Sports Briefs: Downey, Warren swimmers earn titles

DOWNEY – The Warren High School girls’ swim team are the 2014 San Gabriel Valley League champions. Of the 11 events competed in, Warren won 10. Of the 10 titles won by the Lady Bears, seven new league records were set.

“It was a record-breaking, record-breaking afternoon at Downey High School,” said Coach Josie Cordero.

Kayla Casas won the 200 Freestyle and the 50 Freestyle. Casas set a new school and league record in the 200. Valeria Orozco won the 200 IM and the 100 Butterfly. Orozco set new school and league records in both events. Justine Castro won the 100 Freestyle. Kim Shepherd won the 500 Freestyle. Shepherd set a new school and league record. Yatzyl Lajud won the 100 Backstroke.

Brittney Baron, Jocelyn Castro, Valeria Orozco and Justine Castro won the 200 Medley Relay. Baron, Castro, Orozco and Castro set a school and league record. Justine Castro, Erin Gonzalez, Kim Shepherd and Kayla Casas won the 200 Freestyle Relay. Castro, Gonzalez, Shepherd and Casas set a school and league record. Valeria Orozco, Kayla Casas, Brittney Baron and Kim Shepherd won the 400 Freestyle Relay. Orozco, Casas, Baron and Shepherd set a new league record.

Kayla Casas is a three time league champion in the 200 Freestyle. Valeria Orozco is a three time league champion in the 200 IM and 100 Butterfly. Warren also swept the medal stand in the 200 Freestyle with Kayla Casas, Kim Shepherd and Brittney Baron. The Lady Bears also took first and second in the 50 and 500 Freestyle.

C.I.F. preliminaries took place Wednesday at Riverside Junior College (scores unavailable at press time). The top 16 fastest qualifying times from Wednesday returned to compete in the finals yesterday (scores unavailable at press time).

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The Downey High School boys’ swim team are the 2014 San Gabriel Valley League champions.

Downey finished with 173.5 points followed by Warren with 78, Gahr with 74 and Paramount with 59, respectively. With this title, Downey has won the S.G.V.L. title each of the last three years.

Nine league records were broken out of 22 events that were swam. Michael Kim won the 200 IM, Ryan Cruz won the 500 Freestyle and Tadeo Marquez won the 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly. Marquez set two new league records with his efforts. The Vikings swept all three relay races.

Of the 22 events, 19 of the league champions were either from Downey or Warren. The Lady Bears had ten and the Viking boys had seven. The only event the Warren girls did not win was the 100 Backstroke. Lucia Rodriguez of Downey won that event in a time of 1:17.83.

Keilan Touzani of Gahr won league titles in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Warren freshman Edgar Fabian won the league title in the 100 Backstroke and Paramount’s Michael Gilliam won the 100 Breastroke for the Pirates.

Downey Coach Shaun Delhousay is extremely proud of his team and how hard they have worked this season. The Vikings were 13-0 this season in competition and capped off their season with a third straight S.G.V.L. title.

As league finals concluded last week, Downey quickly turned their attention to C.I.F. Prelims at Riverside Junior College. The Prelims took place Wednesday (scores unavailable at press time). The fastest 16 qualifying times from Wednesday returned to compete in the finals yesterday (scores unavailable at press time).

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The Warren High School boys’ volleyball team advanced to the second round of the C.I.F. Division 3 playoffs Tuesday with a four set win over visiting Hemet.

Warren faced Rio Mesa yesterday in their second round matchup (scores unavailable at press time). Rio Mesa defeated Valley Christian to advance.

Warren is the 2014 San Gabriel Valley League champion and top league seed. Warren finished their regular season with an overall record of 14-7 and were 10-0 in league play. Entering the playoffs, Warren defeated Lynwood 3-0 at Lynwood on 5/1, defeated Gahr 3-1 at Warren on 5/2 and defeated Paramount at Paramount 3-0 on 5/6 in their final regular season game. The Bears are looking to make a nice run in the Division 3 playoffs.

The Warren High School softball team currently has an overall record of 20-5 and are 8-1 in San Gabriel Valley League play. The Bears defeated cross-town rival Downey 4-3 at Downey on 5/6, defeated Dominguez 17-0 at Warren on 5/8, defeated Lynwood 11-0 at Lynwood on 5/13 and closed out their regular season schedule yesterday against Paramount at Paramount (score unavailable at press time).

If Warren defeated Paramount and Gahr defeated Lynwood in yesterday’s games, the Bears will be co-champs with Gahr (15-9, 8-1). Both Gahr and Warren are looking to make a nice run in the C.I.F. Division 3 playoffs. Interestingly, the two teams may face each other again in the playoffs depending on where they are seeded in the bracket. Brackets will be released on Sunday.

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The Downey High School baseball team are the 2014 San Gabriel Valley League champions.

The Vikings are 18-8 overall and are 8-1 in league play. Downey clinched the league title on Tuesday with a 13-0 shutout win against Dominguez at Dominguez. The Vikings concluded their regular season yesterday at Downey against the same Dominguez team (score unavailable at press time).

Downey’s last loss was against Gahr 4-1 at Gahr on 4/29. Since then, Downey defeated Gahr 5-0 at Downey on 5/2, defeated Paramount 4-1 at Downey on 5/6, defeated Paramount 11-4 at Paramount on 5/9 and defeated Dominguez 13-0 at Dominguez on Tuesday.

With the San Gabriel Valley League title, Downey will be the top league entry into the C.I.F. Division 3 bracket. Gahr (18-10, 6-3), Paramount (11-15, 5-3) and Warren (24-4, 5-3) will also earn playoff berths. The fourth team from the S.G.V.L. will most likely have to play a wildcard game to begin the playoffs. Lynwood (8-10, 2-7) and Dominguez (4-17, 0-9) have been eliminated.

Downey enters the Division 3 playoffs on a hot streak. The Vikings have won four games in a row and 15 of their last 16. Downey is now ranked 71st in the Southern Section and 10th in Division 3. Downey has a team batting average of .268, an on base percentage of .353 and has 22 stolen bases. The Downey offense has scored 125 runs and have collected 180 hits. The Viking pitching staff has an ERA of 1.11.

Tyler Tungate, Gabriel Llanes and Randy Labaut have led Downey in both hitting and pitching this season. Tungate is hitting .386, Lllanes .372 and Labaut .329, respectively. Tungate leads the Downey pitching staff with a 7-2 record and an ERA of 0.72. Labaut is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.10 and Llanes is 5-3 with an ERA of 0.81. Coach Gonzalez, his staff and players are looking forward to making a nice run in the Division 3 playoffs.

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Published: May 15, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 05