Edison girls win big

Sure April is just beginning, but don’t tell that to the Edison High girls’ swimming team.

Actually, no competitors could tell the Chargers much of anything after they dominated the Millikan Southern Section Relays, which concluded Saturday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Defending CIF Southern Section Division I champion Edison won the meet going away, winning six of seven events. Not only that, but the Chargers set meet records in the 4x100-yard individual medley, the 6x50 freestyle, the 4x50 butterfly and the 4x50 backstroke at the unique event.

These standout races helped the Chargers tally 272 points. University High was second with 230.

“They had an incredible meet,” Edison co-Coach Diggy Riley said of his swimmers. “No doubt about it.”

In the 4x100 individual medley, Ellie Morrissey, Kylie Boyce, Nicole Boyce and Sarah Moss touched in 3 minutes, 56.84 seconds. In the 6x50 freestyle, Alli Gillespie, Nicole Boyce, Harley Owens, Abby Oshiro, Tori Smith and Danielle Warde finished in 2:26.03.

Gillespie, Morrissey, Oshiro and Owens also were first in the 4x50 butterfly in 1:45.26. Riley said that bested a Mission Viejo record that had stood since 1983.

The final record came in the backstroke relay, where Cindy Tran, Morrissey, Moss and Haley Kunert won in 1:43.87.

Edison’s other two event victories came in the 4x100 freestyle, where Nicole Boyce, Warde, Kunert and Tran finished in 3:30.75, and the 4x50 medley, where the quartet of Tran, Kylie Boyce, Oshiro and Warde touched in 1:46.00.

Tran, headed for Cal, is well-known.

She’s the defending Division I champion in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

Yet each swimmer could only swim three events at the Millikan Relays, and the Chargers really showed their depth.

“It was a pleasant surprise [setting those records],” Riley said. “But at the same time, these girls love to compete. They’re going to troy to show some big times. We’ve been working them hard in the pool.”

Riley also said the meet was a bit of a statement meet, as Edison looks to defend its Division I title.

FASCELLA BREAKS MARK

Fountain Valley High senior Cynthia Fascella also had a meet to remember Saturday, although hers was at the Mission Viejo Invitational.

Fascella, bound for UCLA, won in the 50 freestyle (23.29), 100 free (50.70) and 200 free (1:49.11). She broke a meet record in the 200 free that dated back to 1984 and was held by Olympian Tiffany Cohen.