Dowden wins breaststroke at league meet

The Valley League swim meet was held at Fallbrook High School’s pool April 24-26, and Fallbrook sophomore Paris Dowden is the league champion in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Dowden posted a time of 1 minute, 11.06 seconds in the breaststroke race. San Pasqual High School sophomore Thianna Olaes had the second-place time of 1:11.23.

“That was a fun race,” Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond said. “It went back and forth.”

Dowden had the lead after the first 25-yard lap.

“The other girl kind of moved up,” Redmond said.

Dowden still led after 50 yards and increased her lead during the final lap. The time was a personal record for Dowden.

Redmond said that Olaes is also a sophomore.

“Her and Paris get to battle it out for another two years. Nice to see little rivalries develop,” Redmond said.

A swimmer or diver is limited to four events and can participate in no more than two individual events. Last year Dowden swam the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle races at the league meet and won the 100-yard event. This year Dowden finished second behind San Pasqual freshman Megan Dang in the 100-yard freestyle.

Team scores are based on position points for the championship final, the consolation final and the “C” final. The top 18 preliminaries times in each individual event advanced a swimmer to one of the finals. Position points were also given for the six positions in each championship relay race and for the divers.

The final league standings are based both on dual meet records and on positions at the league meet. Fallbrook had a 3-2 record in dual meets, losing to San Pasqual and Classical Academy. The Warriors were also third at the league meet with 454 1/2 points. Classical Academy, which was undefeated in league dual meet competition, also won the league meet with 572 1/2 points. San Pasqual had the second-place total of 492 points. Ramona High School totaled 302 points for fourth place, Escondido High School was fifth with 300 points and Valley Center High School had 183 points.

Fallbrook, which shared last year’s league championship with Classical Academy, took third place in the league this year.

“Overall I thought definitely a more competitive league,” Redmond said.

Dowden was one of two Fallbrook swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke championship race and one of three Warriors to obtain position points in that event. A time of 1:13.80 gave fourth place to senior Kendra Donoghue and senior Kaitlyn Callagher swam the consolation final in 1:22.31 for 10th place.

Dang won the 100-yard freestyle in 53.58. Dowden’s second-place time of 54.66 was still faster than her 2018 winning time of 56.73. Fifth place was earned by junior Sophia Wallace, whose time was 58.28. The ninth place time of 1.02.08 was achieved by junior Lucy Goode, and junior Ely Linberg added 12th place points for her time of 1:06.85.

Dang also won the 50-yard freestyle, posting a time of 23.34, while Fallbrook freshman Jocelyn Jones took second place at 24.81.

“It was freshman against freshman,” Redmond said.

Two other Warriors were in the championship race: Donoghue swam her laps in 26.13 for fifth place and Wallace finished sixth with a time of 27.14. The “C” final was won by freshman Grace Goode, who took 29.36.

Both of Fallbrook’s freestyle relay teams took second place at the league meet. Dowden, Callagher, Donoghue and Jones swam the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:42.59. Classical Academy’s quartet won that race in 1:42.44.

“It was really a fun race,” Redmond said.

Classical Academy also won the 400-yard freestyle relay, posting a time of 3:46.18. Wallace, Donoghue, Dowden and Jones took 3:48.69. The quartet cut nearly five seconds off their 3:53.30 preliminaries time two days earlier.

Fallbrook’s girls finished fifth in the 200-yard medley relay; junior Maggie Walker, Wallace, junior Anna Draves and Callagher had a time of 2:11.40.

Jones took second in the 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 1:01.22. The winner of that race, Classical Academy senior Carly Hoff, touched the final wall 1:00.62 after the start of the race.

“It was a very good race,” Redmond said.

Hoff’s parents are both Fallbrook High School graduates.

“It’s been fun watching her,” Redmond said.

The first consolation race included Fallbrook sophomore Paige Mansell, who took 11th place with a 1:18.09 performance. The “C” race was won by junior Ava Poole, whose time was 1:19.49, and that race also included senior Kayla Black, who posted the 15th place time of 1:25.33.

The diving portion of the league meet took place April 25 and included three Fallbrook girls: junior Chiara Curnow accumulated 165.60 points on six dives for fifth place, sophomore Kassidy Ewig had the sixth place score of 163.90 points and freshman Candace Ewig scored 116.90 points for 10th place.

Draves took fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:12.10. Walker had the eighth place time of 1:18.16. The top two finishers in the “C” race were both Fallbrook swimmers: senior Emma Larson garnered 13th place with a time of 1:24.09 and junior Jennifer Johnston took 1:24.12 to obtain 14th place.

Wallace became the fifth finisher in the 200-yard freestyle 2:06.84 after the race began. Linberg finished 12th and swam the consolation race in 2:24.09. The “C” race was won by sophomore Emma Goode, whose 13th-place time was 2:26.59.

Lucy Goode had the tenth-place time of 2:45.66 in the 200-yard individual medley, Poole finished in 2:45.66 for 14th place, sophomore Kaiah McNutt was 17th at 2:54.76 and freshman Erin Burnett-Dahl took 18th place with a time of 3:01.00.

Draves swam the 500-yard freestyle consolation final in 6:32.45 for 11th place, and Larson had a time of 6:43.59 for 12th place. The swimmers in the championship final are guaranteed sixth place or higher regardless of whether a faster time was achieved in another final, and the participants of the first consolation race are guaranteed at least 12th place regardless of whether a “C” race time was faster. Emma Goode was thus given 13th place for winning the “C” final in 6:35.50. Burnett-Dahl completed the “C” final in 6:46.75 for 17th place.