Newbury Park boys, Ventura girls win titles at county swimming championships

From staff reports
The Newbury Park High boys swimming team poses with the championship plaque after finishing first at the Ventura County Championships on Thursday at Buena High.

The Newbury Park High boys team and the Ventura High girls team each took first place at the 14th annual Ventura County High School Swimming Championships on Thursday at Buena High.

Junior Finn Claassen won the 50 freestyle in 22.55 seconds and Grayson Ing, Claassen, Jonah Germann and Cameron Habib won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:31.56 as Newbury Park finished with 342.5 points to take home the boys title.

Sophomore Sarah Beckman, who also stars on the basketball team, set a meet record with a time of 55.48 — breaking Teagan Monroe's time of 55.75 set in 2018 — to win the 100 butterfly and also took the 100 freestyle in 51.78 as Ventura earned 361 points to capture the girls title.

The Cougars also won two relay titles. Hailey Armstrong, Ella Montano, Beckman and Emily Gonzalez won the 200 medley relay in 1:51.40. Gonzalez, Isabella Coleman, Montano and Beckman won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:44.52.

The Ventura High girls swimming team poses with the championship plaque after finishing first at the Ventura County Championships on Thursday at Buena High. From left to right: Emily Gonzalez, Juliet Lazowski, Hailey Armstrong, Lyla Shraeder, Val Lory, Celia Young, Lexi Zimpelman, Sarah Beckman, Heather Lory, Ella Montano, and Isabella Coleman.

Camarillo finished second in the boys meet with 318 points. Junior Paul Patterson won the 200 IM in 1:56.66 and junior Ben Butler won the 500 freestyle in 4:55.91. Patterson, Butler, Jackson Mulchay and Stefano Pozzi won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:18.42.

Sophomore Aneesh Veeravatnam won the 100 butterfly in 52.05 and 100 backstroke in 52.07 to lead Royal to a third-place showing with 236 points.

Senior Nicholas Santander won the 100 freestyle in 48.17 and 200 freestyle in 1:44.56 to lead Rio Mesa to a fourth-place finish with 225.5 points. The Spartans' Jaiden Monroe, Michael Soho, Santander and John Emmerich won the 200 IM relay in 1:41.46.

Oak Park junior March Yuan won the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.95.

Ventura finished fifth with 179 points, Buena was sixth with 171, Oak Park placed seventh with 153, Thousand Oaks was eighth with 90, Pacifica took ninth with 77, and Oxnard was 10th with 73. Rounding out the rest of the 17 teams were Foothill Tech (47), Villanova Prep (42), Nordhoff (40), Channel Islands (38), Fillmore (20), Moorpark (7), and St. Bonaventure (6).

Freshman Megan Wang won the 200 IM in 2:11.57 and 100 backstroke in 56.42 to help Newbury Park finish second in the girls meet with 287 points.

Foothill Tech sophomore Charlie Woo-Bloxberg won the 200 freestyle in 1:55.66 and 500 freestyle in 5:06.46.

Pacifica freshman Abigail Tamayo won the 50 freestyle in 24.79 and Moorpark sophomore Chloe Cheevers won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.36.

Buena’s Gabriella Swaim, Addison Bruno, Kendall Nagaoka and Kathryn Salazar won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:45.99.

Camarillo finished third with 235 points, Nordhoff was fourth with 210, and Foothill Tech took fifth with 197. Rounding out the rest of the 17 teams were Buena (186), Oak Park (152), Thousand Oaks (110), Royal (92), Villanova Prep (77), Pacifica (64), Rio Mesa (55), Moorpark (37), Santa Paula (25), Oxnard (17), Channel Islands (16), and Fillmore (6).