SWIMMING: Congratulations to the Keppel boys and girls swimming teams for winning CIF-SS Division IV team titles on Thursday. It's La Canada's boys turn on Saturday

The Aztecs earned five first-place finishes and compiled a total of 289.50 points, finishing in front of Oxford Academy (183) and Charter Oak (168).
"They worked harder this year because they knew that they were within reach," Perez said. "It's one of those things where they knew that it wasn't going to be handed to them and I think they came here to prove something."
Chiu, a junior, proved his worth by blitzing through the field to win the boys 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 32.78 seconds, breaking Matt Sulkevich of Northview's 2005 mark of 4:31.74.
"It was really special today because I had to face some unfortunate obstacles such as cramps and fatigue," Chiu said. "I thought it was really good that I broke the record under the circumstances."
He also won the boys 200 freestyle, narrowly missing the Division IV record he set during Tuesday's prelims by finishing in 1:41.41. His prelim time of 1:41.40 broke Sulkevich's mark of 1:41.48 set in 2005.
"It really means a lot to win both events, but I just wanted to contribute to the team's score," Chiu said.
Teammate Christopher Luu also made a solid contribution to Keppel's cause, winning the 200 IM in 1:56.46 and the 100 breaststroke in 58.40.
Keppel's team of Luu, Chiu, Perry Lee and Nick Perezsandi placed first in the boys 200 medley relay. La Salle (Avelino Enriquez, Matt Bamberger, Ben David and Justin Fujiwara) finished second (1:41.94) and Alhambra (Shahnur Islam, Johnson Tang, Hunter Huang and Hamoon Mhran) was third (1:42.83).
The Aztecs girls collected four first-place finishes and 184 points to edge Bonita (177) and St. Margaret's Episcopal of San Juan Capistrano (137).
"Although we lost a lot of seniors last year, we knew we had some quality swimmers, but we just didn't know where we would stand," Perez said. "Our fast swimmers got faster and we re-strategized and put people in the best position possible. It really was like playing chess."
Keppel sophomore Katherine Tse got revenge of sorts by winning the 50 free (24.15) over Palmdale's Mary Brown (24.53).
"She's good competition and she pushes me," Tse said of Brown, who finished ahead of Tse in 2006. "Whoever wins, it's a good race.
"It's been my goal to win CIF since eighth grade, so to come here and win is truly exciting."
Tse also improved on her second-place finish in 2006 by finishing first in the 100 free in 52.34, ahead of Immanuel Christian's Mary Hanson (53.60).
“It was hard, but that’s how races should be,” Tse said. “My club coach (Jeff Julian) told me to fight with myself instead of the rest of the field.”
Aztecs sophomore Iris Wang was first in the 100 butterfly (1:01.50).
Keppel closed out its first girls title when Wang teamed with Tse, Megan Chiu and Chatherine Lu to win the 400 freestyle relay.
Following the team awards, Perez and Keppel principal Russ Yamanaka were thrown in the pool by happy Keppel swimmers.
"It was a refreshing end to the season," Perez said.
*Gabrielino's team of Catherine Polityllo, Sandy Hon, Christine Nguyen and Amber Tan finished second in the girls 200 medley relay, and Keppel's team of Tse, Wang, Lu and Megan Chiu was third.
*The Eagles' team of Hon, Nguyen, Tan and Tiffany Chung finished second in the girls 200 free relay (1:44.28).
*Alhambra’s boys team placed fourth, La Salle was fifth, Gabrielino was seventh and Maranatha was 14th.
*Gabrielino’s girls team finished in fourth place, Maranatha was ninth, La Salle placed 10th, while Montebello was 13th.
*Bosco Tech's Cesare Miramontes won the divisional boys 1-meter diving title with a score of 375.80 on Wednesday at Claremont-McKenna College. Alhambra's Danny Luu was second.

DIVING CHAMPS!
The CIF-SS Division II diving finals took place on Tuesday at Westlake High School with locals dominating the competition.
La Canada High School’s John Geyer won the boys title with a total score of 546.80, and teammate Brandon Liu finished third with a total of 381.65.
In the girls competition, Pasadena Poly sisters Felicitas and Cosima Lenz placed first and second respectively.
Felicitas Lenz won it with a score of 495.05, just ahead of her sister Cosima, who finished with 489.05.
South Pasadena’s Caitlin Yuen was sixth overall (386.3) and Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Brittany Salas finished eighth (368.55).

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Above: La Canada's Ian Mirisola set two Rio Hondo League records at last week's finals, and is hoping to lead the Spartans to a second straight Division II team title on Saturday. The Spartans are set to defend their title when the meet starts at 10 a.m.

Story from Friday's Rio Hondo League finals
PASADENA - It was just another glorious record-setting afternoon for the La Canada High School boys swim team during Friday's Rio Hondo League finals at Pasadena City College.
Ian Mirisola, Jerrold Lee, Devon Borisoff and the rest of the Spartans made it clear they have every intention of defending their CIF-Southern Section Division II team title on Saturday at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.
Mirisola set RHL records in the 200 medley (1:56.01) and 100 backstroke (53.03), and Lee broke former teammate Andrew Nguyen's record in the 500 freestyle, winning in 4:37.77 as the Spartans set two more RHL records in the relays.
Mirisola bettered two individual records and was part of the Spartans' record-setting 400-relay team (3:15.68) that broke their own 2006 record (3:16.05).
The junior's 1:56.01 time in the 200 medley broke a 17-year-old record previously held by San Marino's Diazo Misuoka, who turned in a 1:57.68 in 1991.
In the 100 backstroke, Mirisola's 53.03 broke Mike Burdick's (San Marino) mark of 53.75, set in 1996.
"To come in here and set two records is a great feeling," Mirisola said. "We know we're going back to CIF really strong. Hopefully, I can win a couple of (CIF) titles and we can win another (team) championship."
Lee, who won the 100 butterfly (52.65) to go with his record-setting performance in the 500 free, won three first-place medals by anchoring the 400-relay team that included Mirisola, Julian Lawrence and Mark Nakanishi.
Borisoff was a two-time winner for the Spartans, winning the 50 freestyle (21.75) and finishing second to South Pasadena's Anders MacCarthy in the 100 free. MacCarthy won in 48.48, to Borisoff's 48.60.
Borisoff earned his second first-place medal by anchoring the Spartans' record-setting 200 free-relay team that included Wes Lewis, Chris Myers and Peter Chi. Their time of 1:27.63 broke the Spartans' 2006 record of 1:27.77.
South Pasadena's girls swim team, which won the RHL regular season team title for the first time since 1998, was paced by double winners Catherine Kwan and Stephanie Ah-Quah.
Kwan battled it out in two thrilling races against La Ca ada's Carolyn Boosalis, winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races.
Kwan, a senior, turned in a 25.23 to Boosalis' 25.46 in the 50 free, then touched the wall just ahead of Boosalis in the 100 free, swimming 55.12 to Boosalis' 55.29.
"I forgot how fun it was to race," Kwan said. "It can be kind of intimidating going up against her (Boosalis), but my coach told me to go all out and it paid off."
Ah-Quah, one of several freshman standouts for the Tigers, won easily in the 100 butterfly (1:01.19) and again in the 100 backstroke (1:00.93).
There was another freshman from San Marino who made things look easy.
The Titans' Berklie Oscarson romped to victory in the 200-yard medley (2:14.68) and returned later to win by more than two seconds in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.72).
The Spartans' girls were paced by their great distance swimmer Natasha Nguyen, who also hopes to win a pair of CIF individual titles next week.
The junior won by more than 10 seconds in the 200 freestyle (1:56.39), which almost broke the RHL record of 1:54.77.
Nguyen was even more impressive in the 500 free, winning in 5:18.37, more than 15 seconds faster than her closest competitor.