Freshman swimmer Neil Franka has been a threat all season long for the State crown. He was unbeatable in the conference dual meets in his signature swim the Individual Medley (IM) and then was unstoppable at Mt. San Antonio (Mt. SAC) and Chaffey colleges in their invitationals in the backstroke (BACK) and butterfly (FLY).
Franka started out the season dominating the competition at the Chaffey invitational taking first place in all four of his swim events (200 IM, 400 IM, 100 BACK, 200 FLY) and followed up with similar results at the Mt. SAC taking 1st again in all four of his events (200 IM, 100 FLY, 200 BACK, 100 FREESTYLE.) These two tournaments set the table for the Pacific Coast Athletic COnference (PCAC) finals where the 6'4" swimmer competed in three events and took first place in two them (100 FLY and 200 BACK) and took a tight 2nd place in the 200 IM.
The following week Franka and seven of his teammates qualified to compete at the State Championships at East Los Angeles College. Franka was, once again, a top performer as he cruised into first place in his best stroke, the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.55 to take his first State crown of his intercollegiate career. The University City High School graduate also competed in the 200 BACK where he finished with a time of 1:15.95 to get a close 3rd place and then a 4th place finish in the 100 FLY.