Challenging Competition : Buena Girls Face Tough Test in Hunt for Another Team Title in Division I Swimming

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Buena High faces stiff competition for the Southern Section Division I girls’ swimming title for the first time in four years, one of its senior standouts didn’t even make it to the individual finals.

USC-bound Rebecca Gilman, who has earned more points than any swimmer during the Bulldogs’ run, failed to qualify for the finals in either of her two events at the preliminaries Thursday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

After narrowly winning the 200 and 500 yard freestyles at the Channel League finals last week, Gilman could only manage a 16th-place finish in the 200 freestyle and a 13th in the 500. This after Gilman won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle in each of the past three years.

Gilman’s difficulties mean the Bulldogs will get a challenge from Irvine and Olympic gold-medal winner Amanda Beard in the finals tonight at 7 at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

The Division II and III finals will be held Saturday, also at Belmont Plaza.

Buena has won the last three team titles and four of the past five, but beyond Gilman, senior Liah Kim and junior Nicole Beck, there is little depth.

The Vaqueros, who finished second to Buena a year ago, are much improved and led by Beard.

Last year, Beard tied the national record set by Kristine Quance of Granada Hills in the 100 breaststroke.

But she’s not the only internationally elite swimmer in the finals.

Jennifer Parmenter of L.A. Baptist, who competed for the United States in the Short Course World Championships in Sweden last month, will try to break her section record--and shoot for Quance’s national record--in the 200 individual medley.

Parmenter finished with the top times in the preliminaries in the medley and the 500 freestyle.

Although L.A. Baptist does not have a swim team, Parmenter competed in several Mission League meets to achieve qualifying times.

Among the boys, Matt Carter of Buena, Eric Shafer of Thousand Oaks and Noah Cirincione of Agoura have the best chances for high individual finishes.

Sophomore Kenny Carpenter and senior Steve Kim give Crescenta Valley its best shot at winning the Division II boys’ title for the first time since 1993.

Carpenter and Kim each set two individual records and helped two relays set league records at the Pacific League finals last week.

The Falcons will try to unseat defending champion Loyola. Hart, behind sophomores Ryan Parmenter and Anthony Ervin, should finish among the top five teams.

Heather Boylan of Saugus is the defending champion in the 100 backstroke and the 200 freestyle. Senior Monica Oleksyn of Hart will defend her title in the 100 breaststroke.

The Division III finals, which will be held at noon on Saturday, should be wide open with Harvard-Westlake, La Canada and Louisville, behind junior Kim Feig, all having the talent to win the girls’ title.