Tologs' Mission continues in final

VAN NUYS — Having already achieved a Mission League title by going undefeated over five league meets this season, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming team had just one test remaining before next week's CIF Prelims.

Friday's Mission League Finals at Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys pool was an opportunity for the newly crowned Tologs to compete against all of the league's best in one meet, and they answered the challenge with some landmark performances.

For Sacred Heart, the highlights of the meet, which also saw two Tologs win individual titles, were two school-record-breaking relay wins.

"I think we did really well considering that all the teams coming together are really hard, and they've all been training," said Brianna Swinney, who swam the backstroke in the 200 medley relay and was also a part of the 400 freestyle relay.

The Tologs opened the day with a 1 minute, 54.44 second swim in the 200 medley relay, eclipsing the previous school record by .13 seconds. Swinney collaborated with Andrea Kropp, Alex Marquez and Beth Strub.

In the day's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, Tricia Dobson, Marquez and Kropp joined with Swinney to break the existing record of 3:41.74 by just .10 seconds.

"A couple of teams started ahead of us [in the 400 freestyle relay], but you've just gotta push toward getting first and we all tried our best," Swinney said.

Kropp and Strub also enjoyed individual success, as each notched an individual league tiltle.

Kropp was denied in her bid to capture the 200 individual medley title, finishing second in 2:06.87 behind fellow freshman Megan Hawthorne of Chaminade (2:04.88). But she pulled off a dominant win in the 100 breaststroke, as her time of 1:06.96 was 5.49 seconds faster than the next finisher.

Strub won the 200 freestyle (2:00.40), followed closely by second-place finisher, Marquez (2:01.56).

"It was really important to us to go out there and do our best, even though this meet didn't count for [a league title]," said Christina Brandt, who swam the second leg of Sacred Heart's runner-up 200 freestyle relay team (1:48.92). "We really wanted to be able to know we were the best team in the league."

The Tologs had second-place finishes in a total of seven events.

"I feel very positive that, coming into this meet, [the team] swam their best," Coach Gary Appel said. "The girls swam better than I thought they would right now because they're not fully tapered."

In boys' competition, Loyola's Spencer Banks, a junior who resides in Glendale, was part of a winning 200 medley relay team (1:43.44) and finished a close second in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.48).

"[The relay] went pretty well, but I'm not feeling 100% right now because I'm not shaved or tapered yet," said Banks, who will swim the same two events at CIF. "I was two seconds off my best time [in the breaststroke]."