Loyola's Varsity Swim team capped its final weekend of competition with a third-place finish at the 2019 CIF State Championships today (May 11) in Clovis at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex. The Cubs improved upon their seventh-place finish at last year's meet, taking home two State titles in the 200 Medley Relay and the 50 Free to close the season.
In the first event of the day, Loyola’s relay team of seniors Mark McCrary ’19, James Lee ’19, Connor Lee ’19 and Emmett Pernecky ’19 set a new meet record in the 200 Medley after touching the wall at 1:29.78. That time bested their previous record of 1:29.80, which was set last weekend at the CIF-SS Division I Finals in Riverside. The Cubs also won the 200 Medley at that meet for the CIF-SS title.
Senior Connor Lee ’19 continued his dominance in the pool, taking the State title in the 50 Free with a time of 20.11 for All-American honors and finishing third in the 100 Fly at 47.07. Loyola’s 400 Free Relay (C. Lee, Pernecky, William Kim ’22, McCrary) placed second overall at 3:00.34.
Additionally, McCrary finished fifth in the 100 Back (48.80) and 11th in the 200 IM (1:49.66), James Lee took sixth in the 100 Breast (55.85) and the 200 Free Relay comprised of Taz Kanjanakaset ’21, Pernecky, Nick Turrill ’19 and Andrew Sung ’19 took 15th overall (1:25.38).
CIF-SS Division I champion Loyola placed third overall in the State with 147 total points behind San Ramon Valley (177) and Oak Ridge HS (174). The Cubs were eight points clear of fourth-place finisher The Harker School (139) and thirteen ahead of Bellarmine College Prep (134) in fifth.
The State Meet marks the end of competition for Loyola Swimming in 2019. The Cubs were undefeated (6-0) in dual meet action and came away with the CIF-SS Division I Championship, a 13th-straight Mission League title, a third place finish in the State and a number of new school records this season, including Connor Lee '19 in the 50 Free (20.09) and 100 Free (43.95), Mark McCrary '19 in the 100 Back (48.37), the CIF-SS record in the 400 Free Relay comprised of Lee, McCrary, Emmett Pernecky '19 and William Kim '22 (2:59.65), and the 200 Medley Relay of McCrary, Lee, Pernecky and James Lee '19 (1:29.78), which is a CIF-SS and California State Record.
Head coach Kevin Mann completed his 19th season at the helm and was assisted by Chris Gibson, both of whom helped Loyola improve upon last season's runner-up finish at the CIF-SS DI Championships. The Cubs won their seventh CIF title in school history in 2019 (first since 2016) and have not dropped a Mission League dual meet since 2006, extending their winning ways to the tune of 32 league titles in the past 36 seasons. Additionally, their performance at the CIF Finals extended Loyola's streak of top-three finishes at the event to an unprecedented 13-straight years.
Congratulations to all of our Cubs and coaches on another fantastic season!
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