Four Palisadians on Loyola High’s varsity swimming and diving team helped the Cubs throughout their historic season, and the team won the Division 1 CIF finals at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach on May 13. Loyola’s 287 points outdid runner-up Capistrano Valley (218) and third-place Corona del Mar (192.5). The Cubs began their year by traveling to Sacramento and defeating Northern California perennial powers, Jesuit High, Bellarmine Prep and Granite Bay. During the spring, the Cubs swam in dual meets in Los Angeles and Orange County and defeated some of the top swim programs in the area, including Alemany, Crespi, Notre Dame, Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake. Loyola then took second at the Milikan Relays on March 19 and third at the Mission Viejo Invite on April 2. On April 19, Loyola faced its toughest competition of the season in a three-way meet with Corona and Capistrano (the 2009 and 2010 CIF Division 1 champions) and the Cubs proved to be up to the challenge, beating Corona, 104-66, and Capistrano, 105-65. On May 5, Loyola won the Mission League for a record fifth year in a row, with the team still practicing twice a day (generally four and a half hours a day during the week and three hours on Saturday), a practice schedule similar to most collegiate teams. The Cubs were coached by Kevin Mann, Chris Gibson, Matt Schaeffer and Erik Healy. Palisadians on the team included senior Michael Schem (who will swim at Southern Methodist in the fall), junior Kurtis Rossie, sophomore Andrew Meylan and senior diver Kyle Lutz (who will attend Colorado College). The Loyola 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams each won their races at CIF; Schem swam the 100 butterfly, Rossie the 500 freestyle, Meylan the 200 freestyle and Lutz placed 18th in diving to contribute to the victory. Palisadians Tommy Collins and Alex Kahn also contributed on the JV team.
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