Contra Costa high school swimmers make All-America top 100 list, Danville girl ranks 1st in 200 Yard Individual Medley

By Allen Payton

The 2019 National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) High School All-America lists have been released and a long list of swimmers from Contra Costa County have made the top 100 in various events. Zoie Hartman, a senior this past year at Danville’s Monte Vista High School, was the nation’s top swimmer in the 200 Yard Individual Medley. She and many other swimmers made the list in more than one event.

BOYS

In the Boys 100 Yard Butterfly, Flanders, a senior this past year, ranked sixth with a time of 47.49 and Iannaccone, also a senior, ranked 94th with a time of 49.55. The top swimmer in the nation in the event was from Southern California and had a time of 46.63. The national record is 45.52 which was achieved by a swimmer in Florida in 2013.

In the 100 Yard Freestyle, senior Niklas Weigelt of Clayton Valley Charter High in Concord ranked 23rd with a time of 44.36. Junior Gavin Wright of San Ramon Valley High ranked 33rd with a time of 44.62. The top swimmer was from Ohio with a time of 43.27 and the record was set in 2011 in Pennsylvania with a time of 42.34.

In the 100 Yard Backstroke, junior Allen Dempster of San Ramon Valley High ranked 20th with a time of 48.44. Senior Andrew Rodriguez of Northgate High in Walnut Creek ranked 54th with a time of 49.16. Senior Mattias Blanco of Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon ranked 81st with a time of 49.66. The top swimmer in the event was from Ohio with a time of 46.28 and the national record of 45.34 was set in 2012 in Florida.

In the 100 Yard Breaststroke, sophomore Jacob Soderlund of Monte Vista High in Danville in Danville ranked 11th with a time of 54.24. Senior Mason Loyet of Campolindo High in Morage ranked 96th with a time of 56.51. The top swimmer in the nation was from Pennsylvania and had a time of 52.52, and the national record in the event of 51.16 was set also in Pennsylvania in 2018.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle, senior Sean Percin of Campolindo High in Moraga ranked 67th with a time of 1:38.80. The top swimmer in the event was from Ohio with a time of 1:32.99 and the nation record was set in 2018 with a time of 1:33.06.

In the 200 Yard Individual Medley, Flanders ranked 30th with a time of 1:48.61. Andrew Rodriguez a senior at Northgate High ranked 64th with a time of 1:49.89. The top swimmer had a time of 1:43.99 and the record was set by a team in Pennsylvania in 2011 with a time of 1:41.39.

In the 50 Yard Freestyle, junior Matthew Muaddi of San Ramon Valley High ranked 37th with a time of 20:37. His teammate, junior Gavin Wright ranked 98th with a time of 20.75. The top time in that event of 19.55 was by a swimmer in Pennsylvania and the national record of 19.29 was set in Florida in 2013.

Five teams in the county made the top 100 list in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. The San Ramon Valley High team of Flanders, Muadi, Wright, and senior Jack Wilkerson ranked 2nd with a time of 1:22.13. Walnut Creek’s Northgate High team of Rodriguez, fellow senior Ledesma, and juniors Adrian Dulay and Kai Welsh ranked 30th with a time of 1:23.92. Close behind was Moraga’s Campolindo High all-senior team of Percin, Richard Zhang, Alec Baker and Jack Larsen ranked 33rd with a time of 1:23.95. De La Salle’s team of Dicks, Iannaoccone, fellow seniors Sean Iritani, and Joseph Grywczynski ranked 47th with a time of 1:24.54. Less than a second behind was the Clayton Valley Charter High team of seniors Cal Brown, Anthony Vizental and Niklas Weigelt, and junior John Parker, which ranked 50th with a time of 1:24.57. The top ranked team in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay from Kentucky had a time of 1:21.96 and the national record was set in 2012 in Florida with a time of 1:19.27.

Four of the five teams from the same schools also made the top 100 list in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. Flanders and his teammates, Muaddi and fellow junior Allen Dempster, and sophomore Grant Watson from San Ramon Valley High ranked 25th in the event, with a time of 1:31.69. The Northgate High team of Rodriguez, Ledesma, Dulay and Welsh ranked 51st in the same event, with a time of 1:33.16. San Ramon’s Dougherty Valley High School team of Blanco and fellow senior Chaitha Dasari, junior Clifford Yao and sophomore Bryson Huey ranked 82nd in the event, with a close time of 1:33.76. Close behind them was Moraga’s Campolindo High team of Loyet and fellow seniors Matteo Lanzara and Richard Zhang, and sophomore Zach Le-Nguyen with ranking of 87th and a time of 1:33.83. Just a fraction of a second behind was the De La Salle High team of Iannaccone, Iritani, Grywczynski, and Dicks which ranked 98th with a time of 1:34.04. The nation’s top team in the event was from Ohio, with a time of 1:28.48. The national record of 1:27.74 was set in 2014.

In the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, the San Ramon Valley High team of Wright, Dempster, senior Jack Wilkerson and sophomore Grant Watson ranked 11th with a time of 3:01.87. The Campolindo High team of seniors Baker, Zhang, Larsen and Percin placed 15th with a time of 3:03.18. The top team was from Indiana with a time of 2:58.75 and the national record of 2:53.81 was set in 2018 by a team in Pennsylvania.

GIRLS

In the Girls 100 Yard Freestyle, senior Sophia Kosturos of Miramonte High in Orinda ranked 4th with a time of 49.03. Senior Zoie Hartman of Danville’s Monte Vista High School ranked 15th with a time of 49.62. The top swimmer in the event was from Southern California with a time of 48.63 and the national record of 47.09 was set in 2015, also in Southern California.

In the 100 Yard Butterfly, Kosturos ranked 20th with a time of 53.56. Sophomore Alexis DePaco of San Ramon Valley High ranked 53rd with a time of 54.51. Junior Maddie Smith of Campolindo High ranked 91st with a time of 55.15. Senior Ashleen O’Brien, also of Campolindo, ranked 99th with a time of 55.22. The top swimmer in the event was from Virginia with a time of 51.29 and now holds the national record previously set at 51.53 in Southern California in 2015.

In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Kosturos ranked 9th with a time of 52.92. Sophomore Jessica Davis of Carondolet High School in Concord ranked 41st with a time of 54.53. Close behind with a time of 54.78 was Junior Margaux McDonald of Miramonte High, who ranked 50th. Sophomore Maile Andresen of Northgate High ranked 71st with a time of 55.11. The top swimmer in the event was from Tennessee with a time of 51.57 and the record of 51.43 was set in 2012 in Illinois.

In the 100 Yard Breaststroke, Hartman ranked 5th with a time of 59.92. Sophomore Shelby Suppiger, of Acalanes High in Lafayette, ranked 53rd with a time of 1:02.72. Sophomore Ana Jih Schiff of San Ramon Valley High ranked 63rd with a time of 1:02.87. Just 1/100th of a second behind was sophomore Channing Hanley of Campolindo who ranked 65th with a time of 1:02.88. The best swimmer in the event was from Indiana with a time of 58.91 who also holds the national record of 58.40 was set in 2018.

In the 200 Yard Individual Medley, Hartman ranked 1st with a time of 1:55.29. Smith ranked 49th with a time of 2:01.50 and Schiff was close behind ranked 50th with a time of 2:01.55. Suppiger ranked 66th with a time of 2:02.15, followed by McDonald who ranked 67th with a time of 2:02.20. The national record of 1:53.82 was set in North Dakota in 2009.

Hartman and Kosturos tied for 39th with the same time of 23:08 in the 50 Yard Freestyle. The top swimmer with a time of 21.95 was from Virginia and the record of 21.64 was set in Southern California in 2015.

Five teams from the county made the list in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. Those include the Acalanes team of Suppiger, seniors Emily Gebhardt and Nicole Edwards, and junior Jewel Roemer ranked 43rd with a time of 1:35.13. The Northgate team of Andresen, seniors Caraline Levy and Toria Stahl, and freshman Alyssa Lund ranked 58th with a time of 1:35.48. Close behind was the San Ramon Valley High team of Schiff, DePaco, fellow sophomore Kailen O’Rell and freshman Caroline Wight ranked 63rd with a time of 1:35.57. They were followed by the Campolindo team of O’Brien, junior Lola Ciruli, and freshmen Amber Van Meines and Lexi Fok ranked 67th with a time of 1:35.63. Then came the Monte Vista team of Hartman, fellow senior Gillian Flath, junior Jenna Seaman and freshman Madeleine Kan who ranked 71st with a time of 1:35.70. The top team in the nation from Tennessee had a time of 1:31.29 and the record of 1:30.72 was set in 2015 in Indiana.

Four teams from three of those same schools made the list in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. The Monte Vista team of Hartman, Flath, sophomore Kendall Johansson and freshman Anna Ryan ranked 8th with a time of 1:41.90. The Campolindo team of Van Meines, O’Brien, Hanley, and fellow senior Elizabeth Follmer ranked 40th with a time of 1:43.74. They were followed by the Miramonte team of Kosturos, McDonald and seniors Katie Lyons and Eloise Engs which ranked 49th with a time of 1:44.03. The San Ramon Valley High team of Wight, Schiff, DePaco, and fellow sophomore Abby Muaddi ranked 83rd with a time of 1:45.24. The fastest time of 1:39.91 was by a team in Tennessee and the national record of 1:38.13 was set in Colorado in 2018.

Three teams made the list in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. The Miramonte team of Kosturos, Engs, Lyons and McDonald ranked 17th with a time of 3:25.21. Close behind with a time of 3:25.54 and ranked 18th was the Monte Vista team of Hartman, junior Jenna Seaman, and freshmen Kyla Kelly and Taylor Christian. The Campolindo team of O’Brien, Smith, Van Meines and freshman Lexi Fok ranked 53rd with a time of 3:27.65. The top team with a time of 3:20.32 was from Southern California and the national record of 3:15.38 was set in 2015 by an Indiana team.

Many of the swimmers who graduated this  year, will be attending Division I colleges as a member of the swim team. Hartman will be attending the University of Georgia on a full-ride scholarship.