The Morgan Hill Makos swim club had a strong showing at the Junior Olympics hosted at the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center Dec. 6-8.
The Makos had finalists in 16 events and another eight consolation finalists.
Jarod Hatch led the charge with six wins and two second place finishes to capture the high point award despite being disqualified from one event.
Hatch had qualified for the finals in the 200m-meter backstroke, but was DQ’d for violating a rule about not being fully submerged while touching the wall at the end.
Hatch, however, saved his best for the finals in all his events, shaving time from his prelims to the finals in all eight events that he advanced. He took off three seconds in three events. His best improvement came in the 400mm IM, where he shaved 3.34 seconds off his time between the prelims and the finals. In that race, however, he took second.
But in his bread and butter distance races, he once again took charge.
He took first in the 1,000m freestyle with a time of 9:39.92, beating out his closest competitor by slightly better than six seconds. Hatch followed that up with a 16:14.19 in the 1,650m free in a Secretariat style finish, winning by 27 seconds.
He also had first places in the 100m butterfly, the 200m butterfly, 200m free and the 500m free. Hatch’s eighth race was a second in the 200m IM.
On the girls’ side, Kylie Ngyuen had six finals appearances in the 10 and under age group.
Her best finish was a second place in the 100m backstroke, where she finished in 1:10.03, missing first by slightly more than three seconds.
She also had a fourth place in the 100m IM, finishing in 1:11.48, with fifth place finishes in the 50m butterfly and the 100m free, a sixth place in the 200m IM and an eighth in the 50m back.
Ngyuen rounded out her weekend with a 27th place in the 50m breaststroke and a 29th in the 100m breaststroke.
Rounding out the finals appearances were Chris Critzer, who finished eighth in the boys 11/12 200m free in 2:02.49, and Mika Itow, who took seventh in the girls 13/14 200m breaststroke in 2:30.76.
Critzer also had a first place finish in the 50m butterfly consolation finals, finishing in 28.58. He had a second in the 100m free consolation finals after finishing 11th in the prelims in 55.85. He also had a fifth place in the 50m free consolation round. He rounded things out with a consolation third place in the 100m butterfly after advancing as an alternate thanks to his 17th place in the prelims.
Critzer also had three 18th place finishes in the 200m IM, 100m breaststroke and the 100m IM.
Itow had a third place in the 100m breaststroke consolation finals, with a 1:09.36 and an eighth in the 400m IM consolation finals, finishing in 5:05.97 after qualifying as an alternate.
She also competed in the 200m IM, finishing in 19th, and in the 100m free and 50m free.
Rounding out the finals swimmers was Trent Itow, who took a pair of eighth place consolation finishes in the boys 11/12 age group.
He took eighth in the 200m back with a time of 2:23.29 and in the 400m IM in 5:05.15.
Overall, Trent competed in nine events, which included the 200m IM and the 50m back, both of which he finished in 24th. He also swam the 50m fly, 100m IM, 200m breaststroke, 100m back and the 100m butterfly.
Below is a list of all the Makos swimmers with their times.
The Junior Olympics also had some swimmers competing unattached to a club. If your son or daughter is from the Morgan Hill area and competed last weekend, but wasn’t among the Makos swimmers, please email Cheeto Barrera at
cb******@mo*************.com
for inclusion on the Morgan Hill Times website and possibly in a future print edition. Photos are also welcome.
(#) – placed finished in race where possible to include. Distinguish made for prelims and finals where possible.
Jarod Hatch (13/14)
100m fly 54.14 (1 pre) 53.37 (1 final)
200m free 1:47.79 (1) 1:46.00 (1 final)
200m fly 2:00.67 (1 pre) 1:57.66 (1 final)
500m free 4:45.17 (1 pre) 4:41.95 (1 final)
1000m Free 9:39.92 (1)
1650m free 16:14.19 (1)
200m IM 2:01.41 (2 pre) 1:59.94 (2 finals)
400m IM 4:18.77 (2 pre) 4:15.43 (2 in finals)
200m back DQ
Kylie Ngyuen (10U)
100m back 1:10.03 (2 pre) 1:10.03 (2 final)
100m IM 1:11.71 (5 pre) 1:11.48 (4 final)
50m fly 0:31.26 (5 pre) 31.17 (5 final)
100m free 1:03.18 (7 pre) 1:03.05 (5 final)
200m IM 2:35.45 (7 pre) 2:35.76 (6 final)
50m back 33.96 (8 pre) 33.80 (8 final)
50m breast 38.92 (27)
100m breast 1:25.98 (29)
Chris Critzer (11/12)
200m free 2:01.74 (8 pre) 2:02.49 (8 final)
50m fly 28.72 (10 pre) 28.58 (1 consol finals)
100m free 56.59 (11 pre) 55.85 (2 consol finals)
100m fly 1:06.05 (17 qual as alt) 1:04.06 (3 consol final)
50m free 26.31 (13 pre) 26.41 (5 consol final)
100m breast 1:15.75 (18)
100m IM 1:06.54 (18)
200m IM 2:24.19 (18)
Trent Itow (11/12)
200m back 2:21.29 (16 pre) 2:23.75 (8 consol finals)
400m IM 5:11.31 (16 pre) 5:05.15 (8 consol finals)
200m IM 2:27.16 (24)
50m back 31.48 (24)
100m IM 1:08.57 (28)
200m breast 2:48.49 (32)
100m back 1:09.68 (41)
100m fly 1:09.68 (43)
50m fly 30.97
Omar Insignares (13/14)
1000m free 10:35.45 (11)
200m fly 2:11.83 (21)
500m free 5:15.35 (23)
100m fly 59.13 (28)
Mika Itow (13/14)
100m breast 1:10.43 (11 pre) 1:09.36 (3 consol final)
200m breast 2:31.64 (5 pre) 2:30.76 (7 final)
400m IM 4:56.02 (18 qual as alt) 5:05.97 (8 consol final)
200m IM 2:20.00 (19)
50m free 26.57 (36)
100m free 58.28
Kaela Nguyen (13/14)
200m back 2:21.10 (32)
100m back 1:05.71 (37)
100m fly 1:07.79 (47)
200m IM 2:26.19 (48)
200m fly 2:34.23 (49)
Brandon Pride (13/14)
1000m free 10:57.49 (18)
1650m free 18:37.63 (18)
200m free 2:00.09 (51)
100m free 54.38 (56)
Macquelin Soliman (13/14)
100m fly 1:04.78 (36)
Nicole Critzer (11/12)
500m free 6:06.70 (27)
200m free 2:12.25 (44)
100m fly 1:10.12 (58)
50m free 27.75
50m fly 31.21
100m free 1:01.62
100m IM 1:11.60
Summer Ceballos (10U)
100m free 1:14.84
Kayli Fernandez (10U)
200m free 2:39.89 (58)
Ella McLane (10U)
50m free 31.56
Ryan Reagan (10U)
50m fly 38.53
200m free 2:38.57
