NBL swimming: 3- or 4-team race likely

Mon. March 26, 2012 at 11:11 p.m. | By PDPreps.com staff

Cardinal Newman junior Taylor Young is one of the Empire's top girls swimmers. (Photo by CRISTA JEREMIASON / PD)

By combining depth, talent and experience, three schools will likely rule the pool this NBL swimming season.

Maria Carrillo (boys), Cardinal Newman (boys) and Montgomery (girls) have the strongest overall teams and are the league favorites with Ukiah (boys and girls) a competitive fourth. The teams in the bottom half of the NBL will be limited by small numbers of swimmers.

Also, playing out in the coming months will be the journey of two girls swimmers ??? Cardinal Newman's Taylor Young and Montgomery's Jenna Bauer ??? competing at the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials.

Here is a summary of NBL teams and their possible projected finish at the NBL Varsity Championships on May 11-12.

Maria Carrillo

With 79 swimmers, the largest team in the league, the Pumas have the most depth.

"We are a crazy big team this year," Maria Carrillo coach Kara Myers said. "This year everyone grabbed a friend and brought them out. We are huge and it gives us a lot of depth."

The boys team, last year's NBL champ, is 2-0 with victories against Willits and Montgomery. The girls team is 1-1 after defeating Willits but losing to the Vikings.

The Puma boys are led by Stefan Keller in the 200 meters IM and Richard Liang in the IM and the breast.

The girls are led by Lauren Talkington in the 50 and 100 free.

Cardinal Newman

Led by Young, a junior, in a variety of events, the Cardinal girls are 1-1 after beating Rancho Cotate but losing to Montgomery. Ursuline won the girls NBL title last season.

"We are definitely going to try and defend our (Ursuline) title and I think we have a good chance to do it," Cardinals coach Elaine Cavalin said.

Other top Cardinals girls include Meggie Leinen in the back and breast and Allison Straus in the fly.

The boys are 2-0 after defeating the Vikings and Cougars. The Cardinals are led by diver Ryan Johnson, James Sharfen in the back, and the Tarantino brothers (Giancarlo and Gino) in the breast.

The Maria Carrillo-Cardinal Newman meet on April 24 is a critical date during the season.

Montgomery

The Vikings will be a force on the girls side and are already 3-0 with wins over Maria Carrillo and Cardinal Newman. The Monty girls finished second last season and have a large squad with 28 swimmers.

Bauer is the girls team leader and swims the 200 and 500 free. Angelina Nowack will be competitive in the fly as well.

On the boys team, it's a different story as the Vikings have just eight swimmers.

"We have a strong boys team, but we just don't have the depth," Montgomery coach Shelly Kelley said.

The boys finished fourth last season and are 1-2 this season. They are led by Michael Severi in the 50 and 100 free and Sean Patrick Kelley in the 200 and 500 free.

Ukiah

The Wildcats are 3-0 in both the boys and girls teams and will be tough competition for the NBL's big three. The boys finished second and the girls finished fourth last season.

"We won't be as strong as we have been, but we have some good freshman coming up," Ukiah coach Lee Panttaja said.

"We will be respectable at the NBL Varsity Championships." The Wildcats will host the league championship.

The girls are led by Vanessa Torres in the breast and Mariah Larwood in the free sprints.

The boys are led by Trevor Oldham in the 200 free.

Santa Rosa

The Panthers are 1-0 in for both the boys and girls and have 45 swimmers. Coach Howard Frazee said Santa Rosa is likely to finish in the middle of the NBL with the boys being slightly stronger than the girls.

The boys are led by Kevin Mertz in the 200 and 500 free and Cameron Gray in the 50 and 100 free.

The girls are paced by Celine Sargis and Malia James in the back.

Also competing in the NBL this season are Rancho Cotate, Willits, Piner and Elsie Allen.

Rancho Cotate

The Cougars have a lack of depth with only 27 swimmers and are 0-3 in both the boys and girls teams this season.

"This is definitely a rebuilding year," Rancho coach R.P. Ivey said.

The boys are led by Christopher Berganza in the 50 and 100 free and Aric Lane in the 500 free.

The girls are led by Olivia Strous in multiple events and Tanya Cabrera in the 50 and 100 free.

Willits

The Wolverines are unbalanced in terms of numbers of swimmers with 24 girls and only 12 boys. Both the girls and boys teams are 0-2 this season.

"Our girls team is stronger than our boys team without a doubt," Willits coach Michael Colvig said. "This is the probably the strongest girls team in the seven years I have coached at Willits."

The girls are led by Alicia Mehtlan in the 100 breast and 50 and 100 free, Hailey Riley in the 50 and 100 free and Nicole Sorace in the 100 and 200 free.

The boys are led by Cole Jussup in the 100 free and 100 breast.

Piner

The Prospectors, who finished at the bottom of the NBL last season in boys and girls, will likely finish near the bottom again this season due to only having eight swimmers, four boys and four girls.

"Our main thing is swimming as hard as we can and having a good time," Piner coach Elizabeth Thiele said.

The boys are led by Davey Preston in the 50 and 100 free, Brennan Urrutia in the 100 breast and 200 IM, and Sean Luttrell in the 100 fly and 200 free.

The girls are led by Paola Mares in the 100 and 200 free.

Elsie Allen

With only six swimmers, the smallest NBL team, the Lobos are winless this season and are forfeiting an upcoming meet against Willits. Attempts to reach Elsie Allen team officials were unsuccessful.

All in all, it should be a pretty entertaining season poolside in the NBL this season.

"It's going to be really close at the NBL Championships this year," Myers said.