ELK GROVE, Calif. – Junior Erica Jaffe finished first in both the varsity 100-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke to lead St. Francis in the preliminary heats of the Delta League swimming championships, held at the Elk Grove Aquatics Center Thursday. The Troubadours look to defend their title in their last season before joining the Sierra Foothill League.
Jaffe led a 1-2-3 St. Francis trifecta atop the 100 back standings. She went 57.20, with senior Grace Mering and junior Isabelle Schmid placing second and third at 58.22 and 1:00.05, respectively. Jaffe also won the 100 free at 52.56, more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Angelina Valle of Davis. The Troubies went 1-3-5 in that event, with Ashlyn Brock (55.20) and Lilla Kapinya (56.33) also advancing to Friday's championship final.
In all, St. Francis qualified four swimmers to the championship race in each of the 200 individual medley, 100 back and 100 breaststroke. Mering, Mia Hill, Marissa Recio and Landen Didriksen finished 2-3-4-6 in Thursday's prelims, with the San Diego State commit leading that crew with a 2:09.15.
Junior Lexie DeAngelis gave the Troubies a fourth finalist in the 100 back, thanks to her seventh-place 1:03.72. Friday's 100 back final will consist of four St. Francis swimmers and four Davis swimmers.
Finally, St. Francis will have four swimmers in the 100 breast final, with Hill finishing as the top Troubie at 1:09.71. Didriksen, Frederiksen and Ella Ching placed fifth through seventh, respectively, in Thursday's prelims.
Among the JV events, sophomores Milena Bonnici and Olivia Charles went 1-2 in the 100 back. Bonnici touched home in 1:07.48, well ahead of Charles' 1:09.86.
Also among the SF highlights belonged to senior Ashlyn Brock. She improved on her 50 free seed time by almost two thirds of a second, finishing fifth in the prelims with a 25.50 mark. Brock's previous best was the 26.15 she swam in the regular-season finale against Davis eight days prior, and that time, in turn, was a 0.25 improvement from her old PR.
As is standard for a championships swim meet, the top eight finishers in the prelims go into a championship heat to decide first through eighth place. The next eight prelim finishers compete in the consolation final for ninth through 16th places. Friday's session will also include the relay finals. Mering, Hill, Jaffe and Lilla Kapinya form the Troubies' varsity 200 medley relay; Kapinya, Schmid, Brock and Marissa Recio will swim the 200 free relay; then Jaffe, Schmid, Mering and Hill will conclude the meet in the 400 free relay.
The 1-meter diving portion of the championship took place on Wednesday at Rio Americano, alongside the Capital Athletic League and Metro League competitions. Senior Sinclair Yadao won her fourth straight title with an 11-dive total of 461.85. The full recap of the diving championship is available here: https://gotroubies.com/sports/wswimdive/2023-24/releases/202404183e6jkn
St. Francis won last year's Delta League championship with 619 points, edging previous champ Davis, which scored 600. The Troubies and Blue Devils went on to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II and I girls' titles, respectively.
2024 DELTA LEAGUE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Elk Grove Aquatics Center (Elk Grove, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed • All events are preliminaries except where noted
GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Liv Powell, Davis, 2:04.21... 5. Juliet Shah, 2:17.22; 6. Elyse Pometta, 2:17.25; 9. Lydia Vlahos, 2:24.59; 10. Mia Hollar, 2:24.28.
GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Ava Portello, Davis, 1:52.76... 2. Isabelle Schmid, 1:57.07; 3. Megan Gawlick, 2:00.23; 6. Piper Brostrom, 2:10.75.
GIRLS' 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY JV - 1. Vivian Tucker, Davis, 2:20.31... 4. Savannah Hamilton, 2:33.34; 5. Rose Haag, 2:39.38; Mikayla Magri, DQ.
GIRLS' 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY VARSITY - 1. Ella Ackerman, Davis, 2:08.54.. 2. Grace Mering, 2:09.15; 3. Mia Hill, 2:12.12; 4. Marissa Recio, 2:15.08; 6. Landen Didriksen, 2:17.51.
GIRLS' 50 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Nyla Bonner, Elk Grove, 26.68... 2. Gabriella McHugh, 26.92; 6. Erin Maeng, 28.55; 13. Frances Wells, 30.81; 15. Kaylin Amiri, 31.53; 17. Della Smith, 32.26.
GIRLS' 50 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Kiera Menna, Davis, 24.81... 4. Lilla Kapinya, 25.35; 5. Ashlyn Brock, 25.50; 9. Ella Ching, 26.77.
GIRLS' 100 BUTTERFLY JV - 1. Vivian Tucker, Davis, 1:03.58... 2. Olivia Charles, 1:06.90; 4. Meredith Little, 1:14.15.
GIRLS' 100 BUTTERFLY VARSITY - 1. Kyla Cutler, Davis, 1:00.06... 4. Makenna Frederiksen, 1:01.95.
GIRLS' 100 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Nyla Bonner, Elk Grove, 58.93... 2. Gabrielle McHugh, 59.05; 5. Savannah Hamilton, 1:01.80; 6. Elyse Pometta, 1:02.93; 9. Erin Maeng, 1:04.61; 10. Mia Hollar, 1:06.45; 12. Frances Wells, 1:07.74; 16. Della Smith, 1:11.13; 17. Kaylin Amiri, 1:11.38; 22. Isabelle Uribe, 1:23.22; Julia Cederborg, declared false start.
GIRLS' 100 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Erica Jaffe, St. Francis, 52.56... 3. Ashlyn Brock, 55.20; 4. Lilla Kapinya, 56.33.
GIRLS' 500 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Liv Powell, Davis, 5:42.36... 2. Lydia Vlahos, 6:31.21.
GIRLS' 500 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Ava Portello, Davis, 5:00.84... 3. Marissa Recio, 5:20.31; 4. Megan Gawlick, 5:21.78; 5. Lexie DeAngelis, 5:39.21; 9. Piper Brostrom, 5:51.87.
GIRLS' 100 BACKSTROKE JV - 1. Milena Bonnici, St. Francis, 1:07.48... 2. Olivia Charles, 1:09.86; 10. Meredith Little, 1:25.74.
GIRLS' 100 BACKSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Erica Jaffe, St. Francis, 57.20... 2. Grace Mering, 58.22; 3. Isabelle Schmid, 1:00.05; 7. Lexie DeAngelis, 1:03.72.
GIRLS' 100 BREASTSTROKE JV - 1. Katharine Below, Davis, 1:09.72... 2. Mikayla Magri, 1:10.97; 7. Rose Haag, 1:17.21; 8. Milena Bonnici, 1:17.71; 16. Elisa Gabrielli, 1:39.40.
GIRLS' 100 BREASTSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Grace Hadani, Davis, 1:09.52... 3. Mia Hill, 1:09.71; 5. Landen Didriksen, 1:10.00; 6. Makenna Frederiksen, 1:10.31; 7. Ella Ching, 1:10.77.
GIRLS' 1-METER DIVING VARSITY JV - 1. Rose Buffleben, St. Francis, 254.20... 2. Lily Frei, 245.10.
GIRLS' 1-METER DIVING VARSITY FINAL - 1. Sinclair Yadao, St. Francis, 461.85... 3. Maya Hamilton, 333.00; 4. Paige Vicente, 330.35.
