Lucas first at two league swim prelim events
By Joe Naiman
Ramona High School junior Gina Lucas had the best time in two girls swim events at the Palomar League preliminaries.
Lucas had times of 2:12.46 in the 200-yard individual medley and 1:00.49 in the 100-yard backstroke during the May 10 preliminary heats at Mt. Carmel High School.
Although Lucas was unable to repeat those top times during the league finals May 12 at Mt. Carmel, she improved her times from both preliminary races. She finished second in the 100-yard backstroke while lowering her time to 59.08 seconds. Georgia Reilly of Mt. Carmel won that race in 58.90 seconds.
Allison de Peralta of Torrey Pines won the 200-yard individual medley at the league finals in 2:09.31 while Reilly was second at 2:09.41 and Lucas’ time of 2:09.63 placed third.
“It was really highly competitive at the end,” said Coach Jolyn Yanez. “No complaints about third.”
Ramona’s 200-yard medley relay “A” team placed fifth in the league finals. Jocelyn Schwegler, Alicia Podoris, Ashlee Holabird, and Jessie Gilbert had a time of 2:08.60.
Ramona’s two other relay “A” teams both finished sixth at the league meet. Lucas, Podoris, Danielle LaRosa, and Rachel Hogervorst had a time of 1:47.74 in the 200-yard freestyle relay while the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Hogervorst, LaRosa, Paulina Bernd, and Lucas posted a time of 3:57.89.
Although the 400-yard freestyle time resulted in a last-place finish at the Palomar League meet, it was two seconds faster than Valley Center’s winning time at the Valley League meet. The Bulldogs will return to the Valley League next year.
“It will be really exciting next year,” Yanez said. “I think we’re going to be highly competitive in the Valley League next year.”
Ramona’s only 2012 senior, Meredith O’Gwynn, was on the “B” relay teams in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay during the league finals. Her time of 28.50 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle during the league preliminaries gave her 18th place. Her 1:13.60 time in the 100-yard backstroke put her in 17th place.
LaRosa qualified for two league finals individual consolation races. Her time of 5:28.73 in the 500-yard freestyle race gave her 10th place and improved her best time by more than 8 seconds. LaRosa’s time of 2:06.65 in the 200-yard freestyle gave the freshman 12th place.
The consolation finals of the 200-yard individual medley ended with Holabird achieving a 12th-place time of 2:26.81 and Podoris finishing 15th at 2:34.05. Hogervorst’s time in the 100-yard freestyle of 59.29 seconds gave her 12th place while Bernd took 14th place at 59.98 seconds. Hogervorst had a time of 27.04 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to earn 12th place while Bernd was 15th in that event at 27.59 seconds. Schwegler’s 100-yard backstroke time of 1:08.91 was worth 14th place, as was Holabird’s 1:05.24 performance in the 100-yard butterfly.
The CIF meet will take place at Del Norte High School. The preliminaries will be held today and the finals will occur Saturday.