocks with speed in the 200 freestyle with a swift 1:50.15 seventh place.  Hsieh was all business in the 100 freestyle, as she rocked a 51.27 coming home strong for a second place touch.

The team of Amanda Hsieh, Olivia Chen, Josephine Manuel and Nancy Zhu put together an impressive combination in the 400 free relay during prelims (3:32.34).  That time clears the old school record of 3:33.23 set in 2017.

 

Top 5 of 48 Boys Team Scores:	Top 5 of 48 Girls Team Scores:
1. Northwood 282	1. Santa Margarita 527.5
2. Loyola 238	2. Tesoro 185.5
3. Tesoro 230	3. Woodbridge 329
4. Aliso Niguel 199	4. Newport Harbor 161
5. University 169.5	5. Irvine 159

hspn sports & NHS SWIM PRODUCTIONs:

HSPN Sports Team Interview	NHS Swim Team Celebrations	HSPN Sports CIF Coverage

TOP 18 FINALS Event Winners:

TOP 18 FINALS RELAY Event Winners & Statistics:

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS BIGGEST DROPS SEED VS FINALS

Prelim Performances:

Video Footage Courtesy of NHS Swim Staff

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