WALNUT — Pacific High School boys swimming standout Connor McAleer had no trouble finding silver linings Thursday.
McAleer’s bid to win a second consecutive title in the 100-yard butterfly came up short, as Gahr’s Carlos Valderamma beat him to the finish line by two-hundredths of a second during the CIF Southern Section Division 4 finals at the Mt. San Antonio College Aquatics Center. Still, there were plenty of positives for McAleer to take away from that race.
The junior said one of his primary goals this season has been to go below 50 seconds in the butterfly. McAleer’s time of 49.44 seconds bested the old Division 4 record (49.46) and automatically qualified him for next week’s CIF State Championships.
Valderamma’s time of 49.42 in the butterfly was 1 of 4 Division 4 records set Thursday. Blair’s Ella Lesnever broke the record in the girls 100 freestyle (50.25). Both breaststroke records fell with Orangewood Academy’s Haruhi Yamagata setting the boys record (53.97) and Liberty Christian’s Bianca Nwaizu the girls record (1:01.03).
McAleer joined the record-breaking quartet as the only Division 4 swimmers with automatic cuts for the state meet.
“For me, I see it as a win,” said McAleer, whose winning butterfly time last season was 51.61. “The difference was only a .02. Maybe I could have pushed a little harder the final 10 yards. Who knows? But making state is a big accomplishment for me.”
McAleer also teamed with Ozzie Dolan, Antonio Vieyra and Daniel Escalante to place fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:46.08).
Fontana’s Brooklyn Green finished second in the girls 50 freestyle (24.66) and sixth in the 100 freestyle (56.72). As a sophomore last year, Green placed sixth and eighth in those events. She also swam the anchor leg and teamed with Jeanae Mustallar, Juliet Lopez and Jordon Farmar for a fourth-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:48.71).
“I’m really proud of myself and the times I swam today,” Green said. “I’m especially happy with the 100 freestyle time. I’ve been swimming in the 58s and 59s most of the year. I got a 57 in the preliminaries and got down to a 56 today.”
Webb’s Erik Sun was second in the boys 100 backstroke (54.91) and fifth in the 200 individual medley (2:03.33). He also teamed with Neil Xu, Joshua Kim and William Koo for a second-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:29.01).
Redlands Adventist Academy’s Anton Zivanovic finished third in the boys 100 freestyle (47.89) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.77), while St. Jeanne de Lestonnac’s Amelia Vorndam placed third in the girls 100 freestyle (55.14) and fifth in the 50 freestyle (25.89). Patriot’s Emy Vazquez was third in the 500 freestyle (5:35.54) and eighth in the 200 freestyle (2:05.34).
Ramona siblings Lillian and Wendell McIntosh also had strong performances Thursday evening.
Lillian was fifth in the girls 500 freestyle (5:40.99) and seventh in the 200 freestyle (2:04.69). She teamed with Lola Foster, Cassandra Macedonio and Ixabella Whitlock for a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (4:03.81). Earlier in the meet, the combination of McIntosh, Whitlock, Macedonio and Rikki Steffens placed sixth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:50.92)
Wendell was seventh in the boys 100 backstroke (58.66) and ninth in the 200 freestyle (1:52.87).
Arroyo Valley’s Donovan Acosta finished fifth in the boys 100 breaststroke (1:02.13) and eighth in the 100 butterfly (55.84).
Loma Linda Academy’s Myla Benggon placed sixth in the girls individual medley (2:22.80) and the 100 butterfly (1:03.78). She teamed with Madison Constanzo, Sofia Garcia and Kylie Balog for a fifth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (4:05.20).
Orange Vista’s Mikaela De Guzman was sixth in the girls 100 breaststroke (1:12.27) and eighth in the individual medley (2:28.86). She teamed with Victoria Vallin, Aciara Jackson and Lily Leanos for a fourth-place finish in the medley relay (2:02.03).
Paloma Valley’s boys 200 freestyle relay team — Isaiah Bridgewaters, Anthony Spann, Noah Avenetti and Lukas Venier — placed fourth (1:35.01), while Valley View’s quartet of Ruben Navarro, Max Rios, Alek Ramirez and Kevin Slack were fifth in that same race (1:35.07).
