Look Out for Highway 24 Lamorinda Teams Rock the Blocks at County Meet
By Jean Follmer
lane 1 - Barbara Lanier, lane 2 - Ashley Jennings, lane 3 - Shelby Burman, lane 4 - Dana Holt, lane 5 - Lauren Bugglin, lane 6 - Alex Toohey,
lane 7 - Mia Tittle Photo Doug Kohen
Lamorinda swimmers made waves at the 49th Annual Contra Costa County swim meet at Acalanes High School last weekend. Local teams took five Top 10 placements in Division I alone and recorded eight High Point winners.
Orinda Country Club (OCC) finished in second this year, bumping Springbrook from their 2008 finish to this year's third place. Maddie Murphy was an essential contributor to OCC's success, taking first in the 11/12 girl's individual medley. High Point winner Charlie Wiser, 14, followed Murphy with an IM win, smashing a 1985 meet record by nearly three seconds with a time 53.83. Wiser turned on the burners again in the next event to break a 1996 meet record with a time of 26.91 in the 50-yard breaststroke preliminaries. The OCC 7/8 Girls won both the medley and the freestyle relays with team members Ryan Hagglund, Paige Hanley, Sophie Cortese and High Point Winner Sophia Kosturos.
Springbrook's third place finish came with help from twelve-year-old Nicholas Inserra first place in freestyle and butterfly, just narrowly missing meet records in both. Inserra anchored his free-relay team to take first place and a meet record of 1:44.76 with teammates Brady Aiello, Dylan Foster and Nathan Brickman. A disappointing disqualification in the medley relay kept Inserra from the seeded fourth blue medal.
Lafayette-Moraga Youth Association (LMYA) leapt from tenth in Division II last year to seventh in Division I. Alec Baker placed first in the 7/8 boys 25-yard freestyle to just miss a meet record with a time of 13.86. Baker turned on the gas again to win the 25-yard butterfly for the High Point trophy. Baker's medley relay with teammates Jack Larsen, Christopher Rogers and Reider Martinsen secured Baker a third blue medal.
Despite a tenth place finish, Moraga Country Club did boast a few first place finishes. Dana Holt, 16, took home four blue medals with wins in the 100-yard freestyle and backstroke, medley relay with teammates Alexandra Toohey, Lindsey Mascheroni and Madeleine Smith and the freestyle relay with Smith, Toohey and Lizzie Peiros.
Moraga Valley's strength came in 8-year-old Megan Colpo, who won both the 25-yard breaststroke (18.25) and backstroke (17.66) for the High Point tie with Kosturos of OCC.
Chase Lanier (13), Sam Anderson (14), Megan Dietrich (13)
and Katie Greer (14) Photo Doug Kohen
Photos Doug Kohen
High point winner Nicholas Inserra, Springbrook Swim Club
Andi Mishimi, Moraga Ranch Swim Club Photo Doug Kohen
Orinda Country Club (OCC) finished in second this year, bumping Springbrook from their 2008 finish to this year's third place. Maddie Murphy was an essential contributor to OCC's success, taking first in the 11/12 girl's individual medley. High Point winner Charlie Wiser, 14, followed Murphy with an IM win, smashing a 1985 meet record by nearly three seconds with a time 53.83. Wiser turned on the burners again in the next event to break a 1996 meet record with a time of 26.91 in the 50-yard breaststroke preliminaries. The OCC 7/8 Girls won both the medley and the freestyle relays with team members Ryan Hagglund, Paige Hanley, Sophie Cortese and High Point Winner Sophia Kosturos.
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA