CIF state swimming: Foothill star breaks national record; Valley Christian junior has big day

Record-setting performances by Valley Christian s Yury Kuzmenko and Foothill s Luka Mijatovic provided highlights among local participants at the CIF Swimming and Diving championships Saturday at Clovis West High School Kuzmenko a junior won the - and -yard freestyle events anchored the medley relay squad to another first-place finish and was on the free relay association that placed third Mijatovic a sophomore won the free in a national record He also set a state meet record in winning the free in and was clocked in a split on Foothill s third-place free relay club I m really excited to see what the future brings for him Foothill coach Ali Smith mentioned I m very proud of him He s a great club member His future is very bright Kuzmenko set a state record in the free with a time of on Friday in the prelims and came back in the finals on Saturday to win in He was timed in in winning the free But his favorite memory was of his split anchoring the medley relay in Friday s prelims I m super happy he noted I broke last week and broke this week He has given a verbal commitment to Princeton What stands out with him is his tenacity his mental toughness Valley Christian coach Kevin Parizi announced Dougherty Valley s Songrui Wu was another double winner winning the boys backstroke in and the individual medley in Archbishop Mitty sophomore Shareef Elaydi took first place in the breaststroke with a time of and also placed second behind Wu in the IM Palo Alto s Gunnar Grubbs won the boys diving event with a total of In the girls meet Campolindo freshman Stella Canoles won the free in and Granada s Brooke Bennett captured the free with a time of Canoles was also a second-place finisher in the free Northwood won the boys unit title Valley Christian was third Northgate fifth Palo Alto sixth and Foothill seventh Related Articles Prep roundup Valley Christian rallies to beat No St Francis share WCAL softball title Prep roundup Livermore wins EBAL softball title NCS crowns champions in lacrosse boys volleyball NCS Champs Northgate tops Amador Valley to complete dominant run through section playoffs Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week Jazzy Maske Mills softball Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week Kaden Choi Head-Royce baseball Santa Margarita won the girls group title San Ramon Valley placed second Monte Vista third Campolindo fourth and Mitty fifth Other top boys finishers included Nathan Foucu of The King s Academy who took third in both the free and the free Bellarmine s Tyler Porter was third in the free and Woodside s Seth Collet was a third-place finisher in the free On the girls side Maren Byrne of Los Altos placed second in the individual medley while Mitty sophomore Mia Su took second in the breast Irvington sophomore Alison Su came in third in the free in Mitty s Isabel Wu took third in the butterfly and Monte Vista s Ella Busquets was third in the back Monte Vista came in second in the free relay and San Ramon Valley placed second in the free relay Palo Alto took third in the medley relay in