To go with setting yet another CIF San Diego Section record, the Torrey Pines High School girls 200-yard freestyle relay team became a state champion.
The Falcons placed first in 1 minute, 33.52 seconds in the state finals at Clovis West High School on Saturday to surpass their mark of 1:33:76 set at last week’s San Diego Section meet.
Senior Aya Ferguson anchored the team that included sophomore Scarlett Zhang, junior Anita Qian, and senior Katerina Weitfeldt. Torrey Pines edged Clovis West (1:37.89) after pulling even into the final leg.
The Falcons became the first local relay champion in the 11-year history of the state meet. Over the last three years, Torrey Pines has set the record six times.
In the 400 free relay, the Falcons placed sixth (3:26.47) coming off a record (3:26.53) from the section meet.
Sophomore Carolyn Han took the place of Zhang in that event. Torrey Pines placed eighth (14 points) as a team.
“Our girls were as advertised,” Falcons coach Richard Contreras said by phone. “Our seniors have just been awesome. They’re been great leaders their whole career here.”
Torrey Pines also set a record in the boys 400 free relay in the prelims (3:03.75) and then again in the finals (3:02.93) by two seconds off the old mark (3:05.31) established by the Falcons in 2023.
Juniors Aidan Copeland and Hamilton Gates, sophomore Kai Painter and senior Charlie Hall comprised the team that improved nearly 2 seconds from the section meet time of 3:05.40.
The same quartet posted a time of 1:23.93 in the 200 freestyle relay, just off the record time of 1:23.29 from the section meet.
For the second straight year, Pint Loma junior Alex Pletcher recorded a section record and a top-three finish in the boys 200-yard freestyle. The future Stanford swimmer placed third this year with a time of 1:35.29, breaking the mark of 1:35.63 that he set last year as a runner-up. In a switch to the 100 butterfly this year, Pletcher placed sixth (47.95).
Grossmont sophomore Aramis Willet finished ninth (48.630 after tying for sixth last year (48.91). Mt. Carmel senior Catherine Rowe placed third in the girls 100 backstroke (53.75), shy of the record that she set in last year’s section meet (53.44). She finished fourth (53.91) a year ago.
Ferguson, bound for Northwestern, completed her full slate of events with seventh place in both the girls 200 freestyle and the 100 freestyle (50.54). In 200 freestyle, Granite Hills sophomore Ella Morgan finished 12th (1:50.46), a second off her third-place showing last year (1:49.43). Canyon Hills freshman Addison Hou celebrated his meet debut by placing sixth in the boys 200 IM (1:49.22).
Morgana Campolindo (149) won the girls team title, ending a six-year reign by Santa Margarita, which finished seventh, one spot ahead of Torrey Pines.
Santa Margarita (156.5) took the boys crown.