EL CAJONEL CAJON — The holder of two San Diego Section swim records may be on the verge of adding a third in another event.
Torrey Pines junior Logan Noguchi (47.55) came within three-hundredths of a second of the boys 100-yard butterfly mark while leading qualifying in the Division I prelims at Granite Hills High on Thursday.
“For prelims, I’m really happy with that,” said Noguchi, who improved on his previous personal best (47.84) established in a major club meet. “I’m looking forward to a real good time in the finals.”
The 100 fly takes the spotlight at the finals at 3 p.m. Saturday at the same site since the record has been broken four times since 2015. The current mark (47.52) was set in 2019 by the Falcons’ Stephan Lukashev, currently at Notre Dame.
“Training has been great,” said Noguchi, who knew Lukashev in club swimming although their time at Torrey Pines didn’t overlap. “I’m really excited to race.”
Noguchi owns records in the 200 IM (1:48.55) and the 100 back (48.36). While he switched from the 200 IM to the fly this year, the future Princeton swimmer remained in the 100 back and led qualifying (49.11) in the quest for this third straight title in the event.
Another record bid is being made by Canyon Crest senior Andrew Ko to break his own mark in the 100 breaststroke (54.53). He set it in last year’s state meet after first breaking the previous record in the section prelims.
Although Ko was off from his prelim time (54.96) from last year, he remained in record range with the top qualifying time (55.38).
“I’m happy with that,” said Ko, bound for the Air Force Academy. “That’s especially since I wasn’t pleased where I was at the beginning of the season.”
On the girls side, San Marcos sophomore Cassidy Allison set the stage for her second year of twin titles albeit with a switch from the 100 back to the 200 individual medley.
“It’s been going really good this year,” Allison said. “I’ve been really excited to come back and race.”
Allison led qualifying in the 200 IM (2:04.33) as well as the 100 fly (55.46).
“Going into the finals, I can work on getting out faster,” Allison said. “I’m looking to go at least a half second faster in each race.”
Torrey Pines junior Rachel Yang sent notice of a double-title bid by qualifying first in the girls 50 free (23.94) and 100 free (51.74) in hopes of stepping up from third place in each event last season.
Bonita Vista junior Sarah Hardin, the defending 100 free champion, qualified second (52.03) behind Yang.
Also going for twin wins from Torrey Pines, junior Elek Zettle led qualifying in both the boys 100 free (45.99) and 200 (1:41.84)
San Marcos sophomore Lauren Putnam, a runner-up last year, set up a showdown in the girls 200 free by qualifying first (1:52.49) ahead of defending champion Riley Baldwin (1:53.16), a senior from Escondido.
In addition, Putnam paced the field in the 500 free (4:57.74).
Eastlake sophomore Zane Johnson (49.45) was behind Noguchi in the boys 100 fly after winning the event last year. Yet he emerged as the top qualifier in the 200 IM (1:52.80).
Thien is a freelance writer.
