Same faces, better results

Steve Virgen

Continuity has been John Carpenter’s best friend.

The Estancia High boys swim coach has guided the Eagles to their

most successful regular season in his 25 years as the head man. One

of the main reasons for the Eagles’ success has been the fact that

they did not lose much from last year’s squad.

“It’s pretty much the same team we had last year,” Carpenter said.

“And, that’s a good thing. They are at a better place than they were

last year. They are working hard and they all have a good attitude.

It’s really a fun group to coach. I’m enjoying it.”

Estancia is 10-2, 5-1 in the Golden West League, as it prepares

for the league preliminaries Tuesday at Orange High. The finals will

be Thursday, also at Orange.

The Eagles closed out the regular season with a 97-69 nonleague

victory over Sage Hill Monday. Just as they have all season, senior

Anthony Hermann, sophomore Chad Kunert and junior Sean Goodman helped

lead the Eagles to the win.

Senior Paul Collier has also been a key returner for the Eagles.

Collier, along with Goodman and Kunert, won two events each to lead

Estancia to an 88-84 win over Santa Ana March 24.

The Eagles’ only league loss came against Saddleback, an 86-82

setback March 31, when Estancia won nine of the 11 events, but still

was denied.

The Eagles have a chance to earn a share of the Golden West League

title by winning the finals next week. If Estancia finishes second,

Carpenter will still be more than pleased with his team’s performance

this season. When the season started, Carpenter gave his swimmers the

goal to finish at least third in league.

Aside from the team goal, Kunert will attempt to defend his

individual league championship in the 500-yard freestyle. Kunert was

the Eagles’ only swimmer to qualify for CIF competition last year.

Junior Jason Echanique, sophomores Danny Alderete, Scott Hulett,

Devon Mellin and Brock McDonald, as well as freshman Robert

DiFrancesco have been instrumental in the Eagles’ successful season.