Desert Empire League swim meet: Records fall, MVPs named and a promposal

[ASFN Admin]

Ava Otteson of Palm Desert and Jack Reardon of Xavier Prep were named the Desert Empire League MVPs, but it's possible that Palm Springs' Aidan Staton may have had the best day at the Palm Desert pool on Friday.

Staton was fast in the pool, picking up a pair of wins — the 50-yard title in 21.86 seconds and the 100-yard butterfly in 52.67 — but his smoothest move happened outside the water. He used the DEL meet as the forum for a promposal. As Palm Desert swimmer Riley Burnett was swimming the 200-IM, Staton and a few friends held up the letters P-R-O-M-? for Brunett to see as her head popped out of the pool during the breaststroke part of the event.

He didn't have to worry too much about the answer. The two have been dating for 10 months and "she already got her dress," he said.

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"It's our first prom together so I was like might as well ask her at DEL," Staton said. "Some people from other teams helped me out. She just gave me a thumb's up. I knew she would be tired after the race, so I wasn't expecting too much."

There was some dramatic action in the pool as well but for the MVPs Otteson and Reardon it was another record-breaking day which desert swim fans have become accustomed to from those two.

Otteson, who had set several DEL meet records as a freshman and sophomore at Xavier Prep, now swims for Palm Desert. The change of scenery didn't change her unmatched speed in the pool.

On Friday she showcased her versatility, winning the shortest race and the longest race, setting new DEL records in both. Otteson won the 50-yard freestyle in 24.25 seconds, and then became the first girl to break the 5-minute mark in the 500-yard freestyle with a personal best and new DEL record time of 4:59.36. She was also on two winning relay teams.

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"I think it really went well, doing completely opposite events was challenging enough and to try to do both of them at a high level," said Otteson who has been going on some college visits as the Aztecs junior considers options for after high school. "That's been an exciting process, for sure, talking to some college coaches. I don't know just excited to see where this journey takes me."

For Reardon, he was racing against his own time in the 200-IM. He bested 2024 Jack Reardon by half a second, becoming the first person to break the 2-minute mark in that race in DEL history with a time of 1:59.66 beating his own mark of 2:00.08.

He added another DEL meet record in the 100-yard backstroke which he won in a blazing time of 54.66 seconds, both times were his fastest of the year in those events.

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The senior, who will be swimming at Biola University in the fall, said meets like the DEL meet inspire him to be at his fastest.

"There was a lot of tough training leading up to this, but also such great competitors in this meet help me push past my limits," Reardon said. "Feels great to get those times, it's been a long time coming. Kind of like an adrenaline rush. I love racing and these were great races."

One more DEL Meet record fell on Friday and that was due to the speedy swimming of Palm Desert's speedy freshman Lilyanna Smith. She became the first girl to break the 1-minute mark in the 100-yard backstroke, setting the new league mark with a time of 59.97 seconds.

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More memorable meet moments​

Double-winner: Shoutout to Xavier Prep's Mia Meyer who joined Otteson, Reardon and Staton in the individual double-winner club on Friday. Meyer won the 200-IM in 2:20.68 and the 100 butterfly in 1:06.21.

Head-to-head drama: The best one-on-one matchup of the night was between Palm Desert teammates Declan Kelly and Aden Ward. In the 200 freestyle, it was Ward edging Kelly to win in 1:45.41. And then they put on a show in the longest race of the night. They were basically each other's shadow for all 20 laps of the race, but this time it was Kelly getting the win in 4:50.09, remarkably just 0.2 seconds faster than Ward's 4:50.29.

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Rattler on top: Rancho Mirage didn't have a lot of breakthrough moments at the meet, which made Nathanial Skelton's win in the 100-yard breaststroke reason to celebrate. Skelton edged Xavier Prep's Dylan Quaid by one seconds for a winning time of 1:06.58. When he saw the No. 1 next his name on the scoreboard, he let out a yell and a fist pump as his Rancho Mirage teammates rooted him on.

Charlie in charge: La Quinta's Charlie Graves, an autistic swimmer for the Blackhawks, was the champion of a special event on Friday, the mixed 50-yard inclusive freestyle race. He had the pool to himself as he needed just 39.50 seconds to complete the race as the crowd rooted him on.

Winning with a grin: La Quinta special-needs swimmer earns CIF-SS title

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More winners: Other swimmers that earned victories on Friday included Alaina Vega of Palm Springs in the 200 freestyle (2:04.35), Nadia Frutkin of Palm Desert in the 100 freestyle (54.24), Violet David of Palm Desert in the 100 breaststroke (1:21.64) and Eyden Arce of Palm Desert in the boys' 100 freestyle (50.86). The Palm Desert boys' and girls' teams were named league champions for having the most cumulative winners.

2025 Desert Empire League swim meet​

GIRLS' RESULTS

• 200 medley relay: 1. Palm Desert (Lilyanna Smith, Riley Brunett, Ava Otteson, Nadia Frutkin (1:56.70), 2. Xavier Prep (2:10.65), 3. La Quinta (2:30.54)
• 200 freestyle: 1. Alaina Vega, Palm Springs (2:04.35), 2. Paulina Ansley, Palm Desert (2:10.62), 3. Sophie Thoman, Palm Desert (1:16.87)
• 200 IM: 1. Mia Meyer, Xavier Prep (2:20.68), 2. Riley Brunett, Palm Desert (2:21.17), 3. Mallory Del Campo Hartman, La Quinta (2:36.63)
• 50 freestyle*: 1. Ava Otteson, Palm Desert (24.25), 2. Nadia Frutkin, Palm Desert (24.83), 3. Llyanna Smith, Palm Desert (25.04)
• 100 butterfly: 1. Mia Meyer, Xavier Prep (1:06.21), 2. Danielle Jan, Palm Desert (1:09.64), 3. Sophie Thoman, Palm Desert (1:11.53)
• 100 freestyle: 1. Nadia Frutkin, Palm Desert (54.24), 2. Leah Richardson, Xavier Prep (54.41), 3. Joliette Faraci, Palm Desert (57.80)
• 500 freestyle*: 1. Ava Otteson, 4:59.36, 2. Alaina Vegas, Palm Springs (5:41.26), 3. Paulina Ansley, Palm Desert (5:55.37)
• 200 free relay: 1. Palm Desert (Frutkin, Faraci, Smith, Otteson (1:40.70), 2. Xavier Prep (1:53.22), 3. La Quinta (1:56.81)
• 100 backstroke*: 1. Lilyanna Smith, Palm Desert (59.97), 2. Riley Brunett, Palm Desert (1:07.72), 3. Hayley Hodulik, La Quinta (1:10.41)
• 100 breaststroke: 1. Violet David, Palm Desert (1:21.64), 2. Jennifer Rawlings, Palm Springs (1:21.94), 3. Savannah Pena, Palm Desert (1:22.95)
• 400 relay: 1. Palm Desert (Faraci, Jan, Ansley, Brunett) 4:03.35, 2. La Quinta (4:20.60), 3. Xavier Prep (5:26.24)
• *-DEL record

BOYS RESULTS

• 200 medley relay: 1. Palm Desert (Allister Arsua, Declan Kelly, Aden Ward, Siddhesh Jakkaraju) 1:42.82, 2. Xavier Prep (1:45.33), 2. Palm Springs (1:48.33)
• 200 freestyle: 1. Aden Ward, Palm Desert (1:45.41), 2. Declan Kelly (1:47.11), 3. Boston Diltz, Xavier Prep (1:56.64)
• 200 IM*: 1. Jack Reardon, Xavier Prep (1:59.66), 2. Siddhesh Jakkaraju, Palm Desert (2:11.75), 3. Jonah Del Campo Hartman, La Quinta (2:12.22)
• 50 freestyle: 1. Aidan Staton, Palm Springs (21.86), 2. Eyden Arce, Palm Desert (23.16), 3. Preston Lee, Palm Desert (23.43)
• 100 butterfly: 1. Aidan Staton, Palm Springs (52.67), 2. Mathew Crane, Xavier Prep (57.99), 3. Siddhesh Jakkaraju, Palm Desert (58.06)
• 100 freestyle: 1. Eyden Arce, Palm Desert (50.86), 2. Preston Lee, Palm Desert (50.97), 3. Jack Lindsay, La Quinta (52.83)
• 500 freestyle: 1. Declan Kelly, Palm Desert (4:50.09), 2. Aden Ward, Palm Desert (4:50.29), 3. Vincenzo Ditoro, Palm Desert (5:07.37)
• 200 free relay: 1. Palm Desert (Kelly, Arce, James Riviere, Ward) 1:34.58), 2. Palm Springs (1:36.68), 3. La Quinta (1:39.79)
• 100 backstroke*: 1. Jack Reardon, Xavier Prep (54.66), 2. Allister Arsua, Palm Desert (58.97), 3. Vincenzo Ditoro, Palm Desert (59.79)
• 100 breaststroke: 1. Nathanial Skelton, Rancho Mirage (1:06.58), 2. Dylan Quaid, Xavier Prep (1:07.57), 3. Pedro Lomenha, Palm Springs (1:07.93)
• 400 relay: 1. Palm Desert (Lee, Ditoro, Arce, Riviere) 3:30.12, 2. Xavier Prep (3:30.31), 3. La Quinta (3:40.88)
• Mixed 50 inclusive freestyle: 1. Charlie Graves, La Quinta (39.50)
• *-DEL meet record

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Ava Otteson, Jack Reardon rule the pool at Desert Empire League swim meet

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