Eastlake High School’s girls swim team is considered one of the most, if not the most, successful sports teams at the eastside Chula Vista school. Girls soccer and track and field are certainly up there with girls cross country as well, but it may be hard to upstage the success the school’s swim team has amassed since the school’s opening in 1992.
That’s 33 years of interscholastic competition. There’s not an official count, but it’s believed the Lady Titans have amassed more than 20 league swim championships over that span.
That prowess in the water has made the team one of the top contenders each year at the San Diego Section level. That was no different this year after Eastlake posted a third-place finish at last weekend’s Division I championship meet at Southwestern College.
The Lady Titans placed among elite company. Torrey Pines finished on top of the girls standings with 343 points, followed by runner-up San Marcos with 323 points. Eastlake was third with 280 points — well ahead of fourth place Westview (177 points), fifth place Helix (154 points) and doubling the 140 points shared by Carlsbad and Steele Canyon in a sixth-place tie.
Longtime East County power Granite Hills finished in eighth place with 137 points.
The Lady Titans accomplished the deed under a new coaching staff following the retirement of Steve Wiggs, who had led the program to much of its success over the past 11 years. During his tenure, Eastlake captured 11 girls league banners and 11 boys league banners.
Prior to that, he was head coach at Bonita Vista for 16 years with 15 girls and 15 boys banners. He lost one girls banner to Eastlake and one boys banner to Montgomery.
The numbers add up to 26 league banners in both gender fields in 27 years at the two schools.
That’s a record that will be hard to beat anywhere in the section.
Another tidbit to note: Southwestern College’s men’s swim team won this spring’s Pacific Coast Athletic Conference title after Wiggs took over the program there.
“Steve has a magnetic personality, success follows him,” Coziahr said.
Taking the reins from Wiggs at EHS are girls coach Paola Rivas, a standout alumna, and Mark Coziahr, a former assistant. They remain in awe at Wiggs’ accomplishments, and with good reason.
“We’re proud as first-year coaches to uphold the tradition established by Coach Wiggs,” Coziahr said.
As for this year’s Eastlake edition? The Lady Titans started Saturday’s finals by winning the girls 200-yard medley relay with a school record time of 1:45.62.
That was just the beginning of the fireworks in the pool.
Fast lane
Junior Greysen Mains (backstroke) started off the record relay, followed by freshman Peyton Watkins (breaststroke) and seniors London Hughes (butterfly) and Alyssa Corkery (freestyle).
Each of the young ladies would go on to have a memorable meet in their own right.
Hughes, the 2026 Metro-Mesa League girls swimmer of the year, finished second in the girls 100 butterfly in 55.21 and third in the 500 freestyle in 5:10.60.
Corkery finished third in the 200 freestyle in 1:;53.06 and fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:07.59 in back-to-back events.
Watkins finished third in both the 50 freestyle in 24.46 and 100 breaststroke in 1:05.70.
Mains was fourth in the 100 backstroke in 57.68 and eighth in the 100 freestyle in 53.20.
The group was not finished combining forces.
Hughes and Watkins joined sophomore Kiana Stipic and freshman Katja Griffin to place third in the 200 freestyle (4×50) relay in 1:38.73 while Griffin, Stipic, Mains and Corkery placed third in the meet-closing 400 freestyle (4×100) relay in 3:35.90.
The Eastlake girls set records in both the medley and 200 freestyle relays at the league finals.
The top eight swimmers competed in the championship heat while the next eight swimmers qualified from the preceding prelims competed in the consolation heat.
Stipic placed fifth in the 100 butterfly in 57.01 while Griffin placed sixth in both the 200 IM (2:12.32) and 500 freestyle (5:13.64).
The state championship meet is May 14-16 in Clovis. Hughes, a returning state meet qualifier in the butterfly, posted automatic state qualifying times in the butterfly and medley relay and consideration time in the 500 free and 200 freestyle relay.
The medley relay team notched an automatic state qualifying time while the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams both relay registered state consideration times.
Individual state qualifying consideration times were turned in by Corkery (200 freestyle, 200 IM), Stipic (butterfly), Mains (backstroke) and Watkins (breaststroke).
On the boys side, Eastlake engineered a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay courtesy of sophomore Emilio Gonzalez-Alvarez, sophomore James Christian Calma, junior Andres Flores Hidalgo and senior Adam Santiago in 1:26.83.
Gonzalez-Alvarez is a returning state meet qualifier and league record-holder in the backstroke. He also finished third in the 100 butterfly in 50.06 and sixth in the backstroke in 53.15.
Santiago placed fifth in the 200 freestyle in 1:42.48.
The quartet of Santiago, Flores Hidalgo, junior Iker Davila and Gonzalez-Alvarez finished sixth in the meet-concluding 400 freestyle relay in 3:14.35.
Gonzalez-Alvarez notched state consideration times in both the butterfly and 200 freestyle relay.
The Titans finished 39 points behind Grossmont Hills League champion Helix in the team standings and just 11.5 points behind Granite Hills.
In other words, Wiggs has left the team in able hands.
“The girls were just phenomenal,” Rivas underscored. “I just think everyone contributed. We had great freshmen. The water polo players came back. I had a great time coaching them.”
“A great first season,” Coziahr said. “They’re great kids. They made everything fun.”
Add swim
Mater Dei Catholic finished 13th in the team standings in the Division II boys meet with 78 points while Hilltop was 15th with 45 points.
Championship heat qualifiers included Mater Dei Catholic in the medley relay (fifth, 1:41.31) and 200 freestyle relay (seventh, 1:31.45), MDC senior Jacob Gonzales in the 50 freestyle, (eighth, 22.23) and Hilltop junior Ned Ardagna in the breaststroke (sixth, 59.36).
Hilltop sophomore Walter Thompson won the consolation heat in the boys 100 freestyle (48.66) by out-touching Ardagna by 0.11 seconds.
Mater Dei Catholic also competed in the Division II girls meet. Soph Jenna Valle led the team with a swim in the consolation butterfly.
San Diego Section Swim & Dive Championship
(South County Place-Finishers)
Division I Boys Finals
200 medley relay: 10. Eastlake (Charles Tenney, Keagan hill, Alex Tsubaki, Kaeden hill) 1:45.37
200 freestyle: 5. Adam Santiago (Eastlake) 1:42.48
200 individual medley: 13. Andrew Flores Hidalgo (Eastlake) 2:04.39
100 butterfly: 3. Emilio Gonzalez-Alvarez (Eastlake) 50.06, 15. Iker Davila (Eastlake) 55.50
200 freestyle relay: 2. Eastlake (Emilio Gonzalez-Alvarez, James Christian Calma, Andrew Flores Hidalgo, Adam Santiago) 1:26.83
100 backstroke: 6. Emilio Gonzalez-Alvarez (Eastlake) 53.15
100 breaststroke: 16. Keagan Hill (Eastlake) 1:05.55
400 freestyle relay: 6. (Adam Santiago, Andrew Flores Hidalgo, Iker Davila, Emilioi Gonalez-Alvarez) 3:14.35
Team standings: 8. Eastlake 124
Division I Girls Finals
200 medley relay: 1. Eastlake (Greysen Mains, Peyton Watkins, London Hughes, Alyssa Corkery) 1:45.62 (school record), 13. Olympian (Emma Betancourt, Nana Hirayama, Alyssa Luna, Abigail Jimenez) 2:00.76, 15. Bonita Vista (Hailey Nelson, Addalynn Dewyea, Aliana Sachs, Lola Coleman) 2:05.40
200 freestyle: 3. Alyssa Corkery (Eastlake) 1:53.06, 16. Aliana Sachs (Bonita Vista) 2:06.03
200 individual medley: 4. Alyssa Corkery (Eastlake) 2:07.59, 6. Katja Griffin (Eastlake) 2:12.32
50 freestyle: 3. Peyton Watkins (Eastlake) 24.46
100 butterfly: 2. London Hughes (Eastlake) 55.21, 5. Kiana Stipic (Eastlake) 57.01
100 freestyle:8. Greysen Mains (Eastlake) 53.20
500 freestyle: 3. London Hughes (Eastlake) 5:10.60, 6. Katja Griffin (Eastlake) 5;13.64, 8. Kiana Stipic (Eastlake) 5:31.10
200 freestyle relay: 3. Eastlake (London Hughes, Kiana Stipic, Katja Griffin, Peyton Watkins) 1:38.73, 10. Otay Ranch (Mackenzie Nibbe, Erin Equipilag, Isela Salas, Alessandra Perez) 1:46.14, 13. Olympian (Emma Betancourt, Nana Hirayama, Alyssa Luna, Abigail Jimenez) 1:46.98
100 backstroke: 4. Greysen Mains (Eastlake) 57.68, 12. Emma Betancourt (Olympian) 1:00.67
100 breaststroke: 3. Peyton Watkins (Eastlake) 1:05.70
400 freestyle relay: 3. Eastlake (Katja Griffin, Kiana Stipic, Greysen Mains, Alyssa Corkery) 3:35.90, 14. Otay Ranch (Alessandra Perez, Madison Palencia, Erin Equipilag, Mackenzie Nibbe) 3:55.65
Team standings: 3. Eastlake 280, 16. Olympian 21, 17. Otay Ranch 20, 21. Bonita Vista 5
Division II Boys Finals
200 medley relay: 5. Mater Dei Catholic 1:41.31, 12. Hilltop 1:43.76
200 individual medley: 13. Alex Palmer (Mater Dei Catholic) 2:02.62
50 freestyle: 8. Jacob Gonzales (Mater Dei Catholic) 22.23
100 freestyle: 9. Walter Thompson (Hilltop) 48.66, 10. Ned Aragna (Hilltop) 48.77
200 freestyle relay: 7. Mater Dei Catholic (Alex Palmer, Brad Mesker, Calvin Chen, Jacob Gonzales) 1:31.45, 14. Hilltop (Walter Thompson, Ned Ardagna, Milan Vega, Levi Mendez) 1:33.77
100 breaststroke: 6. Ned Ardagna (Hilltop) 59.36, 8. Alex Palmer (Mater Dei Catholic) 1;00.48
Team standings: 13. Mater Dei Catholic 78, 15. Hilltop 45
Division II Girls Finals
100 butterfly: 11. Jenna Valle (Mater Dei Catholic) 1:00.48
400 freestyle relay: 15. Mater Dei Catholic (Jenna Valle, Sam Madlangbayan, Camila Leung, Sofia Castro) 4;00.10
Team standings: 28. Mater Dei Catholic 10
Dive, they said
Eastlake lands its first diver in a while for CIF meet
A total of 49 divers — 29 girls and 20 boys — competed off the one-meter board at last Friday’s San Diego Section finals at Southwestern College. The top eight finishers in each division received medals.
Mission Hills sophomore Isaac Peralta won this year’s Division 1 title with 257.25 points over Carlsbad senior Jaxon Lass (228.00 points) while El Capitan senior Benjamin Brookshire won the Division II boys title with 230.15 points over La Jolla junior Cole Weiss (181.60 points).
On the girls card, Patrick Henry freshman Maya Chennamchetty won the Division I title with 281.35 points ahead of classmate Zoe Rainey (223.50 points) while La Jolla Country Day junior Tillie McIntyre won the Division II title with b242.60 points ahead of Mt. Carmel senior Sol D’Angelo (239.10 points).
The top three divers in the combined field qualified for this weekend’s state meet — Peralta, Brookshire and Lass on the boys side and Chennamchetty, McIntyre and D’Angelo on the girls side.
There was one entrant from the Metro Conference this year: Eastlake junior Miya Samuel, the Metro-Mesa League diver of the year.
It’s been something overdue for the Titans.
But Samuel is no stranger to competition after being involved in cheer for the past 10 years.
“I wanted to try something new and see if I could apply skills from cheer into this,” Samuel said. “I do a lot of tumbling and flips, a lot of different skills you can carry over from cheer into diving.”
Despite being a first-year diver, she accomplished herself well against more established divers, placing 14th among the 16 entrants in the Division I girls field with 144.95 points. She finished 21 points out of a medal.
Refining her dives could move her up the leaderboard next season.
Practice does make perfect.
Brookshire, who is in his third year on the dive board, moved up from last year’s third place finish with the top score of 230.15 points this year. He ranked second overall among the combined field of 20 male divers.
“I practiced at SDSU with the SDSU dive coach over the fall and winter, it helped improve my form,” he said.
“His 105c (front two-and-a-half twist tuck) was the best he’s ever done,” El Capitan co-coach Craig Schoonderwoerd noted.
Brookshire, who also competes in the 50 and 100 freestyle and medley relay events, is the first Vaquero diver to qualify for the state meet.
“I’m super happy, it’s a good way to end my senior year,” he said. “It’s a big accomplishment.”
Brookshire finished as this year’s Grossmont Valley League boys dive champion while freshman Jayden Fetty won the league girls title.
“Now that we have a CIF champion and state qualifier, we would like to get more divers out for the team,” El Cap coach Chelsea Schoonderwoerd said.
El Capitan senior Kaelyn Williams, who finished third at the Grossmont Valley League championship meet, finished ninth in the Division II field with 162 points.
Getting more divers out for the Eastlake team would be a boon to local competition. There’s nothing like numbers to test the competition level.
Sixteen divers competed in the Division I girls field, including three from East County — Steele Canyon sophomore Piper Rand (fifth, 183.80 points), Grossmont senior Kennedy Moe (eighth, 165.70 points) and Granite Hills senior Laynie Allen (13th, 146.95 points).
“It feels great to be here after I didn’t get to go to CIF last year,” Rand said.
“It feels really good to get top eight,” said Moe, who edged Rand for this year’s Grossmont Hills League title.
Three Granite Hills divers competed in the 11-deep Division I boys card: freshman Milan Marjanovich (fourth, 195.15 points), sophomore Rawson Jenkins (ninth, 148.40 points) and junior Anson Neibert (10th, 145.65 points).
Marjanovich is a first-year diver.
“He never dove before, he’s been a very pleasant surprise,” Granite Hills dive coach Kara Anderson said. “We have the largest team in the Grossmont Conference with 10 divers. It’s been a fun season.”
Photos by Phillip Brents
