Q.H.'S SECTION RUN STARTS TODAY IN LEAGUE.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

The beard that had grown wild all season officially has bitten the dust. So now it is time for the Quartz Hill High swim team to get down to business.

After the Rebels won their fifth consecutive boys' and girls' Golden League titles Wednesday, coach Mark Thibault shaved the beard he had been growing (not to mention braiding) for the occasion since the start of the season.

``They were like, 'Oh my gosh,' '' Thibault said of his swimmers' reaction. ``Some of them had never seen me without it. They had to do a double take.''

Like its coach, Quartz Hill also hopes to undergo an identity change of sorts over the next eight days, transforming from a regional power to a team that can contend for its first title at the Southern Section Div. IV championships May 13 in Long Beach.

For the Rebels, everything starts with the league championships today at Eastside pool in Lancaster.

Quartz Hill already has qualified an Antelope Valley-area record 18 swimmers for the section preliminaries. And Thibault believes this year's team is faster and stronger than last year's, which was second in both the boys' and girls' standings.

``This is the playoffs,'' Thibault said. ``This is crunch time for us. I'm trying to tell our kids that we won't really know until we go down there. We thought we were going to do well last year, and then the kids just swam out of their minds.''

Although next week is the focus, today's meet is important for several Quartz Hill swimmers as a last chance to qualify for the section championships by reaching either an automatic or consideration time standard.

Junior Jessica Alexander and sophomore Nellie Rodriguez are close to automatic times in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Crystal Westphal is close in the 100 backstroke. Among the boys, senior Travis Lucas needs automatic times in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

Lucas actually had an automatic time for a few minutes at last month's Royal Invitational. A computer error had him as the race winner with a time under 22.20 seconds. But Thibault corrected the mistake to preserve a clear conscience.

``We still crack up about that,'' the coach said.

Otherwise, Quartz Hill appears strong heading into the section meet. The team already has three boys qualified for the 200 individual medley - Matt Smith, Dan Tran and Viet Tran - and could add a fourth today in junior Jimmy Rodriguez.

Smith and the Tran brothers finished in the top eight at Royal, none in a time worse than 2 minutes, 7.84 seconds. The automatic qualifying standard in the event is 2:12.00.

``These guys all are club swimmers who've been working their tails off,'' Thibault said. ``It sets up well for us (at the section meet), we have a lot of diversity. There's not a lot of good (individual medley swimmers) out there.''

--Time trials: Another team with much to gain this afternoon is Palmdale, which has two swimmers and two relays hoping to go from consideration times to automatic times.

Senior Mandy Ramsum has consideration times in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. Junior Kristy Nua also is close to an automatic time in the 50 freestyle. Palmdale's 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays have consideration times.

Although Christine Marsh can't remember if she went to the section championships in her career as a Palmdale swimmer, the first-year coach doesn't want her girls to miss out on the chance.

``I think the girls deserve the opportunity to go down there,'' Marsh said. ``I know what a big deal it would be to them.''

In addition to Ramsum, seniors Katie Takatori and Beau Krekemeyer will close out their league careers today. Takatori will swim at the section championships as part of Palmdale's relays, and Krekemeyer is about one second off a consideration time in the 50 freestyle.

--Lone wolves: The only goal Littlerock coach Jeff Bolter has today is for his relay teams to close out the season with best times. The Lobos will send just nine swimmers to the league championships, and none are close to a consideration time.

Bolter became just the second coach in Littlerock history in February, taking over for Tammie Furman, who left to coach at the new Knight High. And Bolter said most of the school's incoming freshmen ended up at the east Palmdale school, leading to his team's small turnout. He also lost a couple of swimmers to academic ineligibility midway through the season.

``It was a transition year,'' said Bolter, who had the added obstacle of coaching at Littlerock and teaching at Lancaster. But Bolter added that he plans to start preparing for next season as early as November or December.

Sophomore Shane Frakes (50 and 100 freestyle), junior Robert Taylor (100 breaststroke) and freshman Selina Hamilton (50 and 100 freestyle) all had strong seasons, Bolter said.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com