Dynastic Dolphins Triumph Again

Boys Fitted with City Crown for Fourth Consecutive Year; Girls Finish Second

Winning the City Section title is something members of the Palisades High boys varsity swim team expected to do when the season began. And that lofty goal was achieved barely halfway into last Wednesday afternoon’s City Finals meet at the Los Angeles Memorial pool. From then on, the Dolphins were merely out to show just how superior they were to the rest of the competing teams. In winning their fourth consecutive team title and 11th overall, Palisades’ boys established themselves as one of the best squads in section history and served notice that they aren’t done yet. “What I’m proud of the most with this team is how hard we worked and the humility we showed all year even though we knew we were good,” said the Dolphins’ senior captain David Nonberg. “And even though we were winning easily all the way today, we still gave it our all in every event. We were so prepared–we tapered really well for this meet.” Palisades accumulated a whopping 262 points, almost lapping second-place Cleveland (193) and third-place Birmingham (182). By intermission the Dolphins had already built an insurmountable 53-point lead, thanks in part to the 200 medley relay team of Brian Johnson, Evan Guze, Peter Fishler and Paris Hays, which won in 1:43.55 to earn Pali 32 points. Fishler and Eric Hamer finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle before Johnson won the 200 individual medley and Hays and Nonberg finished 1-2 in the 50 freestyle. Fishler opened the second half of the meet with a third place swim in the 100 butterfly, Hays followed by winning the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay foursome of Nonberg, Hamer, Andrew Le and Hays won in 1:32.50. Johnson won the 100 Backstroke to earn Palisades an additional 16 points and the 400 freestyle relay of Fishler, Johnson, Hamer and Nonberg closed the meet in style, winning by almost four seconds. “I raced the same guy (Michael Chiu of Cleveland) in four events and his best 100 Back time was better than mine going into today’s meet, so I wasn’t taking anything for granted,” Johnson said. “The key was that we all swam better than we did at the prelims last week. Our only concern on that final relay was not to get disqualified. It’s better to lose six points and finish second than lose 32 on a DQ. So we played it real safe.” It was a disqualification in the 200 freestyle relay at the prelims that came back to haunt the Dolphins’ girls team. For while the boys were continuing their dynasty in a romp, the girls were locked in a tight points race with defending champion Cleveland. Trying to make it a “Dolphin Double,” the girls fell just short, finishing second with 223 points, only 18 behind the frontrunning Cavaliers. For a team as young as Palisades, which consisted almost entirely of freshman and sophomores, just being in contention for the City title was a noteworthy accomplishment. “I told the girls they have nothing to be ashamed of,” Pali Head Coach Maggie Nance said. “Second place is awesome. We didn’t lose, we got second place. I mean, I’ve got seven freshmen swimming at City finals. I couldn’t have asked for more than they gave.” The Dolphins’ 400 freestyle relay, consisting of Julie Wynn, Alexandra Ehrgott, Patrice Dodd and Chelsea Davidoff, won by over two seconds in the final event. At the halfway point, Pali led Cleveland, 80-67, but the previous week’s disqualification coupled with 27 points the Cavaliers picked up in diving, proved too much in the end. A key race was the 200 medley relay, where Palisades’ foursome of Kristen Fujii, Davidoff, Cayley Cline and Wynn, finished second to El Camino Real by 19 hundreths of a second. “That one race was not the deciding factor, it only would’ve made the final score a little closer,” Nance said. “The bottom line is that we just didn’t have a lot of places where we could move up a few spots from our prelim positions whereas Cleveland did. You have to give them credit. They performed well enough to win.” Fujii was third in the 200 freestyle, Kathryn Cullen was sixth in the 200 individual medley and Wynn was third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 50 freestyle. Hanna Kim was runner-up in the 100 backstroke, Ehrgott and Davidoff were third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke, Cline won the consolation finals of the 100 butterfly and Davidoff placed third in the 500 freestyle. Winners of 15 City titles, the Dolphin girls could arrive at next season’s City Finals as the team to beat right along with the boys. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case,” Nance said. “For the boys, there’s no end in sight because we have a lot of talent and a lot of depth. And the girls came so close this year and will only get better. So the future of the program looks good.” Sophomore Ashley Baele earned four points for the girls in diving while senior Sean Donohue scored three points to the boys’ total. Highlights from the frosh/soph meet included freshman Carl Kaplan winning the boys’ 100 freestyle and finishing third in the 50 freestyle, sophomore Vlad Ufimtsev winning the 200 freestyle and taking fifth in the 50 butterfly and the girls’ 200 medley relay team of Breanna Thompson, Alysa Gluckman, Lisa Kil and Kathryn Smith swimming fourth.