ELK GROVE, Calif. – Senior Ava Chavez and sophomore Erica Jaffe each won an individual championship while joining Maddy Ching and LK Holliday in a section relay title, while five school records fell as St. Francis won its sixth all-time Sac-Joaquin Section team title during the championship meet Friday. 

The Troubadours previously won section banners in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2010 and 2011, with Delta League rival Davis coming up second in four of those occasions. Since 2018, the meet has been split up into three divisions. Davis snared the Division I championship with 418 points, while St. Francis was the D-II champ with 355. St. Mary's finished 10th in the combined race, but tops among Division III. The Troubies easily won the D-II race, with Granite Bay (246) and Whitney (101) as the nearest competitors. 

Chavez successfully defended her section championship in the 200-yard freestyle, while Jaffe won the 100 backstroke. They later swam the first two legs of St. Francis' winning 200 free relay. Along with Maddy Ching and LK Holliday, the foursome posted a winning time of one minute, 35.37 seconds – 0.41 better than the previous record of 1:35.78, set by that same foursome at last year's state meet. Chavez swam a 23.57 leadoff split in that race to set another school record, surpassing the 23.73 she swam in the same event one year ago.

In winning the 200 free title, Chavez bested her previous SF benchmark of 1:48.02, set at this year's Delta League championship meet. The future Cal Golden Bear had already broken her own 100 butterfly record during Wednesday's preliminary heats.

Jaffe broke two of her old school records for the day, first while finishing second in the 200 individual medley with a 2:01.57, trailing Del Oro's Melanie Quinto by less than a quarter of a second (2:01.35). She followed with a 54.53 in the backstroke, well ahead of Davis' Sara Kos (57.70) for the section title. Her old records, respectively, were a 2:02.37 at last year's CIF state championships; and a 54.65 at the 2022 CIF-SJS meet.

Jaffe's 100 back victory also led a 54-point surge in the team scoring for St. Francis, the largest in any given event. Grace Mering followed in third place at 58.07, with Greta Laborde Lagrave adding a sixth (1:01.00). Bianca Ignacio placed fourth in the consolation final for 12th-place points with her 1:02.07.

The Troubies also scored 45 points in the 200 IM, thanks to three swimmers reaching the championship final. Jaffe's runner-up finish led the way, with Mering placing third (2:05.31) and Marissa Recio seventh (2:11.32). In similar fashion, St. Francis scored massive points in the 100 fly due to four Friday qualifiers. Chavez placed second (53.97) behind only a section record by Whitney's Jada Duncan (53.38), Maddy Ching took fourth (56.02), Jordyn Larson 10th (58.56) and Makenna Frederiksen 13th (59.22) for a 43-point bump.

St. Francis came less than an eighth of a second from yet another school record, as the foursome of Chavez, Maddy Ching, Mering and Jaffe went 3:26.37 in the meet finale, the 400 free relay. That ended up missing the old mark of 3:26.26 set by a rearranged version of that relay (Jaffe, Ching, Mering, Chavez) at last year's CIF state meet. However, that event did include a fifth school record for the Troubies in Friday's action: Chavez went 50.76 as the leadoff leg, breaking her old mark of 51.41 from the 2022 Catholic Challenge.

The top three finishers plus at-large qualifiers earn trips to the CIF State Championship, held at Clovis West Aquatics Center on May 12 and 13. St. Francis finished a program-best eighth in last year's visit to the state meet.

2023 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS, DAY 2
Elk Grove Aquatics Center (Elk Grove, Calif.)
Girls events only • Winners plus SFHS finishers listed

200 MEDLEY RELAY FROSH/SOPH - 1. Granite Bay (Coad, Phan, Quilala, Chandler), 1:52.16... 9. St. Francis (Schmid, DeAngelis, Slaughter, Bonnici), 1:57.16.

200 MEDLEY RELAY VARSITY - 1. Davis (Kos, Bennetts, Biello, Leacox), 1:43.99... 3. St. Francis (Mering, Frederiksen, Larson, Holliday), 1:47.95.

200 FREESTYLE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Brianna Gough, River City, 1:55.06... 2. Isabelle Schmid, 1:57.63.

200 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Ava Chavez, St. Francis, 1:47.85.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY FROSH/SOPH - 1. Jesse Carter, Twin Bridges 2:06.51... 13. Alexis DeAngelis, 2:22.15.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY VARSITY - 1. Melanie Quinto, Del Oro, 2:01.35... 2. Erica Jaffe, 2:01.57; 3. Grace Mering, 2:05.31; 7. Marissa Recio, 2:11.32

50 FREESTYLE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Faith Fasani, Ripon, 24.47... 16. Gabrielle McHugh, 26.90.

50 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Jada Duncan, Whitney, 23.00... 5. Maddy Ching, 24.65; 8. LK Holliday, 25.40; 16. Bianca Ignacio, 26.11

100 BUTTERFLY FROSH/SOPH - 1. Jesse Carter, Twin Bridges, 56.91.

100 BUTTERFLY VARSITY - 1. Jada Duncan, Whitney, 53.38... 2. Ava Chavez, 53.97; 4. Maddy Ching, 56.02; 10. Jordyn Larson, 58.56; 13. Makenna Frederiksen, 59.22.

100 FREESTYLE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Sophia Love, Rocklin, 52.85.

100 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Sarah Bennetts, Davis, 50.00... 11. Mia Hill, 54.22.

500 FREESTYLE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Maggie Clemens, Folsom, 5:12.90.

500 FREESTYLE  VARSITY - 1. Ava Portello, Davis, 4:55.25... 9. Jordyn Larson, 5:08.27; 10. Marissa Recio, 5:08.29; 13. Megan Gawlick, 5:15.19; 16. Teaghan Brostrom, 5:22.57.

200 FREE RELAY FROSH/SOPH - 1. Christian Brothers (Esperas, Lukins, Potter, Foth), 1:42.92... 9. St. Francis (McHugh, Bonnici, Slaughter, Benavidez), 1:48.17.

200 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. St. Francis (Chavez, Jaffe, M. Ching, Holliday), 1:35.37.

100 BACKSTROKE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Jessynta Taylor, Bear River, 1:00.08... 4. Isabelle Schmid, 1:01.99; 11. Myra Slaughter, 1:05.08.

100 BACKSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Erica Jaffe, St. Francis, 54.53... 3. Grace Mering, 58.07; 6. Greta Laborde Lagrave, 1:01.00; 12. Bianca Ignacio, 1:02.07.

100 BREASTSTROKE FROSH/SOPH - 1. Illiana Foth, Christian Brothers, 1:05.33... 14. Alexis DeAngelis, 1:12.91.

100 BREASTSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Sarah Bennetts, Davis, 1:00.93... 12. Makenna Frederiksen, 1:07.79; 14. Mia Hill, 1:08.02; 16. Gabriella Ching, 1:08.73.

400 FREE RELAY FROSH/SOPH - 1. Rocklin (Jackson, Reynolds, Love, Jantz), 3:43.15.

400 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. Davis (Bennetts, Biello, Kos, Portello), 3:26.29... 2. St. Francis (Chavez, M. Ching, Mering, Jaffe), 3:26.37.