Sights are set high for La Cañada in 2010.
“We’re gonna try to get our fifth CIF championship,” Lopez said, “but it’s gonna take a lot of work and it’ll take some help from our water polo players.
“There’s a lot of raw talent here.”
Losing some quality seniors over the summer doesn’t figure to hurt the Crescenta Valley High boys’ swimming team too much. Actually, veteran Coach Jan Sakonju says that with some top-notch freshman talent joining his experienced roster, the Falcons will look to exceed the success of the 2009 season that included a Pacific League title and impressive showings at the CIF Southern Section Division II finals and Masters Meet.
“We’re all very excited for CIF,” said Sakonju, who led the Falcons to a best-ever seventh-place finish in Division II last year. “We have a deep field of talent and our goal is to be one of the top teams in CIF.”
That will largely depend on seniors such as Jason Kim and Chris Veselich and junior Andrew De Jong matching their accomplishments of last season, when they led the Falcons’ charge to CIF in the 400- freestyle and 200-medley relays and several individual events, along with graduates Tristan Winterhalter and Sharif Alaoui.
But Crescenta Valley also has some new weapons that Sakonju is counting on to surprise some people in league and at CIF. Young Tae Seo and Harrison Thai, a pair of can’t-miss freshman with accomplished club swimming resumes, are already generating big expectations.
“[Seo] could be one of the best swimmers we’ve ever had,” Sakonju said. “He wants to try and break most of the school records.”
