Northwood's Katerina Tolkachev, Addison Cadena, Taylor Inouye and Gabrielle Lan, above, locked in seven individual Top-3 placements to help secure the Lady T-Wolves victory over the Irvine Vaqueros.  Photo courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.  

The Northwood Timberwolves "Defended The Den" against Irvine High School at the NHS Aquatic Center on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.  As it has been all season long, the story line was depth as Northwood's Lady T-Wolves triumphed over the Vaqueros,88-82, and their boys by a wider margin 126-44 over Irvine.

The Northwood girls win was fueled by the signature energy of the varsity squad who put themselves out of their comfort zone to swim atypical races, however the versatility and strength still managed the victory with thirteen Top-3 placements.

While Northwood sealed the dual meet win handily, they will need to focus in on sprint and relay events to have a clear shot at the Pacific Coast League title this month.  

Although the final winning score for the Lady T-Wolves was close, it truly reflects the maturing depth, speed, talent and strength that Northwood's girls have been building on over the course of this season in winning all but one dual meet.

In front of a capacity home crowd, there was an added emotional component as the Northwood seniors participated in being honored in the last home meet of their high school careers.  

Northwood High School Swim Team's Class of 2023.  (Front Row-Left to right)  Benton Cheng, William Chen, Aditya Rawat, Acile Jammoul  (Middle Row-Left to right) Vivian  Guo, Claire Cho, Taylor Inouye, Addison Cadena, Michael Li , Colin Pham (Back Row-Left to right)  Henna Cook, Chloe Kiso, Bobak Ettefagh, Christian Thorpe, Evan Eich, Anthony Foo, and Ryan Xu.  Intermission Ceremony presented by NHS Head Swim Coach Alex Nieto.  Photo Courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.

“Our Lives are Before us, Our Pasts are Behind us, But our Memories Are forever with us.". - Congratulations to the NHS Swim Team Class of 2023 Seniors!!

200 FREE

Northwood's Open Girls Chloe Tsai and Katrina Estrada went 1-2 going 2:33.48 to 2:46.41.  Irvine's Divya Shanadi third in 2:52.06.  Open Boys Sebastian Alexis turned in a title win touching the wall in 2:36.00.  Irvine's Leo Zhou was second with 2:28.57, while freshman Kevin Xie rounded third (2:36.00).  Right in the thick of the battle JV Girls Samin Shahrabian narrowly won the 200 Free by 1.79 seconds clocking in a 2:18.90, over Ella Wong (2:20.69).  Irvine's Anna Clara Tanikawa third in 2:26.30.  On the JV Boys side, Shervin Shahriary (1:57.29), Trevor Cheng (2:04.35), and Alex Chin (2:06.16) took control of the race early on with triple win the Timberwolves.  Lady T-Wolves Yosra Elseifi found the adrenaline throwing down a 2:11.04 for second for the varsity girls.  Sophomore Tiara Schechinger touched third (2:11.59),  Irvine's Cadence Yip won the event in 2:07.84.  Coming up big with a win was junior Michael Abshier who ruled the Varsity Boys 200 Free posting up a time of 1:46.23.  Second place went to Irvine's Brenden Cook with 1:47.89, while Northwood's Benton Cheng closed out third in 1:56.06.

100 IM

Northwood's Open Girls provided some momentum in the 100 IM with Angelina Kocar-Ying's title win (1:19.42).  Freshman Sophia Xiong was next line with 1:21.28, while Irvine's Kathleen Hue rounded third (1:21.83). Northwood would also go 1-2 in the Open Boys led by Kristopher Besharaty putting up a 1:18.33 with teammate Isaac Chang adding a second place in 1:09.64.  Irvine's Youssef Dahmane touched third (1:28.26).

200 IM

JV Girls Rachel Yokota led the charge earning a top spot in the 200 IM with 2:34.81, staying close was Claire Cho for second in 2:35.83.  Irvine's Laura Bui rounded third with 2:46.77.  In the JV Boys, Noah Villanueva had the fastest time of 2:14.53 by a couple body lengths over teammate Ethan Cheung (2:15.74).  Irvine's Ryan Kuei pulled into third with 2:29.51.  Lady T-Wolves senior Addison Cadena got out to an early lead and continued to build, but Irvine's Alexia Duncan over the second half of the race pulled ahead winning in 2:14.43.  Cadena touched second in 2:19.93.  Irvine's Alessia Cagnoni rounded third (2:32.13).  Varsity freshman Andrew Maksymowski finished first in the 200 IM in a time of 2:00.28.  Senior Anthony Foo (2:07.00) and Irvine's Wynston Prawira (2:07.06) went second and third.

50 Free

The Open Girls showed real depth with Mika Sakuragi stopping the watch for second in 36.36.  Irvine's Kamryn Thongsrinoon won the event (34.57) with Bianca Shelton rounding third (41.13).  All three Northwood Open Boys came out on top for a triple win in the 50 Free.  Anh Vo (27.57), WenBo Hu (29.11), and Bobak Ettefagh (29.65) delivered a strong showing for the Timberwolves.  The JV Girls added a second placement with junior Nur Yildiz (28.86).  Irvine's Emma Beliveau won the event in 28.51 with Maia MacVicar rounding third (28.92).  The JV Boys stormed out to an early lead holding a triple finish with Michael Li (24.38), Stephen Dee (24.57), and Kasra Zandpour (25.27).  Varsity Lady T-Wolf Gabrielle Lan added a second place showing with 25.77, while Katerina Tolkachev touched with a swift third (26.98).  Irvine's Julia Bautista took the title in 25.63.  The Varsity Boys 50 Free saw the top three contenders under 23 seconds.  Sophomore Derek Hitchens had the lightning-fast touch, winning the race in 22.19.  Behind him Ryan Xu (22.27) who out-touched Gavin Lai with a 22.76 for third.

50 Fly

Open sophomore Chloe Tsai took second going 37.07 in the 50 Fly for a personal best.  Mika Sakuragi turned in a respectable third (42.84).  Irvine's Kathleen Hue won the title in 35.59.  Open Boys Isaac Chang charted a title win for the Timberwolves in a time of 30.99.  Anh Vo claimed second in 32.56, while Irvine's Vladysloav rounded third (33.87).

100 Fly

JV Girls Chloe Kiso raced to a quick finish touching the wall with 1:14.27 for the win.  Irvine's Ryleigh Patton tracked very close behind closing second in 1:14.49, and Melissa Lam (1:19.03) prevailed with a third.  Junior Gavin Lee highlighted the JV Boys, blasting a 59.88 to pick up the win over Irvine's Byron Tonthat (1:00.82).  Northwood's Trevor Cheng closed out third in 1:03.32.  The Lady T-Wolves mounted a furious challenge taking the lead on a 28.59 fly split from Gabrielle Lan and going 1:00.76 for the solid win.  Irvine's Arista Kusuma surged for second place in 1:01.56, while Analiese Duncan touched third in 1:03.69.  Varsity junior Elson Lee took the top spot with a fast 100 Fly to win a 52.39 punch to the wall. Touching just behind him was Irvine's Sean Dory putting in a 54.31 for second.  Ethan Chen (55.23) was third.

100 Free

Open Girls Sophia Xiong worked her way to holding on to a title win a time of 1:14.15.  Irvine's Farida Abdelgawad (1:19.35) and Evelyn Heiberg (1:12.67) went 2-3.  Northwood's Open Boys blasted a commanding sweep in the 100 Free event with Sebastian Alexis finishing well ahead in 1:04.31.  Second went to Bobak Ettefagh in 1:06.60, the third fastest swim was locked down by Isaac Park with 1:06.64.   On the JV Girls side, Ella Wong closed out her individual event posting a first place in 1:01.39.  Irvine's Abigail Cinco followed second in 1:03.63 with Maia MacVicar posting third (1:04.57).  The JV Boys went lights out showing real depth with two finishing in the top three in this race with Alex Chin winning in 56.37, and Raphael Le in for third (59.48).  Irvine's William Yang touched for second in 57.55.  The Varsity Girls was a tight race throughout, with Acile Jammoul putting in a strong 56.42 for the victory.  Irvine's Amy Kong took second in 56.87, while Julia Bautista touched for third (57.78).  Northwood's Varsity Boys registered a triple win with Gavin Lai leading the way by about a body length after the first 50 turn in 23.99.  Off the wall he pushed the pace touching for the final win (50.56).  Second place went to Evan Eich (51.17), while Christian Thorpe closed out third in 53.26.

500 Free

JV Girls Jane Thorpe concluded her individuals with a third place for the Timberwolves in 6:44.02.  Irvine's Kayla Melville (6:16.64) and Leilani Nguyen (6:25.27) went 1-2.  Sophomore Shervin Shahriary continued his excellent meet for the Northwood JV Boys as he wins the 500 Free with 5:20.20.  Shahriary was followed by Noah Villanueva who posted a 5:35.55.  Irvine's Liam Mayer rounded third (6:05.22).   Senior Addison Cadena completed her individual event of the meet as a winner for the varsity girls, consistently powered away from the field, and controlling the race to win in 5:25.62.  Irvine's Adna Dizdaevic took second in 5:49.65.  Third place was Nina Elias who went 6:04.04.  Varsity junior Elson Lee wasted no time in this race, getting out very quick over the field at the 200 in 1:53.37, and finishing up at 4:52.21.  Irvine's Preston Lin picked up a second place finish in 5:44.95, while Ethan Chen rounded third in 5:34.32.

50 Back

Northwood's Open Girls Angelina Kocar-Ying got to the wall with the second fastest time clocking a 37.13.  Irvine's Divya Shanadi took the title touching at 35.99, while Fanda Abdelgawad rounded third (46.56).  The talent pool in Northwood's Open Boys is deep, and it showed with an event sweep.  Larry Lee posting a 33.12 under an extremely tight battle with Imran Ahmed finishing second (33.86), and Stanley Guo slipping in third with 1:08.74. 

100 Back

Northwood senior Claire Cho was dominant in the JV Girls 100 Back, crushing the field in 1:12.50.  The battle for second went to Chloe Kiso (1:14.89), while Samin Shahrabian rounded third in 1:15.96.  The JV Boys won more accolades by sealing a 1-2 finish with Stephen Dee (1:00.02) and Neil Godse (1:09.47).  Jaden Noyes sits third in 1:11.98.  The Lady T-Wolves featured great depth with Acile Jammoul providing a second (1:02.23), while Tiara Schechinger powered away with 1:05.01 for third.  Irvine's Alexia Duncan won the event in 1:00.06.  Freshman Andrew Maksymowski concluded his individuals with an off event in the 100 Back placing first in 55.87.  Timberwolves Benton Cheng (57.03) and Jimmy Chen (1:00.05) went second and third.

50 Breast

Open Girls Neeki Ettefagh touched the wall first in 44.22.  Irvine's Rachel Khorsandi produced a second place time in 45.85, while Kara Ngo rounded third (53.32).  In the Open Boys Andy Gao took a victory by winning the 50 Breast (32.62), and his teammate WenBo Hu recorded third (34.03).  Irvine's Vincent Pham surfaced for second (33.82).

100 Breast

And in the final individual event Northwood JV Girls put two handily in the top three spots for the 100 Breast with Rachel Yokota (1:21.35) and Jane Thorpe for third (1:24.33).  Irvine's Leilani ended second with 1:24.18.  The afternoon saw another triple sweep from Northwood Boys in the 100 Breast that included Gavin Lee (1:07.42), Michael Li (1:08.75) and Ethan Cheung (1:11.33).  Taylor Inouye highlighted the Varsity Girls side, blasting a 1:09.78 to pick up the win.  Irvine's Analiese Duncan went second in 1:11.11, while third runner-up Cadence Yip pulled up in 1:11.41.  Northwood sophomore Derek Hitchens completed another individual title win with a 1:02.16.  He sprinted out with an aggressive front-half of 29.68 and was able to hold off the field for the victory.  Senior Anthony Foo took second (1:02.52), while Evan Foo rounded third (1:03.06).

Relays
Open Girls 200 Medley -  2nd place  2:36.66  Sophia Xiong (38.43), Neeki Ettefagh (43.07), Katrina Estrada (40.29), Lola Elali (34.87)
Open Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  2:02.67  Larry Lee (33.00), Andy Gao (31.79), Isaac Chang (31.03), Ahn Vo (26.85)
                                      -  3rd place  2:13.42  Imran Ahmed (33.70), WenBo Hu (33.04), Christopher Vien (37.70), Bobak Ettefagh (28.98)
JV Girls 200 Medley -  2nd place  2:15.98  Samin Shahrabian (34.72), Shreya Aithal (38.51), Melissa Lam (33.56), Emma McDowell (29.19)
JV Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:51.43  Stephen Dee (27.94), Gavin Lee (31.08), Noah Villanueva (27.56), Michael Li (24.85)
                                 -  2nd place  1:57.30  Trevor Cheng (29.08), Ethan Cheung (34.84), Colin Pham (27.95), Neil Godse (25.43)
Varsity Girls 200 Medley  -  2nd place  1:56.61  Genevieve Chomin (30.46), Taylor Inouye (32.19), Addison Cadena (28.27), Gabrielle Lan (25.69)
Varsity Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:41.80  Andrew Maksymowski (25.96), Elson Lee (27.53), William Chen (26.29), Gavin Lai (22.02)
                                       -  2nd place  1:41.81  Benton Cheng (27.53), Anthony Foo (28.31), Ryan Xu (23.44), Evan Eich (22.53)
Open Girls 200 Free -  1st place  2:10.09  Angelina Kocar-Ying (30.87), Mika Sakuragi (33.76), Chloe Tsai (30.39), Neeki Ettefagh (35.07)