CCS swim championships: Palo Alto makes history as first school to win boys, girls titles in same year

SAN JOSE Palo Alto has long been a powerhouse at the Central Coast Section swimming and diving championships The Vikings are a perennial contender at the CCS meet having won back-to-back boys association championships in and The girls won titles in and two in a row in and But Paly took things to another level on Saturday at Independence High School For the first time in the proud history of the Vikings undertaking Paly won both the boys and girls band titles at the CCS championships It was the first time the same school won both the boys and girls titles in the same year The Palo Alto High School boys and girls swim teams celebrate together for both winning overall during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group The girls held off Archbishop Mitty in a tight race for the CCS company title compiling points to Mitty s And the boys lapped the field collecting points to easily clear second-place Bellarmine and earn their third CCS championship in scheme history It was a little stressful near the end but I liked the conclusion of it Paly coach Danny Dye noted The Vikings used strength in numbers to secure their titles Paly won the girls -yard freestyle relay with Llew Ladomirak Katie Spitzer Hannah Oh and Sabrina Meyers clocking a time of But that was the only event the Vikings won on either side of the meet Instead they got contributions from across the lineup to earn their championships Woodside s Seth Collet dives in the pool for the freestyle during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Both of them were literally true organization victories where we didn t have any individual champions and only one relay champion Dye noted But we had balance throughout and it was because of that that they were able to pull the point totals where they were The CCS record fell in the -yard freestyle as King s Academy junior Nathan Foucu swam a blistering time of to set the new meet standard Valley Christian junior and Princeton commit Yury Kuzmenko broke the CCS record in the -yard freestyle swimming to a time of to win the event Kuzmenko flirted with the record in the free winning the event in seconds to come up just short of Ethan Harrington s mark of But the biggest story of the day was Palo Alto s dominance across both genders The Vikings had to sweat out the girls title as Mitty kept things close until the final event Palo Alto girls swim unit cheers on the boys after getting first during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group The boys kept things a little simpler clearing the field by leaps and bounds They were definitely rooting for each other Dye revealed From the beginning of the year I described them what they could accomplish So they ve been pushing each other all year cheering each other on You get the club kids and you let them know how high school is different and how the points go So they really understood their role Swimming in high school you swim to get in and then the next day you swim to place and get points And they all really understood that role Even if there was a disappointing swim they knew that they could still get points and add to the group It was great to see the camaraderie of both teams understanding and supporting and empowering If there wasn t a good swim the other swimmers picked them up in the next race It was a validating meet for Paly which finished as the runner-up in both the boys and girls competition last year The twin titles gave Dye his sixth and seventh section titles all-time surpassing legendary Paly coach Nort Thornton Sr for bulk in Vikings history Judges watch a relay during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Thornton Sr won his section titles during his Palo Alto tenure from - when the Vikings competed in the North Coast Section They were so stoked Dye reported It was amazing to see how excited they were in the water after throwing me in and taking the pictures and doing all the different stuff It was amazing to see their force and smiles and laughter Related Articles NCS swim championships Foothill sophomore Luka Mijatovic smashes section record Prep roundup Mitty softball beats St Ignatius with senior day comeback SI baseball wins on walk-off grand slam It s been crazy Aaron Gordon s Mitty High coach teammate reflect on Denver Nuggets star s magical postseason Prep spotlight Cal Stanford commits from Bay Area recall what it was like to attend record-breaking Big Swing championship Prep roundup Las Lomas continues upset run in NCS volleyball playoffs Livermore stuns Granada in baseball Dye picked up his th and st career dual meet wins at Paly s final dual of the year against Gunn setting the stage for a strong performance at the section meet After avenging the boys runner-up finish to Gunn in and holding off Mitty in the nip-and-tuck girls race the Vikings have a lot to celebrate as they get ready for the state meet in Clovis Gunn s Nate Yoon swims during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group The pressure was on Dye reported Mitty has various very very good swimmers so you re worried that those swimmers can step up and pass you by with that little bit of a lead that you gave yourself But our girls held serve For every movement one of the Mitty girls made our girls did the same thing They stood tall and did what they had to do It was amazing to see how stoic they were It didn t make them nervous it didn t make them scared They didn t choke and have bad times They stood up to the challenge and did it And the boys were amazing They were like a machine We know we have a lot of senior leadership so here s what we need to do here s what we re going to do To see them step up with that maturity as athletes as high school athletes it was an amazing feeling Menlo Atherton s Hailey Preuss prepares to dive in for the freestyle during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Saratoga s Kelsey Zhang swims during the during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Enzo Balbuena swims during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Sacred Heart Prep boys celebrate after a relay during the Central Coast Section boys and girls championships at Independence High School pool in San Jose Calif on Saturday May Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group