Boys and Girls Swimming Win BVALs (2025)

Congratulationsto both our girls and boys teams on their impressive wins at the BVAL Mt Hamilton Division Championships. The scores:
Girls:
Leland: 588.5
Pioneer: 400
Leigh: 337
Santa Teresa: 285
Evergreen: 283.5
Branham: 202
Silver Creek: 155
Boys:
Leland: 657
Leigh: 452.5
Pioneer: 362
Evergreen: 306.5
Santa Teresa: 178
Silver Creek: 168
Branham: 93
These wins, combined with our perfect 6-0 dual meet records for both girls and boys combine to give Leland their fourth consecutive league championship!Congratulations!
Girls 200 Medley Relay:
This event set the tone for the day. Our A team stepped up ready to race. Maya Georgeswam her fastest 50 back split of the season.Zoe Windham, who had battled a tough cold/flu a few weeks back, showed she was back with her fastest split of the season. Things were all tied up between Leland, Pioneer and Leigh at that point. ThenAileen Bumpflew off the blocks and absolutely ripped her 50 fly leg, going 25.9! We had pulled into the lead, andLeah Raegenfinished the job with a strong anchor leg. 1:49.30! Look out for this relay at CCS! The biggest factor in our title wins is our unmatched depth. This really shows up in our relays, where our B relays often beat some of our competitors A relays. We showed our depth with our B relay, who placed 6th.Amber Tapucu, Jocelyn Sosa, Mia HackettandErika Landinehad excellent swims, and our relay clocked in at 1:57.03. A great time, and big points for Leland! 40 points for first and 26 for sixth. Boom 🙂
Boys 200 Medley Relay:
Our boys came into this meet NOT tapered. We’ve still been working hard, and everyone was swimming a bit tired. Nonetheless, our A relay signaled that we are ready for CCS next week.Louis DeScioli, Jay Gulvady, Max CiciarelliandIsaac Litwillerposted a dominating win, even while swimming tired. Now its time to taper, get primed and really go fast next week! Our B relay placed FIFTH, beating three of our competitor’s A teams. Great job byJayden Li, James Brandall, Andy CiciarelliandXavier Martinezfor their FAST splits!
Girls 200 Free:
Depth was the name of our game in this event. After racking up 66 points to take a nice lead, we had three girls in the A final and one leading the B final. One week away from her taper when she will be primed,Leah Raegenswam right at her personal best time to finish second. Leah is now #5 on the Leland all time list for the 200 Free!Maya Georgehad her best swim of the season, nailing her CCS cut and placing 4th.Chrissy Flynnalso nailed her personal best at 2:05.10, andSophia DeSciolishrugged off an ok swim in prelims, dropping more than 4 seconds(!) and posting a personal best at 2:05.89 to win the B final!Sofia DeRollohad a strong swim, and would have been in the B final if not for the “Leland rule” (that’s how I think about it). Only four athletes can advance from a team to finals day. We kicked off our meet with a bang! 17 points + 15 points + 12 points + 9 points = 53 points!
Boys 200 Free:
We had another huge showing of our speed and depth. In the prelims,Evan Xunailed a new personal best at 1:46.52. Luke RaimondiandJayden Ligot their CCS cuts at 1:47. And one of my favorite stories of the meet wasLeonardo Yousefpor, who wore a tech suit in a race for the first time, and promptly went out and SHATTERED his previous personal best by over 4 seconds! The tech suit maybe gave in a second. The rest was an amazing effort! Leo jumped into the A final. On finals day, Leland placed second, third, fourth and seventh for another massive points haul.
Girls 200 IM:
CongratulationstoZoe Windhamon a strong showing here, placing fourth in the final.Olivia Freyhad an amazing prelims swim, grabbing a new personal record at 2:23 and into the A final. AndAudrey Primmeralso hit a new PR at 2:26, and won the B final. More great Leland depth and best swims at the end of the year!
Boys 200 IM:
More great depth!Jay Gulvadygot the nasty bug that many got over the past few weeks. He’s coming back from being out, and I know will be ready to rock at CCS. In the meantime, he posted a nice time in the 200 IM to finish third.James Brandallhad an awesome prelims swim, posting a new PR at 1:59! James finished fifth in finals. And a great job byJames Tong,who dropped two seconds off his previous best in prelims (2:14) and placed 7th at finals. Great job boys!
Girls 50 Free:
FreshmanAmber Tapucuhas been awesome for us this season, both in the backstroke and in the sprints. This was a loaded field with some of the top swimmers in the league. Amber held her own, placing sixth in prelims and seventh in finals. I see big things for Amber over the next three years!Erika Landinesaved her best for last, with an excellent sprint and new PR! Great job also byIzzy Pifferini, who also had to shake off that nasty big, andOlivia Richardson, who both finished strong in the B final. Way to go Leland sprinters! A special shoutout to seniorEmma Li, who finished her Leland swimming career with a 50 Free PR, going sub 28 seconds!
Boys 50 Free:
Here we had the battle of two 6 foot 5 (6?) water polo players. I had my money on our guy,Jake Primmer,who is not only an amazing water polo, but a REALLY fast sprinter (the length and size 15 or so feet are huge weapons in the water). He’s also an accomplished fisherman. Kid loves the water, and the water loves him. Jake ripped a 21.39 in prelims, and outraced the Pioneer sprinter in the finals to take home the sprint crown for Leland! The next goal? Sub 21 seconds next week! Great work byLuke Raimondi,with an A finals appearance. He used to be a 500 guy! Now he’s a sprinter too! Does it all. 🙂Ryan Etter and Xavier Martinez(he’s gotten so fast this season!) rounder out our scoring in the B final. And a special shout out toAdam Hamilton, who nailed a new personal best at 23.85! He would have been in the B final, but they only let us take four. :/ Great job sprinters!
Girls Diving:
One of our team’s greatest competitive assets is our amazing divers! We have two of the best divers in CCS inEvangeline ZhaoandMiriam Dorsey, who went 1-2 at the BVAL finals meet last Wednesday.Violet Morrisjust started diving a year ago, and has made tremendous strides as a diver, placing fifth in finals! And a big cheer forGianna Hannaway, who walked on to the team from Leland’s competitive cheer squad (see what I did there? :), worked super hard, and delivered 11 awesome dives to finish seventh in finals. I think Gianna is our most courageous athlete, who is always willing to try a new, challenging dive, even if that means a few hard landings. 🙂 Our divers delivered our single largest point haul in an individual event: 63 points! On Tuesday, Evangeline and Miriam compete at CCs finals!
Boys Diving:
I am so grateful and proud ofAidan Tran-Longtinfor coming out for diving this season! Aidan has been a swimmer, a water polo, and a very talented member of Leland’s dance squad. This year he added diving to his many lists of accomplishments, and I couldn’t be proud. You have to learn and execute 11 dives to compete at BVAL finals, and Aidan did it. Fifth place finish, and a lot of courage and talent. Thank Aidan, andcongratulations!
Girls 100 Fly:
It’s really hard to swim the butterfly. It’s also quite difficult to swim the 100 Fly on the heels being being sick and out of the water for a week. I think one of our toughest athletes at Leland isMia Hackett, who shrugged off that nasty bug and nailed a 1:02.58 to place 6th in prelims. It was a great time for Mia, and I’m so proud of her to stepping up to the plate while she was still recovering. Tough as nails. Mia finished seventh in finals, up against a loaded field. CongratulationsMia, and thank you for our team-first attitude!Emily Onealhad a GREAT finals swim, posting a 1:06 and placing tenth overall. That was up several places from last year. And big props toDiyana Gunasekera, who responded when I asked her to turn those 50 Fly races in JV to 100 Fly races in varsity. That’s a lot of extra fly in a race, and she did a wonderful job for us this season!
Boys 100 Fly:
This was probably the best, tightest race of the meet. Lucky for Leland, we hadMax Ciciarelliin that race. Max looked strong and smooth in his 100 Fly, a posted an impressive 51.9 to win the race. Boom! Now it’s time to taper and get ready for what promises to be a highly-competitive field at CCS next week! Max was a full second faster than he was at last year’s BVALs. I think he’s ready for a great performance next week!Jayden Lilowered his PR to go 54.34, and I’m betting on a 53 or better at CCS. AndAndrew Ciciarelli, swimmer-turned-water polo stud – turned swimmer again, raced his way into the A final with a new PR of 56.12. Great work byHyejune Yang,who also nailed a new PR in prelims! And here’s toHarry YinandCalvin Sridhara, who both would have been racing in the B final if not for that pesky four only rule.
Girls 100 Free
Leah Raegenhas quickly emerged as one of the top swimmers in our league, and a contender for scoring points at CCS. Without being tapered and rested, Leah posted a new PR with a 53.53 in prelims, and placed fourth in a loaded field. Leah also debuts on the Leland top 10 all time list at #8! I can’t wait to see what Leah does next week at CCS!Aileen Bumpis also preparing for a big showing at CCS, placing fifth. Aileen has a knack of showing up big at the biggest meets. Stay tuned next week 🙂 And I am SO proud of Audrey Primmer. Sprinting seems to run in the family. Audrey, who started on the JV squad, rapidly raced her way on the varsity team, and crashed into the A final with a huge new PR of 56.71! We’re just getting started! 🙂And then we haveChrissy Flynnwho balances her time competing on Leland Swim and Dive, school and training and competing with the US National water polo team. We are so lucky to have Chrissy, who nailed a new personal best in finals with a 56.66. Great job ladies!
Boys 100 Free:
We have a new school record holder, and we’re not even at the final meets of the year!CongratulationstoIsaac Litwiller,who showed the section and state he is READY for CCS and State champs. Isaac nailed a 45.15, breaking a 40-year school record (heck, I remember swimming against that guy! He was super fast). We’re not going to engrave the new record for the board yet. I don’t think Isaac is quite done with this event. 🙂Louis DeScioli(48.46) andJake Primmer(48.68) completed the 1-2-3 sweep. Shout out to Primmer, who moved up to #9 on the Leland all time list with his prelims swim of 47.98. Now time to rest up for even faster races next weekend gentlemen! A bigcongratulationstoLeonardo Yousefpor, who continued his hot streak with a new PR of 51.87 in prelims! And again, the 4 only rule strikes, otherwiseWarren TanandXavier Martinezwould have been racing in the B final.
Girls 500 Free:
Our four entries in the 500 Free are absolutely tough as they come. This is a difficult race!Sophia DeSciolihad an amazing finals swim to grab the bronze medal and a new PR! I gaveOlivia Freythe choice of what she wanted to swim for her final high school races. She chose the 200 IM and … the 500 Free. The result? A huge 5:47 swim in prelims and sevent place finish in finals.Mia Hackett.Out of the water for a whole week leading up to BVALs. No biggie … she swam into the A final on Friday and 8th place Saturday. Awesome! And I LOVED watchingShannon Burkturn in her best performance of the season, breaking six minutes and winning the B final with a 5:58! The athlete from Leigh won the event. She is defending CCS champ in the event. 20 points. Our Leland depth wins the meet though, with 49 points racked up because of the toughness and hard work by these four. Great job!
Boys 500 Free:
We decided as part ofIsaac Litwiller’sprep for next week’s big 200 Free races at CCS to swim the 500 at BVALs. Now Isaac is #3 all time at Leland at 5:37, and will be hunting that school record next year (4:28). Nice work Isaac. Time for business next week!Evan Xuswam a strong 4:50 in prelims, and grabbed the bronze medal in finals. AndAndy Ciciarelligrabbed sixth place. Here’s what brought a smile to my face: FreshmanSam Ciciarellithrows down a massive effort, posting a new PR of 5:02. That’s a three second drop. Sam was happy, but also I could tell he wanted more. Next step for Sam: CCS next year! He’s getting really close to that cut! Great job Sam! Fifth place.
Girls 200 Free Relay:
Our girls A team was facing a “loaded up” Pioneer team with their 1-2 finishers in the 50 free. I thought this was going to be a really tight, close race. We won it at the dual meet by .02. At BVALs? Leland for the win, with a GREAT time of 1:39.14, besting Pioneer by over a second. Outstanding work byAmber Tapucu, Zoe Windham, Leah RaegenandAileen Bump.This will be a dangerous relay at CCS! Our B relay was the top-placing B relay in our league, showing again how deep we are.Olivia Richardson, Izzy Pifferini, Chrissy FlynnandErika Landinedid a great job scoring big points for Leland!
Boys 200 Free Relay:
Congratulationsto our A relay on the big win!Luke Raimondi, Evan Xu, James BrandallandJake Primmergot the job done. And our B relay placed 5th. WithRyan Etter, Xavier Martinez, James Tong and Adam Hamiltonall posting fast splits! We simply do NOT lose this event at BVALs. Tradition continued. 🙂
Girls 100 Back:
I think the other great race of the meet.Maya Georgehas, hands down, the BEST underwaters on our team — boys or girls. And she used them very effectively in her race in BVAL finals to win the league title in a close race. Awesome job Maya! I need to hire her as my underwater technique coach for next year 🙂 🙂 Amber Tapucuhad a really nice finals swim, just off of her PR, and JUST missing her CCS cut. I know Amber really wanted to get these cuts, both in the 50 Free and 100 Back. She has been a force for Leland swim this year, and I know next season she will be at CCS not only in our super fast 200 Free Relay, but also in these events.Kenzie Baileyposted a new PR at 1:04.84 in prelims and placed sixth in finals. AndErika Landinehad a day on Friday prelims, crushing her previous PR, posting a 1:04.68. Tied for seventh in finals. Four Leland finalists. All A finals. Massive points, and the league title for Maya. A good event. 🙂
Boys 100 Back:
MaxCiciarelliandLouis DeScioliwent a dominating 1-2 in this event, showing they are getting primed for CCS. Max swims with smooth technique. Louis swims with power. Both styles are fast, and I can’t wait to see what they do next week, rested and tapered!Hyejune YangandShan Moitraalso raced in the A final, finishing 5th and 6th, respectfully. Leland dominated this event! Great work boys!
Girls 100 Breast:
Another incredible race, this time withZoe Windhamlooking REALLY good. She just got out-touched by her Pioneer opponent, although I remain convinced she got her. Kidding. Sort of… 🙂 What’s really important is that both Zoe andAileen Bumpare going to be primed, rested and ready to race fast next week at CCS! AndJocelyn Sosa! A new PR in prelims, and a spot in the A final! This was a big step up year for Jocelyn, and I was thrilled to see her make the top 8. Way to go Jocelyn! Emily Marshallswam a new PR, and moved up from 13th to 12th in the B final. Woo hoo!Calista Yanwould have been in the B final too, if not for that pesky rule. What a great showing!
Boys 100 Breast:
Congratulationsto freshmanJames Brandall, newly minted BVAL champ in the 100 Breast! James is looking ready to go to battle next week at CCS, where he will be a major contender to make the A final.Jay Gulvadyis working his way back, and will be right there as well.James Tongwas 7th in the A final, proving that our 1-2-3 breaststroke punch is formidable. Congratulationsalso toWarren Tanfor his 12th place finish!
Girls 400 Free Relay:
Our A relay finished strong with a 4th place finish. Last year our relays finished 4th, 4th and 3rd. This year? 1st, 1st and 4th. We faced several loaded relays in this event, and I’m really proud of the efforts byMaya George, Izzy Pifferini, Chrissy Flynn and Audrey Primmer. All turned in great, season-best splits. Now onto CCS! And our B relay was close behind in 5th place! Leland depth! Great job byOlivia Frey, Olivia Richardson, Sophia DeScioliandEmily Oneal! More season-best splits! What a great finish for our team, caping off a big team win!
Boys 400 Free Relay:
Our A relay has a mission: win a CCS title. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible.Isaac Litwiller, Jake Primmer, Louis DeScioliandMax Ciciarellilogged a strong race, and showed me they are ready to go for it next week. Too bad we can’t enter two relays. Our B relay, withJayden Li, Luke Raimondi, Leo Yousefpor and Evan Xufinished SECOND, punctuating our dominating team win.