CIF-SS Girls Swimming Championships Preview

High school athletes from the CIF Southern Section will jump into the pool throughout the week at Riverside City College for the 2016 swim finals. 

On the Division 2 girls side, Ayala’s Kenisha Liu and Redlands’ Melissa Pepper return with the hope of capping off their high school careers on top.

Continue reading “CIF-SS Girls Swimming Championships Preview” »

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Chino Hills’ Michael Tenney and Los Osos’ Rachel Forbes successful at Baseline Swim Championships

Baseline League >> Chino Hills’ Michael Tenney finished first in the boys 200 and 500 yard freestyle events at the Baseline League Championship meet. Rachel Forbes of Los Osos finished first in the girls 200 and 500 free. Richie Campbell of Damien had first place finishes in the 50 and 100 free events.

Palomares League >> The Bulldogs’ defending CIF State Champion, Kenisha Liu, finished first in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle events at the Palomares League Championships. Liu finished with a time of 1 minute and 46.73 seconds in the 200, six seconds ahead of Katie Sulkevich of Glendora. In the 100, Liu finished with a three second lead over Glendora’s Catherine Sanchez with a time of 49.87.

Citrus Belt League >> Redlands East Valley won a school record 15 individual titles, including the girls 400 freestyle relay by Emily Longfellow, Autumn D’Arcy, Emily Rigsby and Sydney Benveniste. Jack Moyles won the boys 100 breaststroke event for REV. Redlands High School’s Niki Proctor won the girls 100 breaststroke event while Melissa Pepper won the 50 free with a time of 24.70 seconds.

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Ayala swimmer Kenisha Liu commits to UCLA

Ayala High School swimmer Kenisha Liu has verbally committed to the UCLA swim program.

The senior swimmer had various Division 1 programs showing interest in her talent from all over the country.

“I had a lot of schools to choose from,” she said. “Some of these schools included Princeton, Purdue, Stanford, Duke, University of Arizona and of course UCLA.”

With several of the options she mentioned located out of state, Liu decided to stay in California to continue her aquatics career.

“UCLA has such a great atmosphere. When I went there I could really tell that all the girls liked each other and really wanted to push each other to be better,” Liu said when asked about her decision.

Liu not only noticed the support system and drive to motivate one another from the athletes but from coach Cyndi Gallagher.

“(I believe she) can help me reach my goals and get me where I want to be,” Liu stated.

Kenisha Liu

While she has decided on a program, she is not sure what events she will be competing in at the moment.

“I know one of the reasons they recruited me was because they saw my versatility,” Liu explained. “(But) as of now, I don’t think they have a set plan.”

Her versatility was on display after a successful 2014-15 season that earned her the title as the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin’s swimmer of the year.

She concluded her junior campaign by winning two individual events at the inaugural CIF State Championship Meet, competing in the Girls 100 and 200-yard freestyle events.

With time to reflect on her verbal commitment, Liu will be the first to tell you that she did not get to this point in her career alone.

“I really appreciate people like coach Jim Johnson and my Brea Aquatics club team as well as my high school coaches (coach Marceau and coach Mount) and the rest of my high school swim team,” she said. “My parents and my friends are such a great support system. They have all really helped me get to where I am.”
 

 

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Kenisha Liu of Ayala wins two individual titles at inaugural CIF State Swimming Championships

Ayala’s Kenisha Liu finished second in the 200 yard freestyle during the CIF division 2 swimming finals in the Riverside Aquatics Complex at Riverside City College in Riverside, Calif., on Saturday, May 16, 2015. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/ Pasadena Star-News)

Kenisha Liu of Ayala High School won two individual events at the inaugural CIF State Championship Meet. She competed in the Girls 100 and 200-yard freestyle events.

She had a time of 1 minute and 46.14 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle championship race.

“I was so nervous before my 200 free because I had set goals for myself before the meet and once I won I felt a lot of relief,” Liu said. “Going into the 100 free, I had calmed down and I was just motivated to win another event.”

Continue reading “Kenisha Liu of Ayala wins two individual titles at inaugural CIF State Swimming Championships” »

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CIF State Swim and Dive: Day 1 Inland Area results and updates

Ayala’s Kenisha Liu will be seeded second, following her time of 1 minute and 49.12 seconds in the prelims, going into the Girls 200-Yard Freestyle Championship Race at the CIF State Swimming and Diving meet.

Liu will compete in the Girls 100 free championship race after a 50.42 second prelim time earned her the second seed.

Mikki Thompson of Ayala finished 13th in standings following prelims and will compete in the consolation finals of the girls 200 IM.

Michael Tenney of Chino Hills qualified for the boys 500 freestyle event as the No. 5 seed following a time of 4:30.29 . He also finished 18th in the Boys 200 free. He will be an alternate for consolation finals.

Stay tuned for more throughout the day

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Local area swimmers headed to inaugural CIF State meet

Inaugural CIF State Swimming and Diving

Event 3 – Girls 200 Medley Relay

No. 21 seed RedlandsCIF State Swim

1) Melissa Pepper 2) Summer D’Arcy 3) Niki Proctor 4) Alex Zak 5) Victoria Benitez 6) Mia Ryan 7) Libby Pry

No. 22 seed Redlands East Valley

1) Emily Longfellow 2) Alexa Melara 3) Autumn D’Arcy 4) Emily Rigsby 5) Sidney McNeil 6) Erin Doolittle 7) Allison Wieseler

Event 4 – Boys 200 Medley Relay 

No. 9 seed Redlands East Valley

1) Fernando Duenas 2) Jack Moyles 3) Benji Duenas 4) Kyle Acevedo 5) Reymond Munson 6) Christian Solis 7) Wade Allsup 8) Daniel Precie

No. 23 seed Damien

1) Steven Fleurant 2) Mac Quinn 3) Grant Farias 4) Richie Campbell 5) Diego Torres-Casso 6) Sean Murakoshi 7) Jakob Burris 8) Max Ries

Event 5 – Girls 200 Freestyle

No. 2 seed Ayala – Kenisha Liu

Event 6 – Boys 200 Free

No. 16 Chino Hills – Michael Tenney

Event 7 – Girls 200 IM

No. 13 seed Mikki Thompson

Event 8 – Boys 200 IM

No. 21 seed Redlands – Collin Green

Event 9 – Girls 50 Free

No. 15 seed Redlands – Melissa Pepper

Event 10 – Boys 50 Yard Free

No. 13 seed Damien – Richie Campbell

Event 11 – Girls 100 Butterfly

No. 23 seed Diamond Bar – Kathleen Gani

Event 12 – Boys 100 Butterfly

No. 18 seed Redlands East Valley – Fernando Duenas

Event 13 – Girls 100 Yard Freestyle

No. 1 seed Ayala – Kenisha Liu

Event 14 – Boys 100 Yard Free

N/A

Event 15 – Girls 500 Free

No. 8 seed Ayala – Mikki Thompson

No. 22 seed Redlands – Marleigh Aulis

Event 16 – Boys 500 Free

No. 10 seed Chino Hills – Michael Tenney

No. 17 seed Redlands – Collin Green

Event 17 – Girls 200 Free Relay

No. 7 seed Ayala

1)  Megan Delgado 2) Shannon Steele 3) Mikki Thompson 4) Kenisha Liu 5) Emma Ahadoberry 6) Marissa Gaslan 7) Colleen Gamboa 8) Sawyer Belville

Event 19 – Girls 100 Back

N/A

Event 20 – Boys 100 Backstroke

No. 17 seed Redlands East Valley – Fernando Duenas

Event 21 – Girls 100 Breaststroke

No. 23 seed Redlands – Niki Proctor

Event 22 – Boys 100 Breaststroke

No. 18 seed Los Osos – Brian Whittington

No. 22 seed Redlands East Valley – Jack Moyles

Event 23 – Girls 400 Free Relay

No. 8 seed Ayala

1)  Megan Delgado 2) Shannon Steele 3) Mikki Thompson 4) Kenisha Liu 5) Emma Ahadoberry 6) Marissa Gaslan 7) Colleen Gamboa 8) Sawyer Belville

No. 22 seed Redlands East Valley

1) Emily Longfellow 2) Mikayla Jean 3) Autumn D’Arcy 4) Emily Rigsby 5) Erin Doolittle 6) Sidney McNeil 7) Allison Wieseler

Event 24 – Boys 400 Yard Free

No. 17 Redlands
1) Tom Frye 2) Tyler Ocasio-Pare 3) Collin Green 4) Shea Macready 5) Matthew Keeling 6) Jack Topoleski 7) Nick Cortz 8) Matthew Ryan

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Ayala’s Kenisha Liu breaks 36-year old CIF D2 record in 100 Free

Junior Kenisha Liu of Ayala is a back-to-back champion in the 100-yard freestyle event while breaking a new meet record at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 record with a time of 49.72 seconds, that has stood strong for over 36-years.

The record was set in 1979 by Jill Sterkel from Hacienda Heights Wilson High.

“I just wanted to bounce back (from her first event in the 200 free) and see if I could get first in this event because I won it last year,” she said. “I wanted to be a defending champion.”

Ayala girls' 200 yard freestyle team that broke its record from 2013 with a time of 1:36.30.

Ayala girls’ 200 yard freestyle team that broke its record from 2013 with a time of 1:36.30.

Liu finished second in the 200 free event with a time of 1 minute and 47.22 seconds.

“I wanted to get first but I got second,” she said. “Its okay because Taylor Ault (of Sonora High) who won was amazing.”

Her efforts contributed to the team’s third place finish in the meet behind Crean Lutheran and Glendora.

Lui also competed in Ayala’s 200-yard freestyle relay team which broke its own record from 2013 with a time of 1 minute and 36.30 seconds. Liu was one of two members, along with Megan Delgado, of this year’s team that was also in the record-setting event in 2013.

Freshman Mikki Thompson and junior Shannon Steele were also apart of the 2015 Ayala team.

The group of Ayala girls also finished third in the overall team standings behind Crean Lutheran and Glendora.

Thompson finished third in the 200 IM and 500 free championship events.

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