Morgan Hill athletes will compete in 16 events starting Friday
at the Santa Clara International Swim Center
MORGAN HILL
Daniel Pawlak’s first Central Coast Section Championships could be one to remember.
Aside from swimming in four preliminary heats Friday at the Santa Clara International Swim Center, already a significant feat for any freshman, the Live Oak sprinter has an outside shot of making Saturday’s consolation finals in three events.
He is seeded 15th in the 100-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 49.04 seconds, 18th in the 200-free relay (1:32.57) with Ryan McCombs, Danny Robinson and Daniel Enriquez; and 21st in the 400-free relay (3:27.63) in the same foursome. Pawlak is also seeded 51st in the 50 free (22.89).
“He’s gone above and beyond for a freshman,” Live Oak coach Mack Haines said May 6 at the Mount Hamilton Division Championships. “We’re excited to see where his aquatics career will take him.”
Live Oak’s Michelle Mikaelsson is poised to have the biggest weekend among locals. The junior swam the 13th-fastest 100 breaststroke (1:08.38) in the section this spring and is ranked 17th in the 200 individual medley (2:12.68). Mikaelsson began tapering the last two weeks and has a realistic chance to swim in a championship heat Saturday.
Rachel Cretcher will likely extend her prep aquatics career to Saturday’s consols in the 100 and 200 free, for which she is seeded 26th and 27th, respectively. Cretcher’s 200-medley relay of Eunice Kim, Marissa Sendejas and Mikaelsson is 35th at 2:00.91.
McCombs, a sophomore, is listed 29th in the 200 IM (2:04.40) and 35th in the 100 breast (1:04.09).
Aquatics season will end Friday for most Sobrato swimmers, though, sophomore Christiana Bridges is listed 17th in the 500 free (5:20.16), and the medley relay of Prashan Welipitiya, Gio Chau, Patrick Read and Adam Jasper is 30th at 1:46.64.
The Bulldogs are coming off a good showing in last weekend’s Santa Teresa Division Championships at Independence High School’s Frank Fiscalini International Swim Center, where both teams held their position in the dual-meet standings, placing second.
Jasper and Read made a late dash for sectionals, with Jasper dropping a staggering 11 seconds off his preliminary time in Saturday’s 100 free final, and Read meeting the CCS qualifying standard by a tenth of a second in the 100 butterfly prelims. Jasper later won the 500 free final in 5:13.32.
Sobrato also captured division titles in the girls 500 free, which Bridges won in 5:28.31; the boys medley relay (1:47.07) and boys 1-meter diving with freshman Matthew Hanlon, the lone Morgan Hill diver heading to sectionals.
Locals will compete in 16 events.
