Freshman Derek Hitchens representing Northwood's Varsity Boys en route to winning the 100 Back in 52.96.  Hitchens was a member of several dominating boys relay teams that swept first in two of three relay events.  Photo courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.

It's March, which means you can feel the magic of Madness at work again for the Northwood Timberwolves swim team.  And this season looks destined to be a doozy.  As Northwood has found its groove, the Timberwolves relay teams have become especially dangerous.  The boys squads led the Northwood Timberwolves to a Wednesday clean sweep of relays, each winning the 42 points allotted against Woodbridge High School.

Northwood's boys squad stayed perfect taking down Woodbridge High School,107-63 on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at the Woodbridge Aquatic Center.  The boys individual entries swept first place in 6 of 7 events.  The victory marks the second straight for Northwood's boys who improved to 2-0 on this league season. 

The Lady T-Wolves had an impressive showing as well topping 4 of 7 individual events for first place wins against Woodbridge by a 87-83 score.  Northwood's girls are now 2-0 in league season action.

There is no overstating the quickness of these runaway relay victories.  The supporting cast of individuals have shown speed improvements germinating since last high school season. If anything, the 2022 Timberwolves are sure to improve times at the Pacific Coast League Championships, CIF and State meets this season when wearing tech suits and varies of taper.

The Northwood Timberwolves varsity team returns to the Northwood Aquatic Center on Wednesday, March 16th against Portola's Bulldogs (Meet Time:  3:30 pm).

200 FREE

The Northwood Open Girls got the meet started with a top three finish from Chloe Tsai touching the wall second in 2:52.05.  Woodbridge's Sophia Newton took the top time in 2:50.00, while Ava Bueche finished second with 3:12.39.  Open Boys Louis Gaigneux didn't disappoint finishing in front by 11.88 seconds with a 2:01.97. Second place went to teammate Aditya Rawat (2:13.85).  Woodbridge's Brandon Kim rounded third in 2:19.69.  The JV Girls Yosra Elseifi and Ashley Huynh locked up in a great battle with Elseifi clocking in a 2:09.66 for the win, followed by Huynh finishing second in 2:12.65.  Woodbridge's Milena Novakovic recorded third in 2:13.32.  A good match up in the JV Boys between freshman Nathan Kang and Jimmy Chen took place.  The two were tracking each other the entire way, but Kang was able to touch his hand on the wall first with a 2:09.66 to Chen's 2:12.65.  Woodbridge's Jake Tsai snared third in 2:13.32.  Varsity Lady T-Wolves Kim Huynh was out of the gates with a second place in the 200 Free turning in a 1:59.76.  Woodbridge's Zara Masud held onto first with 1:54.21, while Ella Suh stretched to touch in 1:59.96 for third. Senior Younghun Kim secured the win in the Varsity Boys 200 Free (1:44.28) with just a tick behind was Nolan Chomin checking in at 1:45.88.  Michael Abshier took third in 1:46.94.

100 IM

Northwood's Open Girls Neeki Ettefagh pulled in a second place showing in the 100 IM touching in at 1:23.26. Woodbridge's Akari Itami (1:20.89) and Luella Telleria (1:23.32) went 1-3 in the event.  

200 IM

JV Girls Vivian Guo secured the win in the 200 IM clocking in at 2:30.00, and moving a body length away from teammate Rachel Yokota (2:35.89).  Woodbridge's Tiana Lin claimed third in 2:37.59.  JV Boys Evan Fu dominated the 200 IM surging to the top time of the afternoon with a 2:21.00.  Noah Villanueva followed second with a time of 2:22.00, while Woodbridge's Alex Tsai went 2:23.00 for third.  Varsity Girls Taylor Inouye marked the top time in the 200 IM with a 2:15.01 for the victory over teammate Corina Lee who checked in with a second time 2:15.44, while Woodbridge's Julia Cho touched third in 2:16.36. Northwood Varsity Christopher Leung had a sizable lead going into the breaststroke leg of his 200 IM over Elson Lee.  If there's one thing you don't want when racing Leung, it's to be behind after fly and back.  Leung split a 32.12 on the breaststroke, and then came home in 1:52.85 over Lee (1:56.50).  Woodbridge's Evan Wang touched in for third at 1:58.14.

50 Free

Junior Nicole Karraa continued the momentum for Northwood's Open Girls finishing a top 3 placement for first in 31.86.  Woodbridge's Sophia Newton (33.10) and Elizabeth Sein (34.91) went 2-3 in the event.  On the Open Boys side Neil Godse powered in a 28.44 for third place, while San Clemente's Beau Merritt took the win in 26.85.  Mission Viejo's Nicholas Mendoza pulled in for second with 27.83.  In one of the tightest JV Girls races in the afternoon, Ashley Huynh came .67 hundredths in front of Woodbridge's Ashley Niu taking second (27.79), while Lindsay Cheung rounded third with 27.94.  The JV Boys 50 Free belonged to Evan Eich who went 24.09. Senior Andrew Harper was next in line with 24.40, while Woodbridge's Thomas Cehelnik just behind registered third (24.81).  Sophomore Lauren Kim tacked on a second place in the Varsity Girls 50 Free with a 25.96.  Woodbridge's Phoebe Yeh took the win in 24.72, while Rin Hoshina (25.95) finished third.  Michael Abshier led the Timberwolves Varsity Boys 50 Free from start to finish for third in a time of 22.66.  Jacob Wang put up the top time in 21.49, while Yunjie Tang finished second in a time of 22.13.

50 Fly

Freshman Ayu Hayashi helped the Open Girls effort surging for a third to touch the wall in 36.97.  Woodbridge's Emily Manyukan posted the first place finish with 34.73 with Rachel Khorashadi turning in second (35.35).  Trevor Cheng needed every inch of the big lead and he got it ripping a 28.87 for the win in the Open Boys 50 Fly.  Aditya Rawat seized second in 35.05, while Woodbridge's Faraz Shahbazi rounded third in 33.20.  .

100 Fly

JV Girl's Gailia Diaz-Montoya (1:09.20) went lights out taking the win over Woodbridge's Crystal Wu (1.12.01).  Vianna Lai rounded third (1:12.75) shaving 6.06 seconds off her season best.  JV Boys went lights out showing real depth finishing in the top two in this race with Gavin Lai (58.23), and Christian Thorpe (1:02.52).  Woodbridge's Thomas Cehelnik rounded third (1:04.15).  Lady Timberwolves senior Carolyn Nguyen cleared 59.55 in the Varsity Girls 100 Fly placing second.  Woodbridge's Zara Masud pulled in first showing 56.90, followed by Gabrielle Lan (1:01.00).  The Timberwolves dominated the top three spots in the Varsity 100 fly with senior Younghun Kim charting a time of 51.69 for the win, Ryan Xu placing second (52.62).  Freshman Derek Hitchens picked up third in 52.93.

100 Free

Open Girls Chloe Tsai grabbed third in 1:19.84  Woodbridge's Vaniya  Sobhani took the win in 1:13.86, while Atrin Rahimidarabad touched second (1:19.81).  Long-axis strokes and strong flutter kicks provided Corey Okamoto in taking first in the Open Boys 100 Frree (59.62).  Woodbridge's Brandon Liu (1:01.04), and Aaron Shneydeman (1:01.61) for the 2-3.  JV Girls Sarah Hsu lead the way for second place with 1:03.00.  Woodbridge's Lindsay Cheung took the event registering 1:00.99.  Noa Weber rounded third (1:01.31).  Northwood JV Boys Evan Eich went out hard splitting a 25.06, holding onto a lead down the stretch for a winning finish in 52.42.  Woodbridge went 2-3 with Ryan DeLand (52.77) and Jake Tsai (54.46).  Kim Huynh raced to a quick finish touching the wall with 54.79 for the Varsity Girls win.  Woodbridge's Anagha Kondury tracked behind closing second in 54.86, and teammate Ella Suh (55.71) prevailed with third.  Junior Benton Cheung achieved a third place in the Varsity Boys 100 Free. Woodbridge's Jacob Wang took the win in 47.70, while Yujie Tang finishes second (49.60).

500 Free

JV Girls Yosra Elseifi delivered a double win of the day as well, and made a statement winning in the 500 Free as she touched the wall in 5:46.27 to claim first, while Melissa Lam earned second in 6:02.12. Woodbridge's Marin Hickson hit the wall for third (6:05.38).  The race in the JV Boys 500 Free really came down to two swimmers, with Northwood's Noah Villanueva leading the way to hit the wall first in a 5:31.52.  Teammate Dean Witt stopped the clock for second in 5:33.33, while Woodbridge's Declan Tompkins claimed third in 5:40.85.  Among other notable performances on the Varsity side Lady T-Wolf Addison Cadena had a very competitive duel start going on in the 500 free with Yufei Chen.  Both were out pacing very close on the first 200 yards with Cadena (2:08.89) and Chen (2:09.80), but Cadena shifted another gear on her back half producing 33+ splits to run away with the win in 5:30.61.  Chen was second 5:33.25, while Tanya Ahmed stopped the watch for third in 5:34.59.  Timberwolves senior Nolan Chomin dominated the 500 Free surging to the top time of the evening with a 4:42.48.  Woodbridge's Dean Ko held onto second with a 4:48.11, while Will Chen clocked third in 4:59.70.

50 Back

Open Girls put in a third place with Ahyun Lee (40.50).  Woodbridge's Emily Manyukan clocked a 34.48 to win the event while Rachel Khorashadi took second in 39.01. Northwood Open Boys Stephen Dee (30.29) and Corey Okamoto (32.35) finished first and third in this event.  Woodbridge's Brandon Liu took second in 32.04.

100 Back

Lady T-Wolves Vivian Guo was dialed in with a second place for the JV Girls finishing the event in 1:10.36.  Woodbridge's Crystal Wu (1:07.07) and Megan Lee (1:12.96) went 1-3.  JV Boys Nathan Kang took a victory by winning the 100 Back (1:00.60), and his teammate Gavin Lai recorded second in 1:01.34.  Woodbridge's Alex Lim held onto third with a 1:03.58.  Varsity Girls Avery Liu pulled off a 29.14 backstroke split that led her through the last 50 yards of the race as the fastest performer in 1:00.35  Woodbridge's Anagha Kondury checked in for second with 1:00.39, while Genevieve Chomin sits third in 1:03.02.  Timberwolves freshman Derek Hitchens ended the evening on a high note as he blew out the Varsity Boys 100 Back in 52.96.  Hitchens produced the sub-26 turn in 25.65, which extended his lead to two body lengths over Woodbridge's Cole Saeger (53.85).  Woodbridge's Dean Ko rounded third in 54.37.

 

50 Breast

Northwood Open Girls Shreya Aithal put in a good race for second touching in a 42.14, while Woodbridge's Vaniya Sobhani grabbed first in 41.85.  Akari Itami rounded the top three in 44.02, respectively.   

100 Breast

JV Girls Nina Elias took third in the 100 Breast (1:20.03).  Woodbridge's Tiana Lin lead for the win in 1:18.37, while Hyleigh Pan picked up second (1:19.87).  Sophomore Evan Fu proved to be the fastest JV Boys in the pool for the 100 Breast, posting the top time in 1:05.17.  Woodbridge's Alex Tasai (1:08.59) claimed second in the event, while Andy Gao rounded third (1:08.62).  Varsity Girls produced a double placement in the Top-3 with Taylor Inouye sealing second (1:07.80), and teammate Corina Lee touching third (1:10.00).  Woodbridge's Phebe Yeh won the event in 1:07.47.  Varsity Boys Christopher Leug sealed another first place win for the day clinching a 56.35 in the 100 Breast.  Elson Lee closed out second in 1:00.92, while Woodbridge's Evan Wang touched in for third (1:01.00).

Relays
Open Girls 200 Medley -  2nd place  2:30.72  Neeki Ettefagh (n/a), Shreya Aithal (n/a), Ayu Hayashi (n/a), Nicole Karraa (n/a)
                                         3rd place  2:39.40  Ahyun Lee (38.66), Katrina Estrada (43.93), Malaika Mateli (44.24), Chloe Tsai (32.57)
Open Boys 200 Medley -  2nd place  2:05.05  Stephen Dee (n/a), Larry Lee (n/a), Aditya Rawat (n/a), Neil Godse (n/a)
                                       -  3rd place  2:11.23  Michael Tran (38.38), Colin Pham (35.56), Corey Okamoto (29.17), Brandon Karraa (28.12)
JV Girls 200 Medley -  2rd place  2:06.85   Vivian Guo (32.78), Rachel Yokota (37.01), Galia Diaz-Montoya (30.37), Ashley Huynh (26.69) 
JV Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:48.56  Nathan Kang (29.20), Evan Fu (29.70), Christian Thorpe (26.67), Gavin Lai (22.99)
                                 -  3rd place  1:54.81  Shervin Shahriary (30.16), Ethan Cheung (32.97), Evan Eich (27.09), Michael Li (24.59)
Varsity Girls 200 Medley  -  2nd place  1:51.14  Avery Liu (28.27), Taylor Inouye (31.31), Carolyn Nguyen (26.83), Lauren Kim (24.73)
Varsity Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:36.04  Derek Hitchens (24.42), Ryan Connole (27.98), Christopher Leung (22.07), Younghun Kim (21.56)
                                       -  3rd place  1:43.66  Brandon Cho (28.67), Elson Lee (28.06), Ryan Xu (24.27), Kevin Hong (22.66)
Open Girls 200 Free -  2nd place  2:14.07  Neeki Ettefagh (35.36), Ayu Hayashi (32.98), Shreya Aithal (34.16), Nicole Karraa (31.57)
                                -  3rd place  2:25.69  Laiafei Liu (36.11), Kaitlyn Andrade (35.02), Alyssa Quintana (39.27), Kelly Zhang (35.29)
Open Boys 200 Free -  1st place  1:45.95  Brandon Karraa (28.74), Trevor Cheng (25.39), Louis Galgneux (24.88), Neil Godse (26.94)
                                 -  3rd place  1:55.34   Enzo Campellone (30.07), Bobak Ettefagh (39.68), Colin Pham (18.54), Aditya Rawat (27.05)
JV Girls 200 Free -  2nd place  1:52.54  Rachel Yokota (29.50), Sarah Hsu (28.76), Yosra Elseifi (27.69), Ashley Huynh (26.95)
JV Boys 200 Free -  2nd place  1:37.16   Thomas Cehelnik (24.63), Ryan DeLand (23.43), Jake Tsai (24.30), Declan Tompkins (24.80)
                              - 3rd place  1:40.59   Gavin Dang (25.49), Dean Witt (23.95), Noah Villanueva (24.80), Nathan Kang (24.37)
Varsity Girls 200 Free -  2nd place  1:41.82  Lauren Kim (25.50), Corina Lee (25.70), Gabrielle Lan (25.78), Kim Huynh (24.84)
Varsity Boys 200 Free -  2nd place  1:29.88  Younghun Kim (22.11), Michael Abshier (22.21), Kevin Hong (22.55), Ryan Connole (23.01)
                                   -  3rd place  1:32.68  Brandon Cho (23.54), Ryan Xu (22.79), Will Chen (22.62), Ethan Chen (23.73)
Open Girls 400 Free -  1st place  4:04.68  Sophia Abraham (1:16.58), Sarah Shankman (1:42.72), Sophia Smith (1:04.15), Serousha Behtash (1:16.33) 
Open Boys 400 Free -  1st place  3:55.40  Colin Pham (1:04.16), Trevor Cheng (57.91), Corey Okamoto (59.17), Louis Gaigneux (54.16) 
JV Girls 400 Free -  1st place  4:07.49  Vivian Guo (1:02.52), Yosra Elseifi (1:00.84), Galia Diaz-Montoya (1:00.87), Sarah Hsu (1:03.26)
JV Boys 400 Free -  2nd place  3:40.00  Gavin Lai (52.03), Andrew Harper (55.59), Jimmy Chen (55.60), Noah Villanueva (56.78) 
                             -  3rd place  3:44.53  Michael Li (56.40), Andrew Zhang (55.93), Gavin Dang (57.44), Evan Fu (54.76)
Varsity Girls 400 Free -  2nd place  3:44.37  Kim Huynh (57.66), Carolyn Nguyen (55.74), Katerina Tolkachev (55.69), Acile Jammoul (55.28)
                                    -  3rd place  3:47.60  Mutiara Schechinger (57.64), Yufei Chen (56.11), Gabrielle Lan (55.69), Tanya Ahmed (58.16)
Varsity Boys 400 Free -  1st place  3:12.69  Christopher Leung (46.31), Nolan Chomin (49.69), Will Chen (48.13), Derek Hitchens (48.56)
                                   -  2nd place  3:18.56  Elson Lee (49.27), Benton Cheng (49.68), Michael Abshier (49.45), Felix Zhu (49.94)