A respectable showing in pool

The Laguna Beach High swimming program capped a successful season by qualifying 15 swimmers for the CIF Southern Section-Toyota Division III Swimming and Diving Championships.

Six of those athletes advanced from prelims to compete at the division final in their respective events. Five relay teams also advanced to the final.

Both Laguna teams placed 15th overall in the division.

The division prelims were May 13 and the finals Saturday, each at historic Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.

“I am very proud of my team and the progress we have made in the past two years,” Laguna Coach Kari Johnson said. “We lost some amazing talent last year — Chelsea Wild (USC), Andrea Reigel (UCLA), Annika Dries (Stanford), Taylor Dodson (Cal Berkeley), Preston Head (UCLA), Billy Wild (transfer out-of-state) — and still managed to have more people make it to CIF this year.

“Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that all three boys’ relays made it to the finals. That is proof of our depth and how far we have come. We have continued to improve and will continue to do so year after year. I was also very proud of the girls’ 400 freestyle relay that made it into the top eight — the only one from our team to do so. The rest of our relays made it into the consolation heats.”

Boys

The following Breakers from the boys’ team qualified for CIF prelims: Tommy Renner (200 IM, alternate); Sean Mulville (100 free); Robert Chew (100 butterfly); Nolan McConnell (100 backstroke); Erik Henrikson (100 free); Spencer Dodson (200 and 500 free); Nile Koegel (50 free) and Samer Alkateb (200 and 500 free).

Dodson, Koegel and Mulville all advanced to Saturday’s finals in their individual events. Dodson swam 1 minute 53.35 seconds and finished 16th in the 200 free, Koegel swam a 22.98 in the 50 free to place 14th and Mulville had a personal-best 50.22 in the 100 free, good for 15th place.

The 200 medley relay team of Mulville, Dodson, Chew and Henrikson finished in 11th with a time of 1:45, which set a school record. The 200 free relay team of McConnell, Koegel, Henrikson and Alkateb finished in 10th (1:32.27) and the 400 free relay team of McConnell, Dodson, Koegel and Mulville swam a 3:21.99 to win the consolation heat (ninth place overall).

Johnson said that Mulville will swim next year at Orange Coast College and Chew will play water polo at Pomona-Pitzer College.

Girls

The Breakers making it to prelims were: Yoshi Andersen (200 IM, 100 free); Melena Masson (200 and 500 free); Taylor Capobianco (100 and 500 free); Jessie Holechek (100 backstroke, 500 free); Paige Watroba (200 IM); Sydney Saxe (200 free) and Lexi Del Toro (100 and 200 free).

Andersen, Masson and Capobianco advanced to Saturday’s finals in their individual events. Masson swam a 28.69 in the 500 free to finish in seventh place and swam a personal best in the event, as well as in the 200 free (2:02.98, 12th place).

“She had a great meet,” Johnson said of Masson. “She was the only swimmer on our team to make it back into the top eight in an individual event.”

Andersen also had a personal best in the 200 IM (2:19.42, 10th place) and was 14th (56.49) in the 100 free. Capobianco placed 11th in the 500 free (5:35.62) and did a “great job,” Johnson said, in “anchoring our two relays.”

“If there was another swimmer near her, she was not going to let them beat her,” Johnson said of Capobianco. The girls’ 200 free relay team of Andersen, Holechek, Masson and Capobiano swam a 1:46.74 to finish 11th overall.

The same foursome went 3:51.77 in the 400 free relay to earn an eighth-place standing.

“The kids on the team are like a part of my family and I am honored to be a part of it,” Johnson said. “I am very proud of the personal and team achievements they have made this year. I will be there for them every step of the way and I can’t wait to see them improve again next season.”