Northwood's Henry Wu, above, was among three varsity double-event winners that rallied the Timberwolves to a roaring 116-54 victory over the Irvine Vaqueros. Photo courtesy of Mitch Mallough.
“Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice." - William Jennings.
The Northwood boy's encore in solidifying a perfect in-league record was a masterful performance today against the Irvine Vaqueros on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center.
The Timberwolves looked energized and ready to go sweeping the field over the entirety of their eleven combined individual and relay events securing a 62 point margin of victory 116-54 over the Vaqueros.
But perhaps the best going-away gift any of the seniors could have asked for was the Timberwolves going a perfect undefeated regular season, extending their Pacific Coast League boys record to 5-0.
The Lady T-Wolves had a little bit of a tougher dual meet, and just could not get their hands enough on the final walls being outscored 53-117. Northwood's girls certainly have nothing to hang their heads about as they finish their in-league season in the top three, which attests to both the talent and depth they possess in addition to their ability to hold their own against the #1 Pacific Coast League girls squad.
“We've just been incredibly consistent, and that consistency is really helping boost our confidence right now heading into post-season," said Head Coach Alex Nieto. "The whole team seems to share a common goal in contributing to some great swimming."
The stakes will only grow from here for the Northwood Timberwolves, as it takes its winning ways with them, along with the tough challenge that the Pacific Coast League rivals will bring at next week's league championship meet.
200 FREE
The Timberwolves got off to a start by claiming third in the Open Girls with Yuna Cook posting her season best time of 2:24.13. Irvine's Rebecca Mooney took the top time in 2:24.13, while Dina Kianiazar touched second in 2:25.94. Open Boys Niko Honda posted the fastest time in his division at 2:11.02. That followed with a 2-3 from Irvine's Nick Pan (2:17.79) and Hinata Ikagawa (2:20.09). JV Girls senior Hannah Roushdy managed to touch for second in 2:22.47. Irvine's Rachel Rookard won the event in 2:18.21, while her teammate Siscily Cook rounded third in 2:23.06. Northwood's JV Boys struck back with a 2-3 punch from two freshman Enoch Li's (2:06.87), and Henry Chen 2:22.58. Irvine's Daniel Lee won the event in 2:06.81. Northwood Varsity Girls Malak Hassouna and Olivia Chen both had successful swims, recording a second (2:03.11) and third (2:05.66). Irvine's Julia Wright topped the event in 1:58.54. Northwood's Hunter Hitchens jumped out to an early lead and never relented at the 10 turn (50.86), then stretched out for the touch winning in 1:43.54. Teammate Felix Zhu also contributed in scoring points by virtue of a second (1:48.76). Irvine's Alesh Polivka took third in 1:49.42.
100 IM
Sophomore Grant Walker powered in a 1:10.15 for a title win in the Open Boys 100 IM. Irvine's Drew Clanton had the fastest time with 1:10.42, while Thomas Williams added third in 1:11.44.
200 IM
JV Girls Alexjandra Aramayo went 2:41.70 for third, while Irvine's Alison Lu (2:34.67) and Jasmine Thai (2:39.73) placed 2-3. On the JV Boys side, Zachary Waddell had a sizable lead going into the breaststroke leg of his 200 IM over teammate Arthur Liu. If there's one thing you don't want when racing Waddell, it's to be behind after fly and back. Waddell split a 37.50 on the breaststroke, and then came home in 2:09.78 over Liu (2:15.79). Irvine's Kevin Ko touched in for third at 2:25.85. Junior Amanda Hsieh topped the Varsity Girls 200 IM clocking in at 2:09.63. Irvine's Aurora Duncan placed second in 2:12.17, while her compatriot Kate Lee rounded third in 2:12.98. Senior Henry Wu surfaced to a winning finish for the Varsity Boys touching first in 1:57.85. Following second was Irvine's Parker Macy with a time of 2:00.16. Freshman Jeremy Mah picked up third in 2:06.52.
50 Free
Northwood's Ariel Lee locked down the top time for the Open Girls 50 Free sprinting a 29.66. Sophia Smith clocked a 29.96 for second, while Irvine's Rebecca Mooney rounded third in 30.85. Jacob Compton turned in a strong time for the Northwood Open Boys leading the way with a 27.10. Irvine's Hinata Ikagawa placed second in 27.96, while the Timberwolves Nolan Kim claimed third in 28.23. Northwood's Marley King checked in with a second place for the JV Girls in 28.00. Irvine's Tessa Lager took the to the title in 27.73. Siscily Cook rounded third in 28.05. On the JV Boys side, Calvin Lin clinched the 50 Free (24.27) in a battle with Irvine's Sang Joon Kim clocking second in 24.38. Benjamin Chun Chen held third in 24.82. Meanwhile Olivia Chen touched in for third at 25.97 for the Varsity Lady T-Wolves. Irvine's Sophia DeLuca grabbed the top spot in 24.96, while her teammate Lannhi Nguyen came in second with 25.58. Hunter Hitchens showed his top-end sprint talent as he blew out the Varsity Boys 50 Free in 21.97, while teammate Collin Press rolled in for second (22.48). Irvine's Kia Sowlati rounded third in 22.85.
50 Fly
Open Girls Danah Hammoud registered the third fastest time for the Timberwolves with a 32.16. Irvine's Arianna Carter claimed first in 33.16, while Kylie Wong placed second (36.28). Northwood's Open Boys went lights out showing real depth with two finishing in the top three in this race with Jacob Compton (27.10) taking victory, and Nolan Kim in for third (28.23). Irvines Hinata Ikagawa pulled in for second in 27.96.
100 Fly
JV Girls Tara Tran finished in the 100 fly clocking in at 1:14.55 for second, just out touching teammate Jasroop Miglani (1:15.99). Irvine's Sarah Maver took the event in 1:10.04. All three Northwood JV Boys came out on top for a triple win in the 100 Fly. Jack Liu (58.59), Enoch Li (1:00.13) and Alec Overbaugh (1:01.24) delivered a strong showing for Northwood. On the Varsity Girls side, Irvine's Camille Ross was the top finisher in 59.53. Timberwolves senior Hwa Min Sim brought a bit more to the plate in terms of firepower in the 100 fly as he prevailed for the win in 52.00. Joining Sim was sophomore David Xue marking his time of 54.75 for second. Irvine's Ryan Lee was right behind for third with a 56.31.
100 Free
Northwood's Open Girls Ariel Lee left nothing to chance, surging to first in the field with a 1:07.09 on a personal best finish dropping 2.07 seconds. Kylie Kenyon clocked in for second (1:11.11). Irvine's Jessica Domingo rounded third (1:11.42). JV Boys Calvin Lin launched a quick start and opened up a lead winning in 53.31 for the Timberwolves. Irvine's Zack Payne posted a second place showing in 53.59, while Adrian Fontao followed on his heels with 54.61 for third. Long-axis strokes and strong flutter kicks provided Amanda Hsieh in taking the 100 free in 53.54 for the Varsity Lady T-wolves. Irvine's Aurora Duncan took second in 55.86, while Nancy Zhu claimed third in 57.06. After building a lead heading into the first turn Northwood sophomore Felix Zhu provided the win for the Varsity Boys in 49.07. Collin Press took second with 49.36, while Irvine's Alesh Polivka picked up third in 49.63.
500 Free
Northwood teammates Zachary Waddell, Kendrick Pham, and Grant Lai didn't disappoint as they produced a triple win for the JV Boys. Waddell put up a 5:03.31 to lead the eight, and dropping 1.17 seconds for a personal best. Pham, who occupied the outside lane one finished second clocking a 5:32.44, while Grant Lai produced the third fastest time in 5:35.31. Senior Gabe Munoz finished nearly a full pool length ahead of the field in the 500 free with no one but the clock to pace him with 4:46.60, ahead of Irvine's Tomer Moss (4:52.55). Third place went to sophomore Chris Pukszta who checked in at 4:58.21.
50 Back
Northwood Open Girls Kacy Kesler improved her personal best by .86 hundreds with her third-place finish of 37.26. Irvine's Kimerly Lai won the event in 34.94, while Ava Lundvall was second (36.82). In a great show of depth by the Open Boys each pushing one another landed two solid Northwood performances. Teammates Andrew Kim (32.49), and Grant Walker (33.75) gave another reason for the home crowd to celebrate in the afternoon. Irvine's Ethan Chang rounded third in 34.01.
100 Back
The third place individual win in the JV Girls came from Northwood's Alejandra Aramayo who swam a 1:15.70. Irvine's topped the event in 1:07.71, while her teammate Rebecca Rookard touched second in 1:13.40. JV Boys Rocky Gao pushed through and got the win for the Timberwolves, but he was challenged the entire way. Max Abravanel notched second 1:03.08, while Irvine's Alex Palakian touched third in 1:04.40. After coming away with a big win in the 500 Free, Senior Gabe Munoz doubled in the Varsity 100 Back winning by 2.52 seconds over Irvine's Tomer Moss (56.93). Travis Swift rounded third in 58.12.
50 Breast
Open Girls Kylie Kenyon went 37.76, bettering her personal best for the fastest time in the event. Irvine's 2-3 finishers came in from Arianna Carter (39.03) and Jessica Domingo (39.46). Anyone who was overly surprised by the outcome of the Open Boys 50 breast hasn't been paying attention to Northwood's overall team depth. In the last Open Boys individual heat of the afternoon, with teammates from Northwood cheering them on, Chris Suh (38.28), and Ryan Wu (40.77) snagged the top two spots.
100 Breast
It was a positive end to the meet for JV Girls Maika Marin (1:17.74) who was the quickest competitor in the 100 Breast. Irvine's Grace Pak took second in 1:19.44, while Britney Cao registered third in 1:22.06. A good match up in the JV Boys between Benjamin Liu and Kenneth Duong. The two were tracking each other the entire way, but Liu was able to touch his hand on the wall first with a 1:05.34 to Duong's 1:07.10. Lady T-Wolves Jenna Morley (1:15.80) capped off a third place finish within the top 3. Irvine's Kate Lee won the event in 1:08.87, while Diane Le charted second (1:14.48). Northwood senior Henry Wu took complete control of the 100 Breast with a huge margin over the field touching the wall with a 59.07. Teammate Colman Sun moved into the top 3 for second with a 1:02.74, while Irvine's Parker Macy rounded third (1:02.84).
Relays
Open Girls 200 Medley - 3rd place 2:25.00 Kacy Kesler (N/A), Kylie Kenyon (N/A), Lilly Zhao (N/A), Grace Hagedom (N/A)
Open Boys 200 Medley - 1st place 2:03.07 Andrew Kim (32.15), Jake Jacoby (35.45), Dylan Green (28.76), Matthew Halle (26.71)
JV Girls 200 Medley - 2nd place 2:11.42 Alejandra Aramayo (35.58), Maika Marin (36.65), Tara Tran (31.59), Marley King (27.60)
JV Boys 200 Medley - 1st place 1:49.75 Rocky Gao (28.55), Kenneth Duong (31.06), Enoch Li (25.90), Calvin Lin (24.24)
- 3rd place 1:52.38 Max Abravanel (31.81), Noah Pendleton (31.81), Spencer Sellwood (26.58), Adrian Fontao (24.06)
Varsity Girls 200 Medley - 2nd place 1:55.41 Nancy Zhu (29.93), Olivia Chen (32.22), Josephine Manuel (27.79), Amanda Hsieh (25.47)
Varsity Boys 200 Medley - 1st place 1:37.07 Gabe Munoz (25.15), Henry Wu (27.03), Hwa Min Sim (22.46), Collin Press (22.43)
- 3rd place 1:43.68 Youssef Elseifi (26/46), Colman Sun (29.35), David Xue (25.12), Sean Gao (22.75)
Open Girls 200 Free - 1st place 1:59.99 Sophia Smith (29.63), Yuna Cook (30.72), Grace Hagedom (30.69), Ariel Lee (28.95)
Open Boys 200 Free - 1st place 1:54.82 Matthew Halle (29.61), Noah Kim (28.87), Winter Niu (27.79), Andrew Kim (28.55)
- 3rd place 2:01.44 Jacob Compton (27.19), Jacob Buckman (27.79), Shane Ghazavi (35.40), Anshul Gupta (31.06)
JV Boys 200 Free - 1st place 1:36.44 Benjamin Chun (24.31), Sean Doan (23.95), Enoch Li (23.95), Calvin Lin (24.11)
- 2nd place 1:38.87 Ed Suh (25.54), Jack Liu (24.69), Noah Pendleton (27.38), Alec Overbaugh (21.26)
Varsity Girls 200 Free - 3rd Place 1:49.41 Victoria Nguyen (27.45), Fiona Fan (28.76), Hayley Pham (26.48), Malak Hassouna (26.72)
Varsity Boys 200 Free - 1st place 1:30.06 Felix Zhu (23.64), Hwa Min Sim (21.87), Collin Press (23.66), Hunter Hitchens (20.89)
- 3rd place 1:34.81 David Xue (22.91), Thomas Kim (24.37), Sean Gao (23.75), Justin Pyne (23.78)
Open Girls 400 Free - 3rd place 4:54.51 Virginia Crook (1:15.57), Lilly Zhao (1:10.95), Yuna Cook (1:13.42), Sylvia Ryu (1:14.57)
Open Boys 400 Free - 1st place 4:05.48 Grant Walker (1:09.21), Nolan Kim (58.73), Nathaniel Irwan (59.44), Dylan Green (58.10)
JV Girls 400 Free - 3rd place 4:28.55 Emilie Harper (1:06.84), Cindy Le (1:08.12), Britney Cao (1:06.22), Hannah Roushdy (1:07.37)
JV Boys 400 Free - 1st place 3:33.47 Henry Chen (52.80), Kenneth Duong (52.90), Adrian Fontao (54.96), Sean Doan (52.81)
- 2nd place 3:40.14 Nicholas Miceli (54.85), Max Abravanel (53.69), Gautam Chaudhry (56.39), Spencer Sellwood (55.21)
- 3rd place 3:42.51 Zachary Waddell (54.65), Matthew O'Neill (57.18), Rocky Gao (56.55), Alec Overbaugh (54.13)
Varsity Girls 400 Free - 3rd place 3:46.74 Nancy Zhu (57.60), Olivia Chen (56.97), Josephine Manuel (58.78), Amanda Hsieh (53.39)
Varsity Boys 400 Free - 1st place 3:21.71 Felix Zhu (N/A), Henry Wu (N/A), Emiliano Olague (N/A), Hunter Hitchens (N/A)
- 3rd place 3:31.33 Colman Sun (N/A), Jeremy Mah (N/A), Youssef Elseifi (N/A), Justin Pyne (N/A)
Tri-Meet Scores
Men
Northwood High School 116.00 vs 54.00 Irvine High School
Women
Northwood High School 117.00 vs 53.00 Irvine High School