Will Rogers Wins at Taplin Relays

Hundreds of aspiring lifeguards, including many from Pacific Palisades, took to the sand between Towers 50 and 51 at Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey on Friday morning. They were there to represent their respective programs in the annual Taplin Relays—the premiere Junior Lifeguard competition of the summer.

The "sea of colors" consisted of teams from 12 Southland beaches facing off for the coveted Taplin Bell in four age divisions (C, B, A girls and A). Each team consisted of 18 members: six runners, six paddlers and six swimmers.

The competing programs Will Rogers (Pacific Palisades) Santa Monica, Zuma (Malibu), Venice, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Tim Kelly (South Hermosa), Redondo, Torrance, Cabrillo (San Pedro) and Avalon (Catalina).

It was a triumphant showing for Will Rogers, which won the B division relay and placed among the top five in the others. Several beaches like Manhattan, Redondo, Hermosa, Will Rogers and El Segundo, had three or more teams competing in each division, while smaller programs like Santa Monica, Zuma, Cabrillo and Avalon, brought one.

The day's competition began with the C division (ages 9-11) at 9 a.m., followed by the B division (ages 12-13) at 10 a.m., the Girls A Relay (consisting of only two runners, two paddlers and two swimmers) at 11 a.m. and finally the Co-Ed A division (ages 14-17), which started just before noon.

The relays consisted of three phases, beginning with the runners, who sprinted across the sand, around a cone and back to the starting line before handing the baton to a teammate. The last of the six runners went to the edge of the water and tagged the first paddler, who took his or her surfboard into the ocean, paddled around three buoys, then bodyboarded back to shore to hand off to the next paddler. The final phase of the race belonged to the swimmers, who dove head first into the onrushing waves for a "horseshoe" swim around two buoys and back to the beach.  

Each team was assigned a color (Will Rogers was purple) and a flag with that color was waved by instructors to guide competitors around the course. Team members wore caps with their designated color to identify them and the team that carried its flag through the finishing chute first was the winner. Participants lined up to form "Tunnels of Love" at the end of each relay to cheer on the last finisher from the last team in a unified display of sportsmanship.

Will Rogers' top C team set the tone with a third-place showing behind Torrance and Hermosa. The team consisted of runners David Price (a Palisadian), Harrison Loef, Chance Weaver, Kiley Wallace, Malcolm Canterbury and Charlotte Heide; swimmers Gillian Caverly and Elena Saab and Alyssa Kam (all Palisadians), Leah Timberland, Georgia Moran and Marcus Leher; and paddlers Miles Toland and Matthew Grinsfelder (both Palisadians), Ruby Jackson, Jack Standish, Cole Mattes and Sean Tenan-Snow, whose mother is an English teacher at Palisades High.

Then it was on to the B division, where Will Rogers' A team built an early lead and fought off late challenges by Redondo and El Segundo to take first place in an exciting finish.

"When it comes to guards, this is the competition every year that you want to win," said Will Rogers paddler and incoming freshman David Grinsfelder, whose younger brother Matthew, going into sixth grade at , paddled for the C team. "Usually Manhattan Beach and Redondo are the really strong ones, but you never know who's going to step it up. We were really determined and it feels great knowing we won."

Also competing in the B division was lifelong Pacific Palisades resident Claire Hollingsworth, the second swimmer on her team. A three-year member of the Will Rogers program, she is going into seventh grade at Viewpoint School in Calabasas.

"I'm very excited because normally we get third," said Hollingsworth, who settled behind the ropes after her competition to watch her older brother Charlie (going into ninth grade at Viewpoint) compete in the A division. "I also swim the 100 individual medley for my school team."

Will Rogers' first-place B team consisted of runners Spencer Howard and Gabe Stewart (both Palisadians), Grayson Taylor, Bennett Weissenbach and MaKaela Keefe; paddlers David Grinsfelder, Zachary Senator, Will Bantle and Hunter Van Duzer (all Palisadians), Tex Hagoski and Zane Spielman; and swimmers Clara Saab and Claire Meylan (both Palisadians), Gussie Millar, Evan Blaney, Ethan Lawrence and Ian Labash.

In the shorter Girls A Relay, Manhattan Beach finished first, followed by Tim Kelly and Redondo. Zuma was fourth and Will Rogers was fifth. In the final relay of the day, Hermosa Beach won the Co-Ed A division, followed by Manhattan Beach, Venice and Will Rogers.

"I really enjoy the team aspect of this because everyone gets into it," said Tori Scribner, who attends Lighthouse Christian Academy and was a runner for Will Rogers' Girls relay along with Lauren Shultz. "We all pull for each other and that's what makes the Taplins so exciting."

Will Rogers' A team was in contention from the outset behind strong Pali High paddlers Tyler Steil, Aidan Gray, Mara Silka and Jeff Goldsmith and fittingly the final swimmer was Olivia Kirkpatrick, who has been in the program since the age of 9. Spurred to the finish by her teammates, she carried Will Rogers' flag through the chute ahead of a Zuma girl.

"This is great to be a part of and it's a great thing to do over the summer," said Goldsmith, who will play on Pali High's new water polo team as a sophomore. His older sister Laura was the City Section Player of the Year in volleyball as a senior in 2008-09.

A six-member "Junior" Taplin Relay for the A and AA levels was held Saturday night at the Hermosa Beach Pier, prior to the start of the adult Lifeguard Taplin Relay.

2011 TAPLIN RELAY RESULTS

C DIVISION 

1. Torrance A

2. Hermosa A

3. Will Rogers A

4. El Segundo A

5. Manhattan Beach A

6. Manhattan Beach B

7. Tim Kelly A

8. Santa Monica

9. Zuma

10. Venice

11. Redondo A

12. Manhattan Beach C

13. Tim Kelly B

14. Hermosa B

15. Hermosa C

16. Torrance B

17. Redondo B

18. Torrance C

19. El Segundo B

20. Tim Kelly C

21. Will Rogers B

22. Zuma B

23. Cabrillo

24. El Segundo C

25. Will Rogers C

B DIVISION

1. Will Rogers A

2. Redondo A

3. El Segundo A

4. Torrance A

5. Manhattan Beach A

6. Venice A

7. Manhattan Beach B

8. Zuma

9. Hermosa A

10. Tim Kelly A

11. El Segundo B

12. Santa Monica 

13. Cabrillo

14. Torrance B

15. Hermosa B

16. Manhattan Beach C

17. Will Rogers B

18. El Segundo C

19. Manhattan Beach D

20. Tim Kelly B

21. Redondo B

22. Hermosa C

23. Manhattan Beach E

24. Avalon 

25. Torrance C

26. Will Rogers C

27. Venice B

28. Torrance D

GIRLS A RELAY

1. Manhattan Beach 

2. Tim Kelly

3. Redondo

4. Zuma

5. Will Rogers 

6. Venice

7. El Segundo

8. Torrance A

9. Torrance B

10. Cabrillo

A DIVISION

1. Hermosa A

2. Manhattan Beach A

3. Venice A

4. Will Rogers A

5. Zuma

6. Redondo

7. Hermosa B

8. Manhattan Beach B

9. Santa Monica

10. El Segundo

11. Torrance A

12. Hermosa C

13. Cabrillo

14. Torrance B

15. Will Rogers B

16. Tim Kelly 

17. Venice B

18. El Segundo B