KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a’s Anya Littlefield broke a record and earned two state consideration times, Saturday at the Kapa‘a Pool. Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation swimmers finished the day with eight consideration times, including a first by the Waimea boys who finished with
KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a’s Anya Littlefield broke a record and earned two state consideration times, Saturday at the Kapa‘a Pool.
Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation swimmers finished the day with eight consideration times, including a first by the Waimea boys who finished with a consideration time in the Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
“Everyone swam well with two meets to go,” said Billy Brown, head coach for Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics and part of the KIF meet organizing team, in an e-mail. “Some consideration times were achieved by the relays and a couple individual events marks on the results.”
The Menehune Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Sandy Aviguetero, Bryce Beaver, Alex Milan and Dane Harding stopped the clocks at 1:43.20 for the consideration time, bettering their previous swim of 1:52.19. The state consideration standard for this event is 1:44.09, almost two seconds in reach of the second place finishing team from Kapa‘a (1:49.53).
“The boys had a lot of very exciting races in the 100 Free, the relays, the 50 Free, pretty much everything,” Brown said. “It’s great seeing the boys stepping up like that.”
One of the tight races was in the second heat of the Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke where Kaua‘i’s Ryan Valenciano came up in the final five yards of the event to best Waimea’s Micah Matsushima. Valenciano finished fifth in that event on a 1:22.36 swim, being bettered by Aaron Pigott who chalked up a consideration time with a first finish at 1:08.36, bettering his previous attempt at 1:09.98.
Kapa‘a’s Zaimana Fernandez also turned on the turbos on the home stretch to outdistance fellow swimmer Sam Matola and Hunter Hudson, much to the delight of the fans who crowded the pool. Fernandez stopped the clock at 1:20.85.
Littlefield topped the record in the Girls 100 Yard Butterfly with her 1:04.41 swim, besting the record set Jan. 17, 2009 by Desiree Pia (Kaua‘i) o 1:04.60. That swim also earned her one of two consideration times, the other event coming in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle where she stopped the clock at 2:05.97 (consideration 2:09.99).
Littlefield also swam for two relay teams that earned consideration times at the Saturday meet — the Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay (2:02.06) where she was the No. 3 swimmer, and the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:48.93) where she anchored the team at the No. 4 position.
Keisha Anaya, breaking records and earning consideration times at earlier meets, picked up another consideration time in the 100 Yard Freestyle event where she stopped the clock at 58.70. Previously, Littlefield established a new record in this event on Jan. 9, 2010 with a 57.37 swim, falling short of the auto qualifying standard of 56.69.
The competitive pace set by Littlefield only served to push Anaya who also was part of two Kaua‘i girls relay team earning consideration times.
Anaya was the lead swimmer for the Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay (2:06.12) that earned consideration times with its runner-up finish to Kapa‘a. She anchored the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team that also earned a consideration time with its runner-up finish (1:52.62) below Kapa‘a.
This Saturday’s qualifying meet will be hosted by Kaua‘i High School at the new YMCA Pool in Puhi. Due to SAT testing, the first events hit the water starting at 2 p.m.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
