Murrieta Mesa boys swim team ties for second place at Division 2 championship meet

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The Murrieta Mesa boys swimming team had a historic day for the program, but the Rams will have to wait a little while to officially receive the reward for their efforts.

Murrieta Mesa tallied 160 points at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship meet Tuesday at Santa Margarita High School. The Rams finished in a second-place tie with Portola, four points behind Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. A coin flip determined which team took home the runner-up plaque. Portola called heads and won the toss. Murrieta Mesa’s runner-up plaque has already been ordered.

“It’s been a difficult season for everyone,” Murrieta Mesa coach Jenn Beech said. “We started the season off not knowing if this meet was even going to happen. When we got word that CIF was going to happen, these boys went into a different mode. They wanted to win, but we will take second place. This is the best we’ve done as a program, and we’re ready to come back next year even stronger.”

Justin Schneider was among the stars at Tuesday’s finals. The junior won the 50-yard freestyle in 20.65 seconds, using his 6-foot-4 frame to defeat Caden Noreen of Los Osos (20.79) at the finish. Schneider then added a 500 freestyle title to his collection, posting a winning time of 4:28.34. Winning the shortest and longest freestyle events is extremely rare, a few swimming experts at the meet said.

“I’ll do whatever my teams needs me to swim,” Schneider said. “I wasn’t expecting to win the 50, but I’m happy I did. The 500 has been rough for me for two years, so that win felt really good.”

Schneider also anchored a pair of relays that placed second. He teamed with brother Ty, Maximus Dillon and Alex Yang in the 200 medley relay (1:34.22) and the Schneiders joined forces with Dillon and Eryk Elizondo in the 200 freestyle relay (1:26.21). Justin Schnieder turned in anchored splits of 20.19 (medley relay) and 20.17 (200 freestyle) to help the Rams place second.

Ty Schneider finished fifth in the 500 freestyle, and Dillon placed fifth in the 100 backstroke.

Three other Inland swimmers, all of them seniors, won titles in their final high school meet.

St. Lucy’s Marly Lough won the girls 200 individual medley title in 2:02.49, dropping more than two seconds off her entry time. Lough led wire-to-wire and closed with a strong freestyle leg.

“I’ve been working real hard on my backstroke to make sure I have the lead at the halfway point,” said Lough, who also finished third in the 100 freestyle. “Once I saw I still had the lead after the breaststroke, I knew it was time to take this one home.”

Noreen would not be out-touched at the finish a second time, as he finished strong to claim the 100 freestyle in 45.88. Noreen was in second at the 50-yard mark but surged ahead down the stretch.

“I didn’t know I had it until I looked at the board,” Noreen said. “I just hugged the lane line for that final lap and gave it my all. It’s my last swim meet, and I used that as my motivation.”

Elsinore’s Luke Asbury capped his high school career by winning the 100 backstroke in a time of 50.66. Asbury trailed at the halfway point but turned in a strong final 50 to capture the win.

“I’ve been working hard for this moment, and it feels great to win my senior year,” said Asbury, who also placed third in the 200 freestyle.

Redlands East Valley’s Isabella Martinez-Spencer finished second in the 500 freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle. Roosevelt’s Angelica Benitez had two top-five finishes on the girls side, too, placing third in the 200 IM and fifth in the breaststroke. Beaumont’s Cheyanne Summers was fourth in the girls 200 backstroke. Roosevelt’s Michael DiBello was second in the boys 100 backstroke.

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