It is impossible to put anything but a positive spin on the Palisades High boys swimming team falling just three points short of a City title on Friday at East L.A. College. A remarkable effort couldn’t overcome Cleveland High, but the other 50 schools that swam certainly took notice of Pali. Though head coach Maggie Nance was understandably disappointed, the reality was that the boys team faced extremely stiff competition and improved steadily throughout the year. ‘It would have been amazing for the seniors that were leaving after the kids swam so fast,’ Nance said. ‘I don’t know that I’ve ever seen us be that fast.’ Senior Andrew Hacker and sophomore Tristan Marsh were two key performers for the Dolphins as the team scored 393 points, far ahead of third-place Granada Hills, with 285, and a hair behind Cleveland’s 396. Palisades’ chance were severely hurt by two disqualifications, one in last week’s City prelims in the 200-yard freestyle relay and one on Friday due to a false start in the boys 500 free consolation final. Hacker (1:44.57) bested Granada Hills’ Samuel Sanchez by over a second in the 200-yard freestyle, and he won the 500-yard freestyle by more than five seconds, swimming 4:41.04. ‘I always just do what I can to help our team go out there and get points,’ Hacker said. ‘This was the strongest team we’ve had since I’ve been here. If we were going to win it, we were going to do it this year.’ Meanwhile, Marsh’s 1:59.51 earned him a title in the 200-yard individual medley, and his 1:00.93 secured the 100-yard breaststroke by three-hundredths of a second over Cleveland’s Yoessef Tibazi. Marsh’s participation in the breaststroke was a last-minute change by Nance, as Marsh had requested to swim the race. He won despite entering as a fourth seed. ‘Tristan really wanted it,’ Nance said. ‘He’s been so versatile and easy to deal with. He doesn’t ask for anything so I felt like I owed it to him for everything he’s given the team.’ In the 400-yard freestyle, Marsh and Hacker teamed up with sophomore Michael Lukasiak and senior J.J. Amis to post a victorious time of 3:18.71 over Granada Hills. Amis won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of :21.83, twelve-hundredths of a second ahead of Van Nuys’ J.T. Tennison, and he finished second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of :48.52. Sophomore Carsten Kampe was fourth with :50.76. Sophomore Ben Kent was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with :59.19.
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