Ava DeAnda continues to solidify her position as one of the top high school swimmers in California.
The sophomore from Riverside Poly defended her state title in the 100-yard freestyle and also brought home the title in the 200-yard freestyle Saturday at the CIF State championship meet at Clovis West High School.
DeAnda finished third in the 200 freestyle at last year’s state finals. In her second attempt to win that event, DeAnda pushed the pace from the start and led by nearly a second at the midway point. She did not let up, winning in a personal-best time of 1 minute, 45.98 seconds, 1.62 seconds ahead of Hart’s Lily Dormans.
DeAnda has never lost a 100 freestyle race during her two years at Poly, and that did not change Saturday. She went out in 23.31, giving her a 0.39-second lead midway through the race. And DeAnda finished strong, winning in another personal-best time of 48.27 seconds, 1.54 seconds ahead of Villa Park’s Allison Mann.
That time broke the previous state meet record of 48.43, set in 2018 by Sacramento Country Day’s Amalie Fackenthal.
DeAnda’s three individual state titles leaves her just one behind the Inland record of four held by Ayala’s Kenisha Liu.
DeAnda teamed with Lucy Bilhartz, Isabelle Suarez and Presley McPhail for a pair of 14th-place finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:46.63) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.77).
Citrus Valley’s Hayley Smith capped her high school career with one of her best swims. Smith placed fourth in the 500 freestyle in 4:52.34, more than 2 1/2 seconds faster than her previous best high school time and 1.44 seconds better than her lifetime best.
Lakeside senior Max Reis-Trovillion finished fifth in the boys diving final Thursday afternoon with 539.95 points.
Murrieta Mesa senior Ty Schneider finished fourth in the boys 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.43.
Santiago junior Brinley Knoll was seventh in the girls 100 breaststroke and lowered her school record from 1:02.77 to 1:02.52.
Los Osos senior Carlie Rose placed eighth in Thursday’s girls diving final with 461.10 points.
Santiago’s Charlotte Milkie capped her stellar freshman season by winning the consolation championship race in the 200 freestyle (1:50.35) while also finishing in a tie for 15th place in the 100 freestyle (51.28).
Ayala junior Daniel Benson finished 15th in the boys 50 freestyle with a time of 20.95. He also teamed with Kevin Zheng, Ben Trull and Arthur Lin for a 15th-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:25.54).
