Lacey Helps Keep Dream Afloat for El Camino Real

When Erin Lacey says this season might be the El Camino Real High girls’ best chance to dethrone Granada Hills as City Section swim champion, she doesn’t mean to be politically incorrect.

As student body president, she’d never do that.

Lacey, a senior freestyler, is simply excited about her team.

She believes the Conquistadores have been building toward this season after runner-up finishes to Granada Hills in each of the last three years and four times in five seasons, and that the Highlanders, though unbeaten, do not have the same depth as in their six consecutive championship seasons.

The Highlanders (6-0, 5-0 in league meets) face Van Nuys (7-0, 5-0) in the teams’ final East Valley League meet Thursday.

“We knew we had a lot of people coming back and that Granada Hills was losing some people,” Lacey said. “We saw what we could do for our senior year.”

Lacey, defending City champion in the 500-yard freestyle, finished fourth in the 200 freestyle and swam on the 200 medley relay team that out-touched Granada Hills in last year’s City Section championships.

“We were thrilled because we’ve always gotten second to them,” she said of the relay victory. “It kind of set the tone. After that, there was just a lot of excitement.”

It has been building ever since. With a victory over Chatsworth on Thursday, the Conquistadores (5-0, 5-0) will wrap up a perfect West Valley League season.

A group of experienced swimmers includes seniors Elizabeth Inai, Cori Harner and twins Natalie and Nicole Acrey. Juniors Krista Simmons and Sara Cremidas, sophomore Nicole Shattuck and freshman Jennifer Chen have El Camino Real pointed toward the postseason.

“It has to be this year,” Inai said. “We’re hoping our numbers will be there.”

Certainly, Lacey will be.

A co-captain with Inai, Lacey has been at the forefront of the Conquistadores’ success for four seasons.

It is a position she is used to, thanks to her involvement in student government.

Before being elected student body president, Lacey was senior class president in the fall, and served as secretary and school activities director her junior year.

As a freshman and sophomore, she was involved with the Key Club, the school’s student service group, and she was an alto in the school choir during her sophomore and junior years before her hectic schedule forced her to quit.

“There’s never a moment when I’m not doing something,” Lacey said.

Student council commitments find her planning, organizing and running fund-raising events, as well as proms, homecomings and pep rallies. That is sandwiched around early-morning workouts with the swim team and nightly sessions with the Calabasas-based club Combined Competitive Aquatics Team, and between a full load of honors and advanced-placement courses.

Last summer and during the first semester of this year, Lacey got a taste of what is to come by enrolling in cinema and astronomy classes at Pierce College.

“It was definitely not one of the easier times for me,” said Lacey, who plans to attend UCLA. “It’s kind of hard sometimes. There are times when I’m in the water and I’m thinking, ‘I shouldn’t be here,’ or when I’m at an activity and going, ‘I should be in the water.’

“But as an athlete, you learn time management beyond what most kids do. And I like being involved. I don’t have any regrets about any of the things I’ve done.”

Jeff Craig, El Camino Real’s student government advisor, thinks Lacey’s activities are unparalleled.

“We’ve had a lot of great kids,” he said. “But I don’t know if anyone has balanced as many things as Erin does.”

Inai, defending City champion in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke, doubts it.

“I could not be as involved as she is,” Inai said. “I just don’t have the time. But she somehow does it all. Erin’s a pretty determined person.”

It is a trait she has been sharing as the Conquistadores bid for a City Section championship.