ELK GROVE, Calif. – Junior Lilla Kapinya won the 50-yard freestyle and broke her own two-week-old school record, finished second in the 100 free, and led both the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay to runner-up finishes to lead St. Francis in Wednesday's preliminaries at the Sac-Joaquin Section swimming championships, held at the Elk Grove Aquatics Center.

All events during Wednesday's session positions 16 swimmers – eight for the championship final, eight in the consolation final – during Friday's finals.

Kapinya swam the butterfly leg of the medley relay, joining Riley Wood, Mackenzie Terry and Landen Didriksen to a time of one minute, 48.36 seconds, more than six seconds faster than the Troubadours' seed time and exactly half a second behind favorite Vista Del Lago, which won the prelim at 1:45.86. The UCLA commit then won the 50 free with a time of 22.97 seconds, surpassing the 23.06 she swam at the Sierra Foothill League meet on April 25.

Kapinya followed with a 50.82 in the 100 free, a mere .01 behind Rio Americano junior Olivia Somers, then finished her session by anchoring the 200 free relay to a 1:38.22. Didriksen, Terry and Wood preceded her in the relay, which finished behind only top-seeded Davis (1:36.84). Her 100 free time ranks second in school history behind only Cal's Ava Chavez, who posted a 50.49 relay split at the 2023 state meet.

For her part, Terry also earned Friday 'A' final appearances in both the 200 individual medley, where she placed seventh at 2:08.05; and the 100 breaststroke, where her 1:04.37 put her fifth in the field and now ranks second in school history behind the 1:04.14 Chavez swam at the 2022 Catholic Challenge. The 100 breast is also the only event in which St. Francis advanced two individuals, with Didriksen snaring 14th place at 1:07.41.

St. Francis will also have two more 'B' final appearances on Friday. Wood cut 2.51 seconds from her 100 backstroke seed time to a 1:00.11, good for ninth in the prelims. Lena Moggan placed 17th in that 100 back, making her the alternate on Friday. Finally, the 400 free relay foursome of Lillian Damrell, Savannah Hamilton, Gabriella McHugh and Moggan earned a second swim with a 10th-place 3:52.39 in the meet's final girls' race.

Meanwhile, freshman Gia Navarrete finished as the lone Troubie to earn a frosh-soph 'B' final appearance, thanks to her 14th (2:20.93) in the IM. She also helped Emma Dietrich, Fiona Pope and Molly Moyer assemble a 4:13.13 time in the 400 free relay, enough for 15th place.

The SJS championships continue on Thursday with the boys' prelims, then all 44 finals and 44 consols compete on Friday. The top three finishers in each event move on to the CIF state championships on May 14-16. St. Francis has won eight total section swimming & diving titles, including three straight (1995, 1997, 1998, 2010, 2011, 2023, 2024, 2025).

2026 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS
Elk Grove Aquatics Center at District 56 (Elk Grove, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winner plus SF finishers listed • All Wednesday events are prelims

GIRLS' 200 MEDLEY RELAY FROSH-SOPH - 1. Franklin (Cooc, Roys, Leung, Kann), 1:55.03... 25. St. Francis (Moyer, Navarrete, Dietrich, Pope), 2:10.19.

GIRLS' 200 MEDLEY RELAY VARSITY - 1. Vista Del Lago (J. Johnson, Kendler, Enquist, L. Johnson), 1:45.86... 2. St. Francis (Wood, Terry, Kapinya, Didriksen), 1:48.36.

GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE FROSH-SOPH - 1. Kendall Gonzalez, Bella Vista, 2:02.15... 33. Emma Dietrich, 2:13.69.

GIRLS' 200 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Elaine Luisetti, Nevada Union, 1:50.62... 20. Riley Wood, 2:00.22; 24. Lena Moggan, 2:01.61.

GIRLS' 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY FROSH-SOPH - 1. Caitlin Brady, Folsom, 2:15.08... 14. Gia Navarrete, 2:20.93.

GIRLS' 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY VARSITY - 1. illiana Foth, Christian Brothers, 2:04.54... 7. Mackenzie Terry, 2:08.05; 18. Landen Didriksen, 2:16.76.

GIRLS' 50 FREESTYLE FROSH-SOPH - 1 Valoria Martinez, El Capitan, 24.53... 37. Gia Navarrete, 27.75.

GIRLS' 50 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Lilla Kapinya, St. Francis, 22.97.

GIRLS' 100 BUTTERFLY VARSITY - 1. Ava Collins, Cosumnes Oaks, 55.96... 22. Lillian Damrell, 1:02.45.

GIRLS' 100 FREESTYLE VARSITY - 1. Olivia Somers, Rio Americano, 50.81... 2. Lilla Kapinya, 50.82.

GIRLS' 500 FREESTYLE FROSH-SOPH - 1. Tatum Reed, Del Oro, 5:18.39... 21. Emma Dietrich, 5:56.87.

GIRLS' 200 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. Davis (Menna, Kennedy, Valle, Schneider), 1:36.84...2. St. Francis (Didriksen, Terry, Wood, Kapinya), 1:38.22.

GIRLS' 100 BACKSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Kiera Menna, Davis, 57.81... 9. Riley Wood, 1:00.11; 17. Lena Moggan, 1:03.18; 27. Gabriella McHugh, 1:05.96.

GIRLS' 100 BREASTSTROKE VARSITY - 1. Ava Collins, Cosumnes Oaks, 1:02.48... 5. Mackenzie Terry, 1:04.37; 14. Landen Didriksen, 1:07.41.

GIRLS' 400 FREE RELAY FROSH-SOPH - 1. Franklin (Rodriguez, Roys, Lu, Kann), 3:47.22... 15. St. Francis (Dietrich, Pope, Moyer, Navarrete), 4:13.13.

GIRLS' 400 FREE RELAY VARSITY - 1. Vista Del Lago (Enquist, J. Johnson, L. Johnson, Kendler), 3:33.82... 10. St. Francis (Damrell, Hamilton, McHugh, Moggan), 3:52.39.