The Northwood Timberwolves lights it up at the Pacific Coast League Championship with a full team sweep against six area high schools at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center. Photos courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.
"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming." - John Wooden
They've been battling it out for the league championship at the end of the swim season for several years now, and that remained the case Friday afternoon for area high schools Beckman, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Northwood, Portola, University and Woodbridge.
The Northwood Timberwolves set the pool ablaze delivering sensational swims from Varsity and JV squads at the 2022 Pacific Coast League Championships at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center on Friday, April 29, 2022.
Northwood brought an arsenal of ninety-two top-18 swimmers of which 37 were top-8 for finals as they garnered 14 top-3 places in eleven events. Northwood varsity boys and girls finished ahead of rival Woodbridge by a score differential, 589-422 Boys, 547.5-508 Girls. The best measure of Northwood's depth came in on second place showings in the 100-200-freestyles, 100 Fly and 200 IM.
Finishing well in the three relays was crucial for Northwood's boys. After factoring in the individual event scoring, the first-place new meet record finish in the 200 medley (1:32.37) and 400 freestyle relay (3:06.33) title win proves the cohesion is still present amongst the Timberwolves. Among the notable individual swims Christopher Leung turned in a title school record breaking win in the 50 freestyle with a speedy 20.86 lowering the 2018 mark.
While many Northwood fans hoped the Timberwolves would claim a title, the team exceeded expectations, especially on the girls side winning for the first time in it's history. The high-powered Lady T-Wolves demonstrated their consistency once again this season to contend at the top level.
Northwood's girls held their own against tough competition. The Lady T-Wolves finished with three top-3 places on the day, along with contributions up and down the roster, buoyed Northwood to a very respectable showing. The team of Avery Liu, Taylor Inouye, Carolyn Nguyen, and anchor Lauren Kim put together an impressive combination in the 200 medley relay during finals (1:48.58). That time clears the old school record of 1:48.79 set in 2017.
In the 200 free relay, it was Lauren Kim, Gabrielle Lan, Acile Jammoul, and anchor Kim Huynh who were also key scoring contributors churned out a speedy 1:38.38, and lowered the 2019 school record (1:38.74).
Ultimately for Northwood's JV teams, the meet ended with six title individual wins combined earning second for the girls 519 points, and boys third 486 points.
Success in the Timberwolves Open & JV divisions points to one of Northwood's strengths - its depth. The coaching staff has placed emphasis on strengthening its roster as a whole all season long and has created lineups accordingly during the meets. By the numbers, for all divisions and genders combined it was a rousing success at the Pacific Coast League Championships with 92 Northwood swimmers delivering the top 2742 points slicing 19.28% from the total.
“I think we're really honed in on what the end goal is," said Head Coach Alex Nieto. "I think that's what we're really striving for this year, not being so much individual pieces but being one collective unit striving towards the goal. I think we're in a really good place to be able to definitely be in the CIF title conversation."
Northwood will look to continue to build on its momentum, and reassert its place as one of the CIF-SS Division 1 swimming powerhouse teams next Friday, May 6, 2022 at the 2022 CIF-SS D1 Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Marquerite Aquatics Complex in Mission Viejo, Ca.
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Boys Team Scores:
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Girls Team Scores:
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| 1. Northwood 589 |
1. Northwood 547.5 |
| 2. Woodbridge 422 |
2. Woodbridge 508 |
| 3. Portola 379 |
3. Portola 477.5 |
| 4. University 371 |
4. University 352 |
| 5. Beckman 362 |
5. Beckman 263 |
| 6. Laguna Hills 208 |
6. Irvine 252 |
| 7. Irvine 139 |
7. Laguna Hills 108 |
TOP 18 Event Winners:
* New NHS Record
| Event |
Swimmer |
Finals Rank |
Finals |
Prelims |
| Boys 200 Free |
Younghun Kim |
2nd Place |
1:43.29 |
1:43.68 |
|
Nolan Chomin |
8th Place |
1:45.21 |
1:45.07 |
|
Will Chen |
9th Place |
1:45.34 |
1:44.74 |
|
Benton Cheng |
10th Place |
1:46.05 |
1:47.21 |
| Girls 200 Free |
Kim Huynh |
4th Place |
1:54.46 |
1:56.75 |
|
Carolyn Nguyen |
6th Place |
1:56.17 |
1:57.11 |
|
Katerina Tolkachev |
10th Place |
1:57.76 |
1:59.50 |
|
Tanya Ahmed |
12th Place |
2:00.16 |
2:01.63 |
| Boys 200 IM |
Elson Lee |
3rd Place |
1:53.10 |
1:54.02 |
|
Ryan Connole |
7th Place |
1:57.68 |
1:56.28 |
|
Anthony Foo |
8th Place |
1:59.51 |
2:00.60 |
|
Eric Zhu |
10th Place |
1:59.88 |
2:02.33 |
| Girls 200 IM |
Taylor Inouye |
4th Place |
2:10.28 |
2:10.68 |
|
Corina Lee |
6th Place |
2:10.92 |
2:11.97 |
|
Addison Cadena |
7th Place |
2:12.83 |
2:12.49 |
|
Avery Liu |
12th Place |
2:16.48 |
2:17.10 |
| Boys 50 Free |
Christopher Leung |
2nd Place |
20.94 |
20.86 * New NHS Record |
|
Kevin Hong |
9th Place |
22.04 |
21.96 |
|
Ryan Xu |
13th Place |
22.10 |
21.36 |
|
Brandon Cho |
17th Place |
22.79 |
22.88 |
| Girls 50 Free
|
Lauren Kim |
6th Place |
25.05 |
25.16 |
|
Gabrielle Lan |
8th Place |
25.29 |
25.37 |
|
Ashley Huynh |
17th Place |
26.09 |
26.19 |
| Boys 100 Fly
|
Derek Hitchens |
1st Place |
50.24 |
50.03 |
|
Younghun Kim |
2nd Place |
50.97 |
51.47 |
|
Ryan Xu |
6th Place |
52.02 |
52.12 |
|
Ethan Chen |
17th Place |
54.99 |
54.78 |
| Girls 100 Fly
|
Carolyn Nguyen |
3rd Place |
56.94 |
57.68 |
|
Gabrielle Lan |
6th Place |
59.44 |
58.77 |
|
Tiara Schechinger |
12th Place |
1:02.03 |
1:01.66 |
|
Genevieve Chomin |
16th Place |
1:04.28 |
1:04.32 |
| Boys 100 Free
|
Michael Abshier |
6th Place |
47.59 |
48.10 |
|
Kevin Hong |
8th Place |
48.30 |
48.00 |
|
Benton Cheng |
10th Place |
48.37 |
49.14 |
|
Brandon Cho |
14th Place |
49.95 |
50.09 |
| Girls 100 Free
|
Kim Huynh |
1st Place |
52.48 |
54.21 |
|
Acile Jammoul |
6th Place |
54.65 |
54.86 |
|
Yufei Chen |
8th Place |
55.83 |
56.14 |
|
Tiara Schechinger |
12th Place |
56.50 |
56.79 |
| Boys 500 Free
|
Christopher Leung |
1st Place |
4:30.87 |
4:34.64 |
|
Nolan Chomin |
2nd Place |
4:34.84 |
4:38.63 |
|
Michael Abshier |
5th Place |
4:44.56 |
4:43.09 |
|
Will Chen |
7th Place |
4:46.61 |
4:40.70 |
| Girls 500 Free
|
Addison Cadena |
4th Place |
5:15.22 |
5:17.64 |
|
Katerina Tolkachev |
5th Place |
5:17.98 |
5:16.27 |
|
Yufei Chen |
9th Place |
5:27.39 |
5:30.91 |
|
Tanya Ahmed |
10th Place |
5:23.87 |
5:30.22 |
| Boys 100 Back |
Derek Hitchens |
1st Place |
50.69 |
50.36 |
|
Elson Lee |
5th Place |
53.68 |
53.95 |
|
Daivik Patel |
14th Place |
58.75 |
58.36 |
| Girls 100 Back
|
Avery Liu |
6th Place |
1:00.52 |
59.96 |
|
Genevieve Chomin |
8th Place |
1:00.71 |
1:00.62 |
|
Acile Jammoul |
9th Place |
1:02.16 |
1:00.93 |
|
Helena Zhou |
11th Place |
1:01.87 |
1:03.18 |
| Boys 100 Breast |
Eric Zhu |
3rd Place |
57.21 |
56.97 |
|
Ryan Connole |
5th Place |
58.73 |
59.46 |
|
Anthony Foo |
9th Place |
1:00.13 |
1:00.25 |
|
Ethan Chen |
17th Place |
1:03.39 |
1:03.51 |
| Girls 100 Breast
|
Corina Lee |
3rd Place |
1:07.00 |
1:07.78 |
|
Taylor Inouye |
4th Place |
1:07.83 |
1:07.08 |
|
Lauren Kim |
12th Place |
1:12.77 |
1:11.47 |
|
Zoe Liu |
14th Place |
1:13.56 |
1:13.44 |
TOP 5 BOYS FINALS RELAY Event Winners & Statistics:
| Event |
Rank |
Time |
SEED VS FINAL |
Boys 200 Medley Relay Team - * New Meet Record
Derek Hitchens (back-23.13), Eric Zhu (breast-26.00), Younghun (Jason) Kim (fly-22.91), Christopher Leung (free-20.33) |
1st Place |
1:32.37 |
-0.15% |
Boys 200 Free Relay Team
Kevin Hong (22.07), Ryan Xu (21.74), Elson Lee (21.83), Youghun (Jason) Kim (21.25) |
4th Place |
1:26.89 |
-0.08% |
Boys 400 Free Relay Team
Elson Lee (47.99), Michael Abshier (47.81), Derek Hitchens (45.79), Christopher Leung (44.74) |
1st Place |
3:06.33 |
+0.10% |
TOP 5 GIRLS FINALS RELAY Event Winners & Statistics:
| Event |
Rank |
Time |
SEED VS FINAL |
Girls 200 Medley Relay Team A
Avery Liu (back-27.87), Taylor Inouye (breast-30.19), Carolyn Nguyen (fly-25.94), Lauren Kim (free-24.58) |
3rd Place |
1:48.58 * New Meet Record |
-0.43% |
Girls 200 Free Relay Team A
Lauren Kim (25.00), Gabrielle Lan (24.41), Acile Jammoul (24.72), Kim Huynh (24.15) |
2nd Place |
1:38.38 * New Meet Record |
-0.85% |
Girls 400 Free Relay Team A
Carolyn Nguyen (54.22), Gabrielle Lan (54.64), Acile Jammoul (54.87), Kim Huynh (52.31) |
3rd Place |
3:36.04 |
-0.16% |
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS BIGGEST DROPS SEED VS FINALS
| Event |
Swimmer |
Finals Rank |
Finals |
SEED |
PERCENT |
| Girls 200 Free |
Katerina Tolkachev |
10th Place |
1:57.76 |
2:00.19 |
-21.19% |
| Boys 200 IM |
Eric Zhu |
10th Place |
1:59.88 |
2:02.19 |
-20.93% |
| Girls 50 Free |
Ashley Huynh |
17th Place |
26.09 |
27.00 |
-3.37% |
| Girls 50 Free |
Gabrielle Lan |
8th Place |
25.29 |
26.13 |
-3.21% |
| Girls 500 Free |
Katerina Tolkachev |
5th Place |
5:17.98 |
5:34.72 |
-3.13% |
INDIVIDUAL TITLE WINNERS
Photos Courtesy of Alex Tolkachev
Click image for larger version.
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Derek Hitchens
Freshman
100 Fly - 50:03
100 Back - 50.36 |
Kim Huynh
Junior
100 Free - 52.48 |
Christopher Leung
Junior
500 Free - 4:30.87 |
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