PaliHi Takes Boys, Girls Swimming Titles

In the end, it wasn’t even that close. Seeking both a boys and girls City swimming title for the first time since 2003, Palisades High cruised in both, winning 11 out of 21 individual and relay events last Friday at East L.A. College. The final margins read 468-425 for the boys and 558-287 for the girls, with Cleveland High finishing second in both.
Sophomore Mardell Ramirez and senior Allie Vitous won four events for the girls and freshman sensation Brandon Yong led the boys with two firsts.
Ramirez’s impressive day included victories in the 100-yard freestyle (53.69) and 100-yard backstroke (59:40), but didn’t stop there. The transfer from Brentwood School, who starred for the Pali water polo team this season, also helped Pali break the City record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:55.29, teaming with freshmen Natalia Hernandez and Lilly Carthan and junior Jaymie Rossie. Ramirez also joined with Allie Vitous, Ellen Silka and Alexus Wang to win the 400 free relay (3:46.26).
Vitous, a senior captain, also defended her titles in the 200 free and 500 free, clocking times of 1:56.46 and 5:14.99, and swam the 200 and 400 free relays. Those powerful efforts helped the girls defend their City title; the boys won their first since 2005.
Yong, who in 2016 hopes to qualify for the Summer Olympics, dominated the 200 free (1:45.74) and 500 free (4:46.46).
Head coach Maggie Nance, who along with assistant Peter Fishler (a member of the 2005 title team) received a celebratory push into the pool following the victory, said the feeling was more of an at-long-last sense than anything else, a year after the boys came up just three points short against Cleveland.
“I’m so relieved,” a drenched Nance said afterwards. “It’s finally time. This has been my career goal for 10 years, to have all four teams undefeated in City (the junior varsity teams also won their respective City titles). These boys have been trying really hard for the last few years and now they’ve finally got it, and the girls have been so strong the whole way through, staying graceful and poised.
“It was amazing and fun, but really nerve-wracking. [Last year for the boys] was really frustrating because they could have won. This year is actually sweeter after what happened last year.”
Junior Tristan Marsh defended his 200-yard individual medley crown, winning by six seconds with a time of 1:58.19. Marsh and fellow junior Patrick Huggins finished second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard butterfly behind Cleveland’s Yoessef Tibazi, who set a City record with a time of :49.96.
Freshman Sean Steele placed second in the 500 free (4:49), while junior Carsten Kampe was second in the 50 free (:22.3). Senior Anton Pronichenko was third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:02.7.
For the girls, Carthan won the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.1), while junior Soheini Deva was second in the 50 free at (:26.2). Junior Evelina van Norden was third in the 50 free at (:26.3) and second in the 100 breaststroke at (1:11.9).