Van Nuys Does Some Howling During East Valley Showings

The fortunes of the Van Nuys High swim teams this season rested primarily with three people.

The Wolves rode the wakes of junior Myra Brown, senior Tatiana Carranza and her brother, junior Oscar Carranza, to strong showings in the East Valley League.

“They’re my team,” Van Nuys Coach Steve Kalan said. “They’re kind of the leaders for us, and they do a good job.”

The three are team captains with butterflyer Sam Kim. Kim and Oscar Carranza led the boys team to the league co-championship with Granada Hills. Tatiana Carranza and Brown led the girls’ team to a runner-up finish behind the Highlanders.

Both Van Nuys teams were unbeaten before losing to Granada Hills in regular-season finales on April 19. They each finished 7-1, 5-1 in league meets.

The defeats did little to take the luster off a satisfying season.

“They’re a good bunch,” Kalan said. “It’s been kind of building up. I had mainly a sophomore-junior team last year, but they came on strong.”

Tatiana Carranza, a freestyler and relay anchor, has been a leader for the Wolves for four years. She battled back from a knee injury sustained in soccer to swim this season.

“I’ve just been trying to get back,” she said. “This has been a big challenge for me. I could have easily stopped swimming, but I just wanted to do this.

“I’m glad I stayed. This has been a highlight for my senior year.”

Brown took on a different challenge.

A backstroke and breaststroke specialist her first two years, Brown started swimming the 200 individual medley this season. She struggled with the first leg of the race, the butterfly, her weakest stroke.

“So far, it’s been tough, mostly because I’m not a butterflyer,” Brown said. “But I needed to get in some different events and see where I’m at for college, and it’s an event that forces you to learn all four strokes.”

Oscar Carranza, whose only loss in the 200 individual medley this season was against Granada Hills, has always been versatile. He also swims the breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay.

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Maureen Farrell, defending Southern Section Division II champion in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, isn’t the only standout swimmer at Alemany.

The Indian girls’ team also features talented freshmen Renee Viveros and Giannina Orozco.

Versatility is Viveros’ strength. She excels in the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay, and won individual titles in the butterfly and backstroke Wednesday in the Mission League championships.

Her backstroke victory came in the absence of Farrell, who missed league preliminaries while training with the U.S. World University Games team in Colorado.

Orozco placed fifth in the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 100 butterfly in the league finals and has contributed to the relays.

Other promising freshmen are Joel Tourtellotte, who has excelled in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay for the boys’ team, and his twin, Leah Tourtellotte, who competes in the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays for the girls.

Joel placed second in the 200 individual medley behind Chaminade’s Matthew Jensen and was third in the 200 freestyle, also won by Jensen, in the league finals. Leah won the girls’ 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle league titles.

The Tourtellottes’ older brother, Louis, was the league 100 freestyle champion as a senior last year.

The Tourtellottes compete for the Calabasas-based Combined Competitive Aquatics Team. Viveros and Orozco are members of Canyons Aquatics, the Valencia-based club for which Farrell competes.

“Our future looks very bright,” Alemany Coach Manny Ponce said. “Most of them wanted to come to Alemany because they either swim with Maureen in club or they knew of Maureen and wanted to be in the same program as her.”