Laguna Hills Boys, Girls Win Titles

Dan Herr picked a good time to swim his fastest.

As a member of the winning 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams, and winner of the 100 butterfly, the Laguna Hills sophomore was instrumental in helping the Hawks win their fourth consecutive Pacific Coast League boys’ swimming title Thursday at Aliso Niguel High.

“I’ve been cold pretty much the entire season,” Herr said. “The fly time is a personal best and I got two [Southern Section qualifying] times today. I’m glad my times have dropped now.”

The Laguna Hills’ boys finished with 453 points. University was second with 435, Aliso Niguel third (267). Costa Mesa tied Laguna Beach with 236, and Estancia finished with 141.

Herr won the 100 fly in 56.24 seconds. Teammate Steve Poling finished second (56.63). The Hawks also took fourth, sixth and seventh in that race to give the team 35 points. Poling, a junior, also went on to win the 100 breaststroke

Laguna Hills’ Matt Kwok won the 200 individual medley (2:00.28) and the 500 free (4:53.64). University’s Jon Alpert, a senior who will swim at Boston University in the fall, won the 100 (49.11) and 200 free (1:47.63). Kwok and Alpert were named male swimmers of the meet.

Spencer Dornin of Laguna Beach won the 50 free in 22.24 and Todd Hylton of Costa Mesa won the 100 backstroke (57.36).

The Laguna Hills girls easily defended their Pacific Coast League title, finishing with 518.50 points. Aliso Niguel was second (381.50), University third (360), followed by Costa Mesa (302), Estancia (147) and Laguna Beach (21).

Laguna Hills freshman Shauna Barnard set a meet record in the 500 free (5:01.44) and won the 200 free in 1:55.48. Barnard, who was named the female swimmer of the meet, joined Leilani Fitzgerald, Morgan Class and Nicole Wieland to set a meet record in the 400 free relay. Their time of 3:42.88 shattered by eight seconds the record they set two days ago. Barnard was also on the winning 200 medley relay team with Fitzgerald, Class and Alexis Shubin, setting a meet record (1:54.73).

Wieland won the 200 IM individual medley.

Other champions were Nicole Mardaresco and Alicia Thornton of Aliso Niguel. Mardaresco, who in addition to Barnard, was the only double winner in the girls’ events, won the 50 free in a meet-record 25.28 and the 100 free (55.57). Sara Showalter of University won the 100 breaststroke in a meet-record 1:08.06. Colleen Lund won the 100 backstroke (1:02.01) and Thornton won the 100 fly in 1:00.05.