LO senior meets college standard at Far Westerns
MORGAN HILL — When he found out his prelim time of four minutes, 17.44 seconds was good enough to seed him first for the final heat of the 400-yard individual medley, Steven Rick wasn’t exactly thrilled.
His logic made sense; all of his opponents would be gunning for him next time.
“When you get seeded like second or third, you have something to shoot for,” Rick said Monday. “But when you’re first, you have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, you have everyone looking to beat you.”
That added adrenaline rush paid off, as Rick swam his best 400 IM ever Friday in the Far Westerns Meet at the Morgan Hill Aquatic Center. The Live Oak senior placed first in the 17-18 boys division with a time of 4:10.28 — meeting an NCAA-Division II cut (4:11.72) in the process.
“I did a double take when I saw my time,” Rick said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t describe the feeling afterward.”
The 18-year-old shaved more than seven seconds off his seed time (4:17.69), which seated him third for prelims.
“I was very impressed with him,” Live Oak swimming coach Lynn Gautschi said. “He’s a good swimmer and he’s been training hard. He’s an incredibly coachable kid, too.”
Rick was apprehensive about his butterfly and backstroke. He lost all nervousness, though, when he saw he was still in first heading into the freestyle, the final stroke.
“All I thought was, ‘I’m going to win this. I’m going to win this,’ ” he said. “To know I can compete at the college level is the most exciting feeling ever for me.”
Ricks’s weekend overshadowed another impressive prep meet Wednesday, as he met section-qualifying standards in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke during Live Oak’s Mount Hamilton Division dual meet against Westmont at Live Oak High School. Rick won the backstroke in 57.78, and took second in the freestyle in 49.88.
“He’ll qualify for (CIF-Central Coast Sectionals) in every event he does,” said Mack Haines, who coaches Rick in water polo and swimming.
The Acorns lost 118-62, falling to 0-4.
Live Oak’s boys swimming team also got a first-place finish from Josh Cobain, who won the 1-meter dive with a score of 120.10.
The Lady Acorns moved to 3-1 in division duals with a 95-90 victory over Westmont, also Wednesday.
Katie Rick and Rachel Cretcher were part of four section-qualifying standards, including the first-place 200-yard medley relay (1:58.53) and second-place 200-yard freestyle relay (1:47.14). Rick also won the 200-yard individual medley (2:14.77) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.39), and Cretcher the 500-yard freestyle (5:21.04). Cretcher also took second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:02.74.
Rick and Cretcher were joined by Sarah D’Angelo and Michelle Mikaelsson in the winning 200-medley relay, and D’Angelo and Eunice Kim for the 200-freestyle relay.
