GRANITE BAY, Calif. – Junior Lilla Kapinya captured individual titles in each of the two sprint freestyle events, breaking her own 50-yard school benchmark in the process, highlighting St. Francis at the Sierra Foothill League swimming & diving championships at Granite Bay Saturday.
The Troubadours finished fourth with 227 points, with Davis beating the host Grizzlies, 449-416, for the overall team title. Oak Ridge stayed in front of St. Francis with 261.5 points, Whitney came just shy in fifth at 219, with Del Oro (174), Folsom (154.5) and Rocklin (123) completing the field.
Kapinya, who has already committed to join Troubadour alum Erica Jaffe at UCLA, touched the finish pad in the 50 free at 23.06, more than a third of a second after than her previous record of 23.40 from last year's CIF state final, and 1.57 seconds faster than runner-up Irelyn Kennedy of Davis. Her overall short-course best is the 22.96 set at the Speedo Winter Juniors last December.
Kapinya then followed with a second win in the 100 free at 50.86. She becomes just the second SF swimmer to surpass 51 seconds in that event, although she does own a 49.61 from this year's Speedo Sectionals in the club scene. Ava Chavez holds the school record of 50.49 from her 400 free relay opening split at the 2023 state meet. Kapinya was the lone Troubie in either of the two sprint free events, but her two titles added 40 points to the team scoring total.
Under the league's new rules, any event win earns the champion first-team All-SFL honors, while an individual runner-up garners second-team distinction. Freshman Mackenzie Terry picked up the latter award, thanks to her second-place 2:10.60 in the 200 individual medley. Just prior to Terry's silver, Landen Didriksen won the consolation final with a 2:16.70 – almost four seconds faster than her nearest competitor, GBHS' Chloe Coad at 2:20.64. The two Troubies collectively added 26 points to their team's scoring.
Terry and Didriksen later contributed another 28 points, finishing third (1:06.71) and seventh (1:09.69) in the 100 breaststroke championship final. Furthermore, that duo joined Kapinya and Lillian Damrell for a third-place 1:40.07 in the 200 free relay, adding another 32 points to the SF total. In turn, Kapinya and Didriksen joined Lena Moggan and Riley Wood to place fourth in the 400 free relay (3:44.09).
Among the junior varsity competition, St. Francis finished seventh with 133 points. Emma Dietrich placed sixth in the 200 free and seventh in the 500 free as the only Troubie JV swimmer to compete in an 'A' final on Saturday.
The team scoring also included the one-meter diving, held at Whitney High on Tuesday and Thursday. Piper Bates and Stella Cassidy finished second and third for 33 combined points on the varsity board, while Audrey Solander and Sadie Favreau were the only JV divers at the meet, picking up 37 tallies toward the Troubie total.
St. Francis returns to action for the Sac-Joaquin Section championships, held at the Elk Grove Aquatics Center from May 6 through 8. The girls' prelims take place on that Wednesday, with the boys on Thursday. Then all swimmers convene on Friday for the finals.
2026 SIERRA FOOTHILL LEAGUE SWIMMING FINALS
Granite Bay High School (Granite Bay, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed
GIRLS' 200 MEDLEY RELAY JV - 1. Folsom, 1:58.32... 8. St. Francis (Topp, Servin, Navarrete, Nauman), 2:26.55.
GIRLS' 200 MEDLEY RELAY VARSITY - 1. Davis, 1:46.07... St. Francis (Wood, Terry, Damrell, Moggan), DQ.
GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Blake Oldermeyer, Granite Bay, 2:07.95...6. Emma Dietrich, 2:14.60; 10. Gia Navarrete, 2:15.81; 13. Fiona Pope, 2:24.28.
GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Tessa Gardin, Granite Bay, 1:50.51... 11. Riley Wood, 2:01.20; 14. Lena Moggan, 2:03.70.
GIRLS' 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY - 1. Abby Cenizal, Davis, 2:09.02... 2. Mackenzie Terry, 2:10.60; 9. Landen Didriksen, 2:16.70.
GIRLS' 50 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Lilla Kapinya, St. Francis, 23.06.
GIRLS' 100 BUTTERFLY VARSITY - 1. Abigail Landers, Del Oro, 55.87... 10. Lena Moggan, 1:03.12; 12. Lillian Damrell, 1:03.48.
GIRLS' 100 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Ashlyn Leonard, Granite Bay, 56.16... 12. Gia Navarrete, 1:02.17.
GIRLS' 100 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Lilla Kapinya, St. Francis, 50.86... 14. Lillian Damrell, 58.09.
GIRLS' 500 FREESTYLE JV - 1. Blake Oldermeyer, Granite Bay, 5:42.83... 7. Emma Dietrich, 6:10.51; 10. Kathryn Topp, 6:22.05.
GIRLS' 200 FREE RELAY JV - 1. Granite Bay, 1:46.00... 6. St. Francis (lineup not listed), 2:07.01.
GIRLS' 200 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. Davis, 1:36.76... 3. St. Francis (Kapinya, Didriksen, Terry, Damrell), 1:40.07.
GIRLS' 100 BACKSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Kiera Menna, Davis, 58.54... 6. Riley Wood, 1:02.62; 16. Maya Wenceslao, 1:12.64.
GIRLS' 100 BREASTSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Irelyn Kennedy, Davis, 1:02.80... 3. Mackenzie Terry, 1:06.71; 7. Landen Didriksen, 1:09.69.
GIRLS' 400 FREE RELAY JV - 1 Granite Bay, 4:01.18... St. Francis, DQ.
GIRLS' 400 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. Oak Ridge, 3:40.38... 4. St. Francis (Kapinya, Didriksen, Moggan, Wood), 3:44.09.
