The Grossmont High School swimming program has collected nine league titles for its boys teams and the last two Grossmont North League girls titles. Last Saturday at Mt. Carmel High School, the Foothillers program put itself squarely on the San Diego Section map with a runner-up finish in the girls Division II championships. The Grossmont boys team finished fourth.

"The kids worked hard all year. They were constantly breaking school records, so we knew we had something special," said Foothillers coach Doug Selby.

The Grossmont girls team finished second to Division II champion University of San Diego High School. The Dons amassed a meet-best 193 points; the Foothillers totaled 160 points in finishing ahead of third-place Clairemont (137 points). Defending champion Coronado finished in fourth place with 130 points ahead of fifth-place Santana (111 points).

Grossmont senior Kelly Enright received the CIF Sportsmanship award during the trophy presentation. Selby called the four-year team member "the heart and soul" of the girls squad. Enright participated in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke events during the division prelims. She was a non-finalist in the 100 free but won the consolation championship in the backstroke at last Saturday’s division finals with a time of 1:04.42. She was also a member of the school’s victorious 200-yard medley relay team that included teammates Kate Thornton, Lauren Clements and Claire Nicolson.

The 200 medley relay was the only event in which the girls team captured a championship heat event, though the Foothillers finished second in the meet-concluding 400-yard freestyle relay and was fourth in the 200 freestyle realy. Enright, along with Clements, joined Mary Westervelt and Danielle Peeples as members of the 400 free relay squad. Peeples, Kari Keach, Thornton and Westervelt comprised the 200 free relay unit.

Leading the Grossmont girls team with championship heat place-finishes were Thornton (second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 individual medley), Westervelt (fourth in the backstroke and sixth in the 100 freestyle); Clements (fourth, 100 butterfly) and Peeples (sixth, 200 freestyle).

Amanda Matuk captured the girls consolation breaststroke finals while Clements was second in the consolation 50 free finals and Keach was third in the consolation 100 butterfly finals.

Leading the Foothiller boys team with fourth-place championship heat place-finishes were the 200 medley relay unit of Eric Stone, John Tolosko, Jeff Stine and Spencer Woolcott and the 200 free relay team of Tim Hoover, Billy Deridder, David Richards and Woolcott. Hoover finished sixth in the 100 backstroke. Tim Kline won the 200 IM consolation championship while teammate Alex Smith was fifth (11th overall) in the same event. Stone finished second (eighth overall) in the consolation 100 backstroke finals while Tolosko was third (ninth overall) in the consolation 100 breaststroke finals. David Lefstein was sixth (12th overall) in consolation 500 free finals.

Grossmont’s scoring potential got a positive jump-start with the division’s diving championships May 11 at Mesa College. Sophomore Randin Lambrecht finished third in the boys field while senior Rebecca Riley finished fifth in the girls field. Lambrecht, who finished second in the Grossmont North League finals, bettered his seed score with a finals mark of 282.35 points while Riley (also second in the Grossmont North League finals) out-pointed Grossmont South League champion Lindsay Schmidt of Helix (who finished ninth).

Foothillers dive coach Alexis Rogers called Lambrecht’s performance "a good ending to a great season. "He worked hard for that," Rogers said. Rogers called Riley’s performance "a great finish for a first-year diver."

Grossmont North League boys champion B.J. Lines closed out his senior year with a sixth-place finish at the Division I diving championships May 17 at Mesa College. Lines bettered his entry mark of 329.90 points with a finals performance of 330.25 points to place ahead of Grossmont South League champion William Glowniak of Granite Hills (ninth, 295.25 points). Lines secured his position on the strength of his final dive — a forward double somersault from the tuck position.

"I wanted to be consistent in my diving — doing what I knew I could do and come in expecting the best," said Lines, who improved greatly on his 11th place showing as a junior. "I think I did really well. Of course, I would like to have done better but I think I did well."

Lines’ top score of the season came at the Santana Invitational at Helix High when he placed second with 357 points.

Glowniak, meanwhile, relied on raw talent to surpass his entry score of 271.75 points. Because of outside commitments, the senior had been limited to just four practices in the past month. He did not dive his junior year after competing as a sophomore.

"William really out a lot of effort into the meet to approach B.J., who is an experienced diver. To be close to B.J., William had to show off all his talents," said Granite Hills dive coach Alexis Rogers (who also doubles as the Grossmont dive coach).

"The key to diving is waiting," Glowniak said. "You win it when you go high and lose it when you rush it."

West Hills senior Carissa Fite (Grossmont North League champion) finished 12th in the Division I girls diving competition.

Though the Valhalla boys team failed to "three-peat" as Division I swim champions, the Norsemen did leave their imprint on this year’s Division I meet, held prior to the Division II finals. Junior Clint McLaughlin swam to the 200 freestyle title while finishing runner-up in the 100 butterfly finals. Senior Adam Dole repeated his championship in the 500 freestyle while finishing third in the 200 free. Valhalla finished fifth in the boys team standings. Torrey Pines swept this year’s boys and girls Division I team titles.

The Norsemen unit of Nick Ayers, Corey O’Bryan, McLaughlin and Dole finished third in 400 free relay while Valhalla senior Anthony Aranico finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke. The Valhalla foursome of Ayers, Jeff El-Haji, Eugene Kim and Kevin Simpson placed third (ninth overall) in consolation 200 free relay.

Both Granite Hills and West Hills joined Valhalla as top 10 teams in the Division I boys standings. The Eagles finished eighth; the Wolf Pack finished 10th.

West Hills junior Tim Fuller had an eventful day by finishing second in both the 100 and 200 free finals. Fuller made it a top three showing for Grossmont South League swimmers in the 200 free along with Valhalla’s McLaughlin (first) and Dole (third). Fuller helped West Hills win the consolation title in the 400 free relay along with Justin Canty, Eric Ziegler and Chris Salsbury. Canty captured the consolation backstroke title.

The Granite Hills unit of Marc Maes, Derek Dawson, Adrian Frazier and Jarrett Pfost finished third in the 200 medley relay while Maes, and Pfost joined teammates Josh Lehmann and Geodie Dudley in helping guide the Eagles to fourth place in the 200 free relay. Maes also placed fourth in the 100 backstroke finals. Frazier (butterfly) and Dawson (breaststroke) won consolation titles in their specialty events.

Granite Hills (sixth) finished ahead of Valhalla (eighth) and West Hills (10th) in the Division I girls team standings. Top individuals included Valhalla’s Holly Hansen and Granite Hills’ Justine Elgas, who finished third in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively. Granite Hills’ Ashley Elgas was fourth in the breaststroke while Granite Hills’ Nicole Fisher finished fifth in both the 50 and 100 free finals. West Hills’ Alison Dalldorf took a fifth in the breaststroke.

Valhalla, paced by Hansen, Natalie Luscomb, Keri Dole and Lauren Crow, finished fifth in the 200 medley relay while Granite Hills, keyed by Nicole Fisher, Justine Elgas, Ashley Elgas and Cammi Howard, finished fifth in the 400 free relay. Valhalla (Hansen, Camille Thompson, Celina North and Lauren Crow) placed sixth in 400 free relay. Granite Hills (Fisher, Ashley Elgas, Krista Kenna and Megan Bellwood) finished sixth in the 200 free relay.

Rounding out conference place-winners in championship finals events were Granite Hills’ Ashley Elgas (sixth, 200 IM), West Hills freshman Tarolyn Robertson (sixth, 500 free) and Valhalla sophomore Lauren Crow (sixth, 100 backstroke). Granite Hills’ Howard won the consolation 100 backstroke finals while Granite Hills (Howard, Justine Elgas, Fatima Elashawy and Bellwood) captured the consolation title in the 200 medley relay and Valhalla (Natalie Luscomb, North, Dole and Thompson) won the consolation title in the 200 free relay.

Santana’s Amrah Brunt (second, 100 butterfly), Michelle Sanks (fourth in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle), Catherine Gordon (fifth, 200 IM) and Megan Sheehan (sixth, 500 freestyle) led Santana with championship heat place-finishes in the girls finals. The Sultans quartet of Brunt, Jessica Pace, Sheehan and Janelle Sammons was third in the 400 free relay. El Capitan’s Amanda Lorenz was third in the 500 free championship finals.

Four Grossmont Conference teams finished among the top 10 Division II boys teams. Joining the Footlhillers were Santana (seventh), El Capitan (ninth) and Helix (10th).

Joey Smithey led El Capitan’s boys team with second-place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. The defending champion in both events, Smithey (1:59.33) was upstaged this year by Scripps Ranch’s Ryan Naylor (1:58.07) in the IM while Valley Center’s Kevin Callister (58.19) bested Smithey (59.24) in the breaststroke, an event in which the El Cap swimmer had won back-to-back titles.

Santana’s Andrew Gordon (fourth in the breaststroke and sixth in the 200 IM) and Helix’s Steven Savoie (sixth, breaststroke) rounded out individual championship finals palce-finishers while the Sultans 400 free relay team of Nick Breshears, Cory Wixom, Gordon and Andrew McPartland was fourth, followed by the Helix foursome of Abrham Ruiz, Jesse Hatch, Savoie and Scott Lindeneau in sixth.

El Capitan’s 200 free relay team of Paul Richter, Kevin Heton, Jeff Underwood and Austin Waits won the boys consolation title. Steele Canyon was led by Myles Still’s fifth-place finish in the boys consolation 500 free finals.