Temecula Chaparral knows a thing or two about patience and perseverance. Each of the past four years, the Pumas had to watch Southwestern League rival Murrieta Valley win the Division 3 CIF title in boys swimming.

"At the beginning of the year, the boys would always ask me if we could beat Murrieta and I'd always say, 'No, maybe next year,' " Chaparral coach Jamie Trembly said by phone. "At the beginning of this season, I said, 'Maybe this is the year.' "

Chaparral's long wait paid off Saturday, as the Pumas became the first Inland team in five years to defeat Murrieta Valley, winning Saturday's Nighthawk Invitational with 432 points to Murrieta Valley's 361.

"The whole time we kept thinking, 'No, that can't be right,' because of the team we were up against," Trembly said. "It was exciting, but we couldn't believe it was happening."

Leading the way in the victory were Jeff Woolstenhulme, who won the 200 and 500 freestyle races, and Joey Kirkpatrick, who won the 100 backstroke and placed second in the 100 butterfly.

Murrieta Valley had a pair of double winners in Michael Flanagan (100 fly, 200 IM) and Eric Donahoo (50 and 100 free) and swam without key team member Matt Preciado, but relay victories gave the Pumas a comfortable margin.

The Murrieta Valley girls, themselves two-time defending champions, earned a comfortable victory on the other side of the Nighthawk Invitational. They earned 404 points to Chaparral's 316, as Kaci Dudley (100 and 200 free) and Kirra Kylander (50 and 100 free) each won twice.

The Corona Santiago girls, who finished 13th in Division 3 last year, have high hopes this season thanks in part to a pair of impact freshmen who complement four-time CIF champion Courtney Kilkuts and sophomore Ebony Chetto, who finished eighth in the 100 fly last year.

Freshmen Nicole Blum and Breezy Gonzales both made an impact in the Sharks' 93-77 dual-meet win over Chaparral on March 8. Blum won the 200 free in 1:57.91, which would have been the fourth-fastest tine at last year's Division 3 finals and qualifies her for CIF. Gonzales swam the 100 free in 57.70 and the 200 IM in 2:23.18, easily qualifying for CIF in the latter and coming within .17 second of qualifying in the former.

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