| | Published April 27th, 2011
| High School Swim Season Ends with Rivalry Matches Campolindo defeats Acalanes, Acalanes splits with Miramonte
| | By Marissa Harnett |  | | Acalanes senior Piankhi Gibson took two events over rival Campolindo. Photos Doug Kohen
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As the high school swim season draws to a close, key Lamorinda match-ups are playing out. On April 15, Campolindo hosted Acalanes. The Cougars emerged victorious with a total score of 109 to 59 on the men's side and 101 to 69 on the women's. On April 20, Acalanes hosted Miramonte and the results were mixed. The Acalanes boys' beat Miramonte 94 to 75. The Lady Mats fared better with a total score of 109 to Acalanes' 60.
The April 15 match-up between Campolindo and Acalanes had some tight finishes, and despite the loss Acalanes posted some exciting wins in their column. In the men's 50 yard freestyle Acalanes senior Piankhi Gibson touched out Campolindo senior Jeffrey Strasser by four-one hundredths of a second. Gibson swam a lightning speed of 21.72 to Strasser's 21.76. Gibson would reign again in the 100 yard fly reaching the wall before Strasser with a time of 51.36. Strasser logged a fast 52.44.
Campo answered back, though, in the 100 yard backstroke in yet another photo finish. In this close race, Campo sophomore Sven Campbell edged out Acalanes senior David Palley finishing 53.02 and 53.89 respectively. The meet ended with the most exciting event of the day - the 400 yd freestyle relay. Campo and Acalanes were neck and neck. After three legs of virtual equanimity, Campo's anchor, Campbell, exploded into the water and managed to pull off a win of a full body length with a total relay time of 3:16.60 to Acalanes' 3:20.37.
On the women's side, the 500 yard freestyle proved to be a surprisingly dramatic race. In an event this long, usually a leader emerges early. In this race, though, there were three serious contenders for first place - Campo sophomores Erica Muller and Ruthie Hoover and Acalanes junior Molly Quinn. It was anyone's race through the first 300 yards at which point Muller started to solidify her marginal lead. She swam to a first place finish with a time of 5:29.26. Quinn and Hoover were right on her toes, though, and even towards the end of twenty muscle-burning laps, second place was still too close to call. Ultimately Quinn touched before Hoover posting a time of 5:30.88. Hoover's time was 5:31.05 - a mere .17 of a second back.
Each of the three Lamorinda schools has had successful seasons. Although the Acalanes men lost to Campo, they quickly resumed their winning streak over Miramonte to bring their overall record to 5-1. The Lady Dons are even at 3-3.
Speaking on Lamorinda rivalries, the Dons' head coach Marc Cavallero admits, "Campolindo and Miramonte have been stronger swim teams than Acalanes the past few years, but I feel that we are beginning to close the gap and we are hoping to create a rivalry in swimming with Campo and Miramonte as well."
Campo's undefeated dual meet record stands at 6-0 for both the men and women. Campo head coach Dave Schurhoff concurs with Cavallero, saying, "As far as rivalries go, I would say that Campolindo and Miramonte have the strongest rivalry - a friendly rivalry, but a rivalry no doubt...Miramonte dominated the '90s and Campolindo has had an edge on Miramonte the last decade. The Miramonte/Campo dual meet is always an exciting event that ends our dual meet season and leads us into our DFAL Championship meet and North Coast Section meet."
Miramonte's season has gone extremely well. Both the men and women have had just one loss each overall. Head coach Don Heidary says, "The captains have done an extraordinary job this season. They have led the way and are a significant reason for their success." He also commented that the character, commitment, maturity, and positive outlook that his swimmers possess have contributed greatly to their success as a team.
The dual meet season will conclude on Friday, April 29 at 3:45 when Acalanes takes on Las Lomas and Miramonte collides with Campolindo. All teams will be headed into the DFAL trials at Campo on May 12 followed a week later by the NCS Finals in Concord on May 21.
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 | | Photo Doug Kohen
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA