Live Oak junior Michelle Mikaelsson and Sobrato sophomore Christiana Bridges each advanced to the second day of the Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships in Santa Clara on Saturday, and each placed within an ‘A’ Final, made up of the top eight swimmers in the section.
Live Oak junior Michelle Mikaelsson and Sobrato sophomore Christiana Bridges each advanced to the second day of the Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships in Santa Clara on Saturday, and each placed within an ‘A’ Final, made up of the top eight swimmers in the section.
Bridges finished seventh overall in the 500-yard freestyle during Saturday’s finals at the Santa Clara International Swim Center, clocking a time of 5:07.26, which although was slower than her preliminary time of 5:06.56 on Friday, was still a stark improvement over her initial seed time of 5:20.16.
In total, she shaved nearly 14 seconds off her time in the 500 free last weekend.
Meanwhile, Mikaelsson too finished seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke event after she recorded a 1:06.40. It was not only better than her initial seed time of 1:08.38, but also an improvement over her preliminary time of 1:06.54 from Friday.
The 100-yard breaststroke wasn’t the only event Mikaelsson competed in on Saturday, though. The Live Oak junior qualified to the ‘B’ Final in the 200-yard IM, made up of those swimmers who finished in places ninth through 16th during Friday’s prelims.
Mikaelsson recorded a preliminary time of 2:09.00 in the 200 IM on Friday, placing her 13th overall, then followed that up with a 2:09.53 on Saturday to finish 15th in the ‘B’ Final.
Mikaelsson’s initial seed time was a 2:12.68.
In other events, the Live Oak girls’ 200-yard free relay team of Rachel Cretcher, Eunice Kim, Marissa Sendejas and Mikaelsson finished in 15th during Friday’s prelims with a time of 1:45.10, but did not compete during Saturday’s ‘B’ Final.
Live Oak’s Ryan McCombs narrowly missed making the ‘B’ Final from Friday’s prelims in the 100-yard breaststroke event. The Acorn sophomore improved upon his seed time of 1:04.09 by recording a time of 1:01.56 on Friday, but placed 19th overall and just outside of a top-16 spot.
McCombs missed making the cut by roughly 34 one-hundredths of a second. He also finished 23rd in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.09, an improvement of more than three seconds over his seed time of 2:04.40.
Sobrato’s Bridges was also close to qualifying in the ‘B’ Final in the 200-yard freestyle. She finished 21st during Friday’s prelims with a 1:57.94, some five seconds better than her seed time (2:03.00). Live Oak’s Cretcher was in a similar situation as well, after she finished 21st in the 100-yard freestyle with a 55.42.
Live Oak freshman Daniel Pawlak also posted strong results in what was his first CCS appearance. The first-year Acorn finished 24th in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 22.45, and 25th in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.39.
———
Other times from the Central Coast Section Swimming & Diving Championships:
Sobrato Boys: 200 Medley Relay — Prashan Welipitiya, Gio Chau, Patrick Read, Adam Jasper, 36th, 1:49.73; 200 Free — Adam Jasper, 47th, 1:51.83; 50 Free — Adam Jasper, 44th, 22.99; 100 Fly — Patrick Read, 41st, 56.99; 200 Free Relay — Prashan Welipitiya, John Patterson, Patrick Read, Adam Jasper, 35th, 1:38.16.
Live Oak Boys: 400 Free Relay — Daniel Pawlak, Daniel Enriquez, Danny Robinson, Ryan McCombs, 31st, 3:29.39.
Live Oak Girls: 200 Medley Relay — Eunice Kim, Michelle Mikaelsson, Rachel Cretcher, Marissa Sendejas, 24th, 1:59.39; 200 Free — Rachel Cretcher, 29th, 2:00.50.
To see complete results from the CCS Swimming & Diving Championships, go here.
