Dramatic finish helps Forest Park tie with Sun Valley in County swim meet
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (August 19, 2024) — Forest Park Swim Team got clutch performances from two of its youngest swimmers enabling the Concord team to tie Sun Valley for the Division III team title at the annual Contra Costa County Swim Championships earlier this month in Lafayette.
Dana Hills Swim Team of Clayton had its three-year run as Division I champions ended when rival Rancho San Miguel topped the Otters after the Walnut Creek team had been second to DHST three years in a row.
Coach Jeff Mellinger’s Forest Park team had a big day on Saturday to build a lead over Sun Valley of Walnut Creek. The Flyers 9-10 girls medley relay placed fourth, Alexis Steffensen was third in 13-14 freestyle and fifth in breaststroke, nine-year old Skyler Champathong placed third in breast and Ally Brown was fourth in 9-10 free.
On Sunday, with fewer swimmers competing, Forest Park watched Sun Valley slowly catch up until they took the lead after backstroke. Both teams had two swimmers in butterfly finals. The Flyers six and under Gia Arnold and 7-8 Khloe Ramirez both made county finals in their first year of swimming. “We needed great swims from both of them to catch up and they both dropped time and swam great,” a proud coach Mellinger said.
Legacy of success
Forest Park’s county success dates back to Community Division titles in 1970, 1979 and 1983 and then Division II championships in 2012, 2015 and most recently 2019. This is the team’s first Division III crown. The three divisions at County Meet are determined by the number of entries for each of the 40 teams taking part this year.
Oakhurst Country Club of Clayton was a best-ever third place behind Forest Park and Sun Valley in D3 standings. For the past decade, Dana Hills has maintained a top three spot in the county’s largest Division I and, after reaching the mountaintop from 2021-23, they were outscored this go-round by their Walnut Creek rivals. The Otters swam to a new county meet record in the 15-18 girls 200 medley relay with Zoe Lahanas, Maya Canada, Gianna Kougios and Dillon Knipstein touching at 1:50.57. Lahanas was second in 15-18 girls scoring and Canada was fifth.
Dana Hill’s Charley Branich was high-point winner for 7-8 girls while her sister Chooch Branich and teammate Meritt Pak tied for third in the same age group. Preston Forney (9-10) tied for third and Sadie Junier was fourth on the 9-10 girls side for DHST.
Noah Bright of Ygnacio Wood was fourth in six and under boys scoring. His YW team was fifth in the Division II standings.
Corinne Jeandheur
Corinne Jeandheur is a senior at Clayton Valley Charter High School. She runs on the CVCHS cross country team in the fall as well as competing on the track and field team in the spring. She also plays the piano and bakes in her free time. Jeandheur is a member of the CVCHS Engineering and Design Academy and concluded her sophomore year with a 4.33 GPA. She is serving as co-president of the California Scholarship Federation at Clayton Valley Charter this school year and continuing her academic and community involvement in the National Honor Society. She is very pleased to be writing the monthly Athlete Spotlight for the Pioneer.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.