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” »
Redlands East Valley’s Emily Longfellow
Longfellow, who is preparing for her senior season with the REV Wildcats, was named to the San Bernardino Sun All-Area Swim First Team in 2014-15.
The REV captain took first place in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 consolation finals of the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.35. She also finished sixth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.50.
She competed with her teammates in the 400 freestyle relay (3:33.24) and in the 200 medley relay (1:47.75). REV finished fifth in both relays.
The Girls 200 IM will feature a number of local coverage area swimmers.
Freshman Mikki Thompson of Ayala finished with the fastest time among area swimmers with a time of 2 minutes and 06.03 seconds, which lead to her being seeded third going into the championship race. 
Kathleen Gani of Diamond Bar is seeded No. 6 while Mikayla Jean of Redlands East Valley is seeded at No. 9. Gani had a time of 2:07.10 while Jean had a time of 2:08.28.
Emily Longfellow of REV finished third in the Girls 200 IM and is seeded at No. 10, placing her in the consolation finals. Longfellow missed a chance at the championship race by .02 after posting a time of 2:08.30.
Longfellow also competed in the 200 Medley Relay to meet the meet along with REV teammates, Alexa Melara, Autumn D’Arcy and Emily Rigsby. REV finished with a time of 1:48.29.
Redlands (Melissa Pepper, Summer D’Arcy, Niki Proctor and Alex Zak ) placed No. 6 going into the championship race with a time of 1:48.97.
Diamond Bar will also compete in the race as the No. 7 seed after a time of 1:49.37 in the prelims. Diamond Bar’s team consist of Gani, Jenna Lloyd, Kelly Cheng and Kelsey Lloyd.
For Ayala, Kenisha Liu qualified for the 100 yard free championship race following a prelim time of 51.21. Rigsby will compete in the consolation race.
There is plenty to watch out for during the upcoming week from Riverside City College, where the CIF Swimming and Diving Championships will take place from May 11-16. 
Monday will feature divers from Division 2 and Division 3 schools.
Redlands East Valley’s Jacklyn Edwards and Yucaipa’s Victoria Rice will be among the participants.
There will be many storylines to consider going in to the meet such as how Redlands High will do without Kyle Gornay, who graduated last year and Eric Dahnke, who retired as the Redlands High swimming coach in December following a 19-year stint at the school. Tyler Harp has taken over the duties.
Familiar faces to watch out for include Melissa Pepper of Redlands along with Emily Longfellow and Emily Rigsby of Redlands East Valley.
Redlands East Valley girls swimming won its first Citrus Belt League title. (Ed Castro / Redlands Daily Facts)
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Diving:
Monday, May 11
Division 2 (Boys at 8:30 a.m., Girls at 1 p.m.)
Division 3 for Boys and Girls will be at 5 p.m.
Tuesday, May 12
Division 1 (Boys at 8:30 a.m., Girls at 1 p.m.)
Division 4 (Boys and Girls will be at 5 p.m.)
Swimming:
Wednesday, May 13
Division 4 Prelims at 9 a.m.
Division 3 Prelims at 4 p.m.
Thursday, May 14
Division 1 Prelims at 9 a.m.
Division 3 Finals at 5 p.m.
Friday, May 15
Division 2 Prelims at 9 a.m.
Division 4 Finals at 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
Division 2 Finals at 10 a.m.
Diving State Qualifications (Top 16 boys and Top 16 girls) at 1:30 p.m.
Division 1 Finals at 5 p.m.