DOLPHIN REPORT

BY ZACH CAVANAGH, DANA POINT TIMES

Girls Swimming Wins FirstEver League Championship

Dana Hills has fielded a girls swim team since 1977, and on Friday, April 28, the Dolphins made program history. Behind three extremely consequential top-two relay finishes, plus individual wins from senior Sadie Riester and junior Julia Gordon, the Dana Hills girls swim team won its first-ever league championship at the Sea View League Finals at El Toro High School.

Riester, Gordon, Kate and Emma McCulloch, Caroline McKenzie and Stephanie Parker all qualified for the CIF-SS preliminaries, which were contested on Wednesday, May 3, at Riverside City College. CIF-SS Finals are set for Saturday, May 6, back in Riverside.

Dana Hills was the beneficiary of a clerical error in the relay races from the host and heavy favorite El Toro in the league title fight. El Toro had won every Sea View League dual meet, but at the league finals, the Chargers made a mistake with the entering of its relay teams, which did not allow El Toro to swim in any of the relay races.

So, despite El Toro holding a 144-point lead over Dana Hills in the individual events, the Dolphins scored 184 points in the relays to zero for the Chargers, which earned Dana Hills the league championship, 475-435, over second-place El Toro.

Dana Hills won the 200-yard medley relay and finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.

Riester continued to be the Dolphins’ top individual swimmer with a league championship swim in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.57 seconds. Riester also finished second in the 200-yard freestyle.

Gordon posted Dana Hills’ other individual win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.88. Gordon also finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Emma McCulloch, a senior, also scored big points for Dana Hills with a thirdplace swim in the 50-yard freestyle and a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Caroline McKenzie, a senior, scored points with a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, and sophomore Parker Bosick finished fifth in the 500yard freestyle.

CIF-SS Playoff Schedule

After a final-week charge to the CIF-SS playoffs capped by Tyler Baker’s walkoff, pinch-hit, bases-loaded single for a clinching sweep over Trabuco Hills, the Dana Hills baseball team opened the CIFSS Division 3 playoffs against an old rival at Aliso Niguel on Thursday, May 4. Results were not available at press time, but if the Dolphins advanced, they would play either Redondo Union or Newbury Park on Tuesday, May 9.

The Dana Hills girls lacrosse team captured its first league championship in program history last week, but the Dolphins were given no favors in their first-ever CIFSS playoff draw. Dana Hills (10-7) hosted No. 2 seed Chaparral on Wednesday, May 3, and the Dolphins went down, 14-2. DP