Breaststroke

LOS ANGELES - With just four events remaining in Tuesday's Mission League double-dual meet, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming team's grip on the league championship was loosening. Defending-champion Alemany, which entered the meet at Loyola High as the last undefeated squad in league besides the Tologs, had closed a double-digit lead down to five points after Sacred Heart was shut out of the top two spots in the 500-yard freestyle. No one had seen the Tologs' best yet, it turned out, as Sacred Heart swept the final four events to quickly remove all doubt about who now holds the crown.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — There was no conclusion to the 400-yard freestyle relay, but in the end, it really didn’t matter. Heading into the final event, the Glendale High swimming teams were both comfortably ahead of visiting Flintridge Prep, with the girls up, 94-59, and the boys’ ahead, 86-69, margins that held up as final scores when both 400 freestyle relays were stopped in progress due to a loose lane-line bracket. “[The official] was going to have to redo [the 400 freestyle relay]

Trying to track down Maryann Boosalis this summer has been just like attempting to catch her from behind in the final 25 yards of the 100-yard breaststroke: almost impossible. But when you're a member of the nation's No. 8-ranked club team -- Industry Hills Aquatic Club -- and training for the upcoming ConocoPhillips Summer National Championships in College Park, Md., in addition to the National Club Swimming Assn. Junior National Long-Course Championships in The Woodlands, Texas, such a demanding schedule comes with the territory.

BOYS' SWIMMING La Canada in Rio Hondo League preliminaries: Sophomore Andrew Nguyen put himself in position to win league titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events by posting the top qualifying marks in each race at Wednesday's event at Pasadena City College. Nguyen clocked 1 minute 46.12 seconds in the 200 and 4:49.38 in the 500, joining teammates Jerrold Lee (100 butterfly, 55.63) and Christian Lawrence (200 individual medley, 2:02.75) as the Spartans' best hopes to win league crowns at Friday's final.

From Staff Reports The following is a preview of today's local sporting events. DIVISION II SWIMMING FINAL Maryann Boosalis entered the season as the one to beat in the girls' 100-yard breaststroke, and following Friday's CIF Southern Section Division II preliminaries at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, the La Canada sophomore still has the field chasing after her. Although she clocked a mark 0.08...

Erik Boal LONG BEACH -- When it comes to the girls' 100-yard breaststroke and the Mission League, no one has been more dominant over the past three years than Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy junior Melissa Siracuse. But following an eighth-place finish at last year's CIF Southern Section Division II finals, Siracuse had to focus on a defined goal in order to elevate her performance to a championship-caliber level. Enter Tolog Coach Steve Bergen, who informed the three-time league champion of the school record that was established in 1984, providing Siracuse's necessary motivation for this year's finals.

The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene. KROPP RISES TO GRAND CHALLENGE Former All-Area Girls' Swimmer of the Year Andrea Kropp captured the 200-meter breaststroke championship while competing for Rattler Swim Club at the Speedo Grand Challenge at William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine on Sunday. Kropp's winning time of 2 minutes 26.62 seconds was more than three seconds faster than runner-up Sara Katsoulis ' 2:29.89 and was good enough to make the Olympic trial-qualifying standard.

GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene .   HIRSH MAKES MOUND RETURN St. Francis High graduate and current Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jason Hirsh pitched two scoreles innings, allowing two hits on Saturday in spring training action against the Milwaukee Brewers. Consequently, it was against the Brewers that Hirsh’s season ended on Aug. 7 when he was hit by a line drive from JJ Hardy . “I went back and looked at all the video — there wasn’t much — and I felt my fastball could be a little bit lower, about four inches,” Hirsh told mlb.com about his performance.

Their paths have seemed so effortless this season, the end result simply felt like a natural progression. The dominance with which Andrea Kropp and Yumi So ruled their respective events, from their league seasons through last week’s CIF Southern Section Division II championships, made them favorites to capture titles in inter-divisional competition at Tuesday night’s Southern Section Masters Meet. That dominance was on display one final time this year and it made them champions on the highest stage.

BURBANK ? Coming into Thursday?s Pacific League swimming finals at Burbank High, the Crescenta Valley High girls? swimming team had little to gain, having already clinched at least a share of the league crown by winning the league dual-meet championship on April 23. The opposite could be said for the Falcons boys? team, which entered the final league meet needing, for the third year in a row, a win to force a share of the league title. Led by three relay victories and individual depth, Crescenta Valley?