Granite Bay nips Jesuit, Davis for section swim crown

Granite Bay High School swimming coach John Sherman knew his boys team would be competitive this season, but a Sac-Joaquin Section championship?"It was unexpected this year," he said Monday after the Grizzlies won their second section crown in three years. "We see Davis and Jesuit throughout the season, and they're both just very good teams. We had lost to Jesuit essentially twice this year at invitationals; same thing with Davis."It wasn't the same thing Friday and Saturday at Tokay High School in Lodi. Sherman said the Grizzlies "swam out of their minds" and estimated 95 percent of his swimmers set personal-best times Friday in qualifying heats at the section meet."All of our boys just hit on the same day," he said.On Saturday, Granite Bay took advantage of a Davis disqualification by placing second in the 200 medley relay. Andrew Murch set an All-America time in winning the 100 backstroke, and the Grizzlies won the final event — the 400 free relay — to beat Jesuit by 6.5 points and Davis by 13. Granite Bay totaled 269.5 points, Jesuit 263 and Davis 256.5.The Grizzlies led Jesuit by 1.5 and Davis by five going into the final event. Sherman said every Granite Bay, Jesuit and Davis swimmer was on the edge of the pool cheering. So were the fans."It was crazy," he said.Murch, Austin Akre, Luke Keffer and Derek McKeon swam a winning time of 3 minutes, 7.57 seconds. The Grizzlies' 200 medley relay team of Murch, Hunter Christian, Akre and Brandon Sanders finished second to Vacaville with a time of 1:36.39, an All-America time and the fifth-fastest ever at the section meet, according to Sherman.Murch set another All-America time at 50.64 seconds in winning the 100 backstroke, and he took second in the 200 individual medley.Meanwhile, Adam Jorgensen of Roseville repeated as section champ in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.3. Jorgensen, headed to Cal on scholarship, finished second in the 200 freestyle by seven-hundredths of a second.In girls varsity, Granite Bay junior Sophie Weber broke a 14-year-old section record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.15, five-hundredths of a second quicker then the 1997 record set by Alexis Oakland of Rio Americano."It's one of those events for your kids that are very well-rounded swimmers," Sherman said of Weber, adding her time was about four seconds under the All-America cut and somewhere in the top 15 in the country this year. "Sophie's a superstar; just a phenomenal performance."Weber also finished second in the 100 backstroke.Woodcreek won the frosh-soph girls championship with 211.5 points, 6.5 better than Nevada Union. Alyson Fellows of Woodcreek won the 500 freestyle in 5:05.62, and Claire Hammond won the 100 backstroke in 59.44.Roseville's Whitney Jorgensen took the frosh-soph 200 IM in 2:06.74, a margin of victory by more than four seconds.