By Phillip Brents

RANCHO PENASQUITOS, May 19, 2001 -- Eastlake High sophomore Nik Clair-Williams may have had his share of time to enjoy himself during the regular season, switching events from meet to meet and sharing in the overall camaraderie of the Titan swim team. But when the post-season reared its head, Clair-Williams was more than up to the challenge.

The Titan sprinter etched his name in the school history book by winning the boys 50-yard freestyle championship at last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division II finals at the Mt. Carmel High School pool. Clair-Williams touched the wall after the two lap race in a career best time of 21.91 seconds — the first time he had broken the 22-second barrier.

"I felt kind of heavy but I did great. I wanted to go a little lower," he said immediately after the race as he reflected on his championship victory.

The Eastlake swimmer entered the finals race with the top prelim clocking of 22.16, which bettered his top regular season seed time of 22.37 he set in winning the Metro Conference title in competition held May 12 at the Loma Verde pool in Chula Vista. Clair-Williams finished ahead of a pair of Scripps Ranch swimmers, junior Devin Rhinerson (second, 22.23) and freshman Ryan Naylor (22.34), at the division finals. Naylor had entered the champion-ship meet seeded second in the event with a 22.55 time while Rhinerson was seeded sixth, though just 0.59 seconds separated the top six championship finalists.

Clair-Williams said his goals are now to defend his 50 sprint title the next two year, though he knows the competition will be fierce. "That was a freshman (Naylor) swimming in the lane next to me," the Titan standout said while showing his glistening medal to teammates.

The Division II sprint champion finished third in the 100 free consolation finals in 51.13 — a time that officially placed him ninth overall in the combined 12-man field. (The top six swimmers competed in the championship finals while the next six swimmers participated in the consolation finals.)

Eastlake finished fifth in the boys 200 medley relay in 1:49.87, improving on the four-man unit’s sixth-seeded prelim time of 1:49.93. Senior Tommy Tong, the Metro’s Swimmer of the Year, opened with a 28.83 25-yard split time in the backstroke leg, followed by junior Robert Cruz (breaststroke), sophomore Jonathan Alvarez (butterfly) and Clair-Williams (freestyle).

Tong had been scheduled to swim in the 100 backstroke consolation finals but was withdrawn from the event. Tong had recorded the fastest prelim time among the six-man consolation field. The Titans’ 200 free relay team also did not compete after being disqualified in the prelims, held May 16, also at Mt. Carmel. The Eastlake relay had posted the third-fastest regular season time in the division.

As a team, the Titans were 10th overall in the division standings.

Marian Catholic sophomore Roberto Lopez, the Metro champion in the boys 500 free, captured the event in the consolation finals with a time of 5:00.06 — finishing nearly a full five seconds ahead of runner-up Ty Lackey (5:05.03) from Patrick Henry. Lopez’ time placed him seventh overall in the divisional field. The Crusader distance standout placed eighth overall in the 200 free field after finishing second to consolation finals winner Jordan Van Norman of University of San Diego High. Van Norman, a freshman, clocked 1:50.21 to Lopez’ time of 1:51.65.

Though Bonita Vista did not get to realize its preseason goal of finishing among the top three Division I boys teams, the Barons still finished with a slew of positive performances that were highlighted by school record swims in both the girls and boys 200 and 400 freestyle relay events.

On an individual basis, sophomore Paul Hernandez was the team’s highest place-finisher after touching third in the boys 100 breaststroke in 1:01.78 — a time that fell just short of his 1:01.02 prelim clocking that had ranked second in the championship field. La Costa Canyon senior Brett Going won the event with a consideration All-American time of 59.26; Torrey Pines junior John Rogers was second in 1:01.39.

Hernandez was disqualified in the boys 200 individual medley consolation field despite posting the third-fastest time in the field during prelim competition two days earlier.

Junior Bram Hanono, a junior, placed sixth in the boys 500 championship finals, touching in 4:59.00. He was 12th in the 200 free (1:49.95).

Baron senior Mike Dinsmore helped produce the majority of the team’s other highlights in last Saturday’s finals. He won the boys 100 free consolation title with a personal best time of 49.19 after finishing second (eighth overall) in the 50 free consolation finals in 22.83 — just 0.01 second off matching his career best 22.82 time that he posted in the prelims. Dinsmore — the Metro 100 free champion and runner-up to Eastlake’s Clair-Williams in the 50 free — swam legs on both the Bonita Vista boys 200 and 400 free relays, joining seniors Josh Hernandez, Alejandro Loya and Lee Hopper on the consolation finals champion 200 unit and Josh Hernandez, Hanono and freshman Jesse Gallegos on the 400 squad that finished fourth overall in the championship finals.

The Barons lowered the school record in the boys 400 free relay to 3:21.11 (from 3:25.36 in the prelims and 3:26.89 in the regular season) and pushed the 200 free relay mark down to 1:33.50 (from the seed time of 1:33.89).

Bonita Vista’s 200 free girls relay team finished 12th in a time of 1:47.73. The finals time easily eclipsed the unit’s prelim time of 1:50.54 and regular season seed time of 1:50.92. Swimming legs on the squad were sophomores Melissa Mattero and Marissa Loya, junior Julianne Ball and senior Crisha Gallegos.

The Baron girls simply took a sledge hammer to their time in the 400 free relay, shattering their best time on the season by nearly eight seconds in winning the consolation finals heat. Mattero and Gallegos (anchor leg) were joined this time by sophomores Danielle Torre and Kim Linder.

"The school records in the relays really capped the year for us," noted Bonita Vista coach Steve Wiggs.

Helping round out the Metro’s highlights in the Division I meet was the performance of Montgomery junior Jose Serratos, who captured the boys 500 free consolation title with a season-best time of 4:59.01 — a mark that bettered his prelim time of 5:00.29 by more than one minute — while finishing 10th in the boys 200 free (1:49.57).

There were a number of close calls that kept Bonita Vista, the Metro’s regular season boys and girls champions, from scoring higher in the meet. The boys finished ninth overall teams while the girls placed 16th out of 19 teams.

Bonita Vista senior Josh Hernandez, who finished 12th in the boys 100 free, was the first alternate in the boys 50 free sprint. Jesse Gallegos was the second alternate in the boys 200 free and 100 backstroke events.

Bonita Vista finished as first alternate in the girls 200 medley relay. Baron senior Crisha Gallegos first alternate in the girls 100 free; BV’s Melissa Mattero was the second alternate in the girls 500 free.