Girls swim second in league

Fallbrook High School’s girls swim team finished second in the Avocado League.

The Warriors had a 4-1 record in league dual meets, losing only to Carlsbad, and an 8-5 overall record in dual meets. The Warriors also finished 16th in the CIF Division I championship meet.

“I thought we had some really good performances,” Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond said of the CIF meet. “We were just a little off on prelims.”

In the CIF preliminary heats the top twelve swimmers or relay teams in each event advance to the finals. The top six of those swimmers or teams participate in the championship race while the seventh-place through twelfth-place finishers compete in a consolation race for seventh through twelfth place points.

Fallbrook freshman Emma Balwin won the consolation race for the 500-yard freestyle. Her time of 5:09 would have placed fifth had it been matched against the times of the swimmers in the championship race.

Balwin was one of two freshmen who represented Fallbrook in four events at the CIF meet. Balwin and Casaundra Dowden both swam in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay while Balwin qualified individually in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events and Dowden qualified in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard breaststroke.

“That’s an awful lot to ask of freshmen,” Redmond said.

Dowden made the finals in the 100-yard backstroke, where she finished ninth, and Balwin finished eighth in the 200-yard freestyle as well as winning the consolation 500-yard race. “I thought they bounced back very well for finals and did a great job,” Redmond said.

Eight swimmers qualified for the CIF meet, but other than Balwin and Dowden individually the only Warrior entry in the finals was the 400-yard freestyle relay team, which finished ninth.

The Warriors also had two divers in the top twelve: Nikki Kohls placed eighth at the CIF meet and Janeva Sandoval was eleventh.