Webber, Klaren Are Double Winners at Division 1 Swim Finals

Aliso Niguel senior Melanie Klaren and Fountain Valley senior Shelby Webber each captured two events to finish among the top of the class of performers at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 swim championships Friday night at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.  

Klaren took first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, completing the 200 in 1:46.62 to defeat the second-place finisher, University's Megan Rankin, who finished in 1:47.85. In the 100, Klaren dominated the field, finishing in 53.23 to the 55.55 for runner-up Haley Preston of Westlake.  

Webber finished first in the 200 individual medley and the 100 free. She took the 200 in 2:00.28, besting Shannyn Hultin of Agoura, who finished second in 2:02.29. Woodbridge junior Genevieve Bradford was third (2:02.69), Irvine junior Brianna Weinstein was fourth (2:03.19) and Jserra senior Casey Mims came in fifth in 2:06.26. Mims also finished second in the 100 breaststroke to University’s Maggie Burton.  

In the 100 free, Webber finished in 49.90 seconds, beating runner-up Cheyenne Low, a sophomore from University (50.75).  

Another big winner was Laguna Hills senior Courtney Wilde, who won the 50 free in a time of 23.39 to slip past San Clemente senior Silken Jones, who finished in 23.45.  

University captured top team honors with 297 points to 172 for runner-up Laguna Hills. Westlake finished fourth with 161 points, followed by Edison (144) and Santa Margarita.

Corona del Mar sophomore Brynne Wong seemed headed for a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly, but she couldn’t turn back the effort of Irvine freshman Emily Jiang, who passed her on the second leg. Jiang posted a time of 55.36 seconds to Wong's 56.32.  

“I knew Emily had a strong second 50 and I could see her starting to catch up and starting to pass,” Wong said. “But I’m so excited to be able to get [second] because last year I was not nearly as close to that. My confidence is way up.”  

On the boys side, Capistrano Valley junior Logan Redondo took top honors in the 500 free and second in the 200 free. He nipped West Ranch’s Riley Mita by finishing in 4:27.15 compared to Mita’s 4:27.23 in the 500. In the 200, Redondo couldn’t overcome Edison senior Michael Hauss, who claimed the event with a time of 1:38.14 compared to Redondo's 1:38.72.  

Redondo’s performance, along with an overall strong performance by his teammates, allowed defending champion Capistrano Valley to finish runner-up to Loyola for the boys championship. Loyola scored 287 points to 218 for the Cougars. 

Loyola's Britt Dalby captured the 50 free by edging Mission Viejo’s Steven Ewoldt, 20.40 to 20.44 seconds.   Capistrano Valley’s 200 free relay team of senior Scott Burbach, junior Tyler Testman, sophomore Spencer DeShon and sophomore Jack Descombes earned a second-place finish behind Loyola.  

Corona del Mar, which finished third in the boys team standings with 192.5 points, knocked off Loyola in the 200 medley relay event, finishing in 1:34.28 to 1:34.72. Junior Jared Namba gave the Sea Kings a lead after the first leg, while senior Garrett Larson and sophomore Christian Garkani were able to hold it before junior Ari Marks capped the winning performance with a strong anchor.  

Larson grabbed a third-place finish in the 200 IM, finishing in 1:53.15 behind University’s Christopher Wong (1:50.70) and Corey Okubo (1:51.65).   Also, Namba earned a fourth-place run in the 100 back. Redlands senior Nolan Brown and his freshman teammate Kyle Gornay were one and two, while Edison junior Josh Smith took third in the event.

University's boys finished fourth (162), followed by La Canada (128), Edison (116), Irvine (95.5), Redlands (93), William S. Hart (83), Thousand Oaks (80) and Mission Viejo (79).

Complete results of he meet can be found by clicking here.