Trifecta!

PaliHi Boys Win 3rd Straight Swim Title; Girls Finish Second

At the conclusion of the City Section swim finals last Wednesday, the Palisades High team had a surprise in store for its coaches. Rather than settle for the customary gatorade shower, Dolphin swimmers dragged first-year pilot Maggie Nance and assistant Adam Blakis into the Los Angeles Memorial pool to celebrate with them after a dominating performance in which the boys’varsity won its third consecutive City championship and the girls finished second in their pursuit of a fourth straight title. With everyone contributing, the boys accumulated 227 1/2 points to outdistance San Pedro (218) and capture their 10th Section title. Granada Hills (179) was a distant third. The Dolphin girls finished with 230 points, 19 behind first-place Cleveland. ‘Everyone stepped up and got it done,’ said PaliHi junior David Nonberg. ‘We scored in every event and that’s what won it for us.’ Paris Hays (50.96), Nonberg (52.02) and Gavin Jones (52.61) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 freestyle while sophomore Randy Lee won the 100 breastroke in 59.22, one second off the City record. Brian Johnson, Lee, Daniel Fox and Hays were second in the 200 medley relay and Gavin Jones, Peter Fishler, Hays and Nonberg swam second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:34.14). The foursome of Jones, Fishler, Johnson and Nonberg clinched Pali’s victory with a third-place finish (3:26.92) in the last event, the 400 freestyle relay. Nonberg was third in the 50 freestyle (21.74), Johnson was second in the 200 individual medley (2:07.22) and Fishler was fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:45.30). ‘We were really motivated to do it because the girls did it,’ Jones said. ‘We gave it our all as a team.’ While the boys were winning on depth, the varsity girls stayed in contention for their fourth consecutive team title because of strong individual performances by Cara Davidoff and the strength of its relay teams. Davidoff, a three-time City champion in the 50 freestyle and two-time City champion in the 100 freestyle, volunteered to compete in different events this season to help the team’s chances. She clocked 1:54.54 in winning the 200 freestyle, then won the 100 butterfly in 58.71’44 hundreths of a second off the City record set by Amy Jones of Cleveland in 2000. ‘I’m happy with both swims,’ said Davidoff, who will swim at Tulane next year. ‘In the first race, I swam close to my best time and in the butterfly I swam my fastest time. The record would’ve been nice but it’s hard to complain when you swim your best. I’m really proud of the whole team.’ Pali’s 200 freestyle relay, consisting of Julie Wynn, Chelsea Davidoff, Sheri Dunner and Cara Davidoff, won in 1:46.26, the 400 freestyle relay of Patrice Dodd, Chelsea Davidoff, Ashley Jacobs and Cara Davidoff was first in 3:53.80 and the Dolphins’ 200 medley relay team was fourth. Dodd was second and Jacobs fourth in the 100 freestyle, Chelsea Davidoff was fourth in the 100 breaststroke and Kharazi was fourth in the 500 freestyle. ‘We worked so hard all year to reach this point,’ said Blakis, dripping wet from head to toe. ‘I couldn’t be more proud of both teams. Alex [Kharazi] and Ashley [Jacobs] had phenomenal meets for the girls and of course Cara [Davidoff] dominated. The boys push each other to succeed. Brian Johnson is ready to break out. David [Nonberg] and Paris [Hays] were terrific today. It was a total team effort and we should be even better next year.’