CARMICHAEL, Calif. – Aided by a strong performance by the Diving team, the St. Francis swimming team got off to a great start at the Delta League Swimming Trials at Jesuit High School Thursday.

“We needed some work done today and we got the job started,” said Head Coach Richard Levin. “Davis is a great competitor and competition. It is going to be a tough challenge tomorrow. But I think we are setup to compete for the win.”

St. Francis leads Davis by 34 points heading into the finals on Friday, which begin at 3:00 p.m.

“We are pretty grateful for the cushion we got from diving,” said Levin. “We are going to compete for it and it is going to be a pretty close meet tomorrow.”

St. Francis earned three second-place finishes in the relays on Thursday to go with points from the diving meet held on Wednesday.

Friday’s meet will be all finals as the Troubadours advanced 26 swimmers in the “A” finals and five more in the “B” finals in the varsity meet.

“We are trying to go for it,” said senior Laila Akhavi. “Davis is our biggest competitor. We are racing our hardest and want to go as fast as I can go. We just have to be strong.”

Akhavi leads a pack of four advancing into the Top 8 in the 100-yard breaststroke. She clocked a season-best 1:13.71 to rank second overall. Emily Bartylla (1:13.83), Makenna Schwarz (1:14.97) and Ally Tambornini (1:16.94) will join Akhavi and race against four Davis Blue Devils for the top points in the event.

“Laila Akavhi really came in with some senior leadership,” said Levin. “I did not have her in the relay today and she just earned the section relay spot. She did the best time for the whole season on the team. She has been training hard and to see her swim fast at the end of the season is pretty awesome.”

Each team can advance a maximum of four swimmers into the finals among the 16 scoring slots.

The meet will open with the 200 freestyle featuring the quartet of Chloe Mitchell, who was third overall (1:58.78) along with Katie McIntee (1:59.39), MaKenna Peterson (2:08.32) amd Sally Ferguson (2:11.23).

“It is the first race of the day and it is going to set the tone for the rest of the meet,” said Levin.

Mitchell was also a qualifier in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle. Junior Tatum Roepke was second in qualifying in the 100 backstroke (1:01.41) and 100 butterfly (1:00.84). Emily Peters was a double qualifier in the 200 and 100 freestyle, while Taylor Koewler will swim in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly. Hannah Parulan was the top qualifier in the 100 IM and McIntee led the 100 freestyle qualifiers.

St. Francis Results (Top 16)

200-yard Freestyle Relay Final – 2, St. Francis (Fugit, Bartylla, Koewler, Peters), 1:54.80.

200-Yard Free Prelim – 3, Chloe Mitchell, 1:58.78; 4, Katie McIntee, 1:59.39; 6, McKenna Peterson, 2:08.32; 8, Sally Ferguson, 2:11.23.

200-Yard Individual Medley Prelim – 5, Hannah Parulan, 2:19.47; 6, Taylor Koewler, 2:20.02; 9, Caroline Urkov, 2:28.17; 10, Kayla Wehner, 2:28.18; 11. Laila Akhavi, 2:33.40.

50-Yard Freestyle Prelim – 3, Emily Peters, 25.65; 5, Audrey Camarillo, 26.30; 8, Samantha Gates, 26.48; 10, Fiona Dodson, 26.72; 12, Makenna Schwarz, 27.02; 13, Nikki Chan, 27.16; 16, Ally Jeffers, 27.53.

100-Yard Butterfly Prelim – 2, Tatum Roepke, 1:00.84; 4, Taylor Koewler, 1:01.80; 5, Elizabeth Fugit, 1:02.22; 8,  Sally Ferguson, 1:04.49; 13, Madi Neil, 1:11.99.

100-Yard Freestyle Prelim - 3, Katie McInee, 55.66; 6, Emily Peters, 57.21; 9, Ally Tambornini, 58.47; 10. Samantha Gates, 58.69; 11; Audrey Camarillo, 59.05; 13, Nikki Chan, 1:00.63; 14, Ally Jeffers, 1:00.83; 16, Sam Reinl, 1:01.79.

500-Yard Freestyle Prelim – 2, Chloe Mitichell, 5:11.88; 5, Emily Bartylla, 5:28.73; 7, McKenna Peterson, 5:35.64.

200-Yard Free Relay Final – 2, St. Francis (McIntee, Roepke, Mitchell, Camarillo), 1:43.33.

100-Yard Backstroke Prelim – 2, Tatum Roepke, 1:01.49; 4, Elizabeth Fugit, 1:02.51; 8, Caroline Urkov, 1:05.75; 11, Fiona Dodon, 1:07.80.

100-Yard Breaststroke Prelim – 2, Laila Akhavi, 1:13.71; 3, Emily Bartylla, 1:13.83; 6; McKenna Schwarz, 1:14.97; 8, Ally Tambornini; 1:16.94; 9. Kayla Wehner, 1:17.14; 12, Emily Paitanesi, 1:19.40; 13. Tori Spencer, 1:19.54.

400-Yard Free Relay Final – 2, St. Francis (McIntee, Koewler, Peters, Mitchell), 3:49.00.