SOUTHERN SECTION SWIMMING: GYURIS REACHES THE TOP THOUSAND OAKS SENIOR WINS TITLE.

Byline: Scott Magoloff Staff Writer

LONG BEACH - As the years passed, Aron Gyuris wondered if his steady, annual improvements in the Southern Section swimming meet would eventually lead to a championship.

Dominant in Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley throughout his career at Thousand Oaks High, Gyuris finally stood atop all of Division I with a championship in the 50-yard freestyle Friday at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

Irvine won the boys' and girls' team championships with 295 and 218 points, respectively. Mission Viejo (221) took second in the boys' meet and Newport Harbor (195) second in the girls'. The Westlake of Westlake Village girls' team (107) finished 10th and the Royal of Simi Valley boys' team (66) 13th.

Gyuris had come up short in five section championship races in his career, finishing second in the 100 freestyle last year, before finally breaking through for his first championship.

``It's a pretty good relief,'' said Gyuris, who will swim for Brown University in the fall. ``It's taken a lot of pressure off. I'm pretty happy.''

Gyuris swam a school-record 20.92 in the 50, breaking Eric Shafer's record which was set in 1996. He missed the Division I record by .65 seconds and the state record by .75. Gyuris also finished second in the 100 butterfly Friday, swimming a 51.24 for another school record.

Westlake senior Taryn O'Leary also capped a strong career with her best performance at a section championship meet, finishing third (24.40) in the the 50 freestyle. The effort made up for a crushing meet last year, when she did not qualify for the finals in any events.

O'Leary, who will swim for the University of Michigan next season, also finished ninth (53.32) in the 100 freestyle. Her times in the 50 and 100 freestyles were both personal bests.

``I had two mediocre swims (in the prelims) and I went home upset,'' O'Leary said. ``But I was able to suck it up out here (in the finals). I'm happy with that aspect more than my times. Going into college swimming I'll need that edge.''

As Gyuris and O'Leary were completing their careers, Royal freshman Christine Creek was busy establishing a reputation of her own. It helped when she finished third (1:06.47) in the 100 breaststroke and eighth (2:10.66) in the 200 individual medley during her first section finals.

``I think high school swimming brings out the best in me,'' Creek said. ``It's really exciting. There's a lot of energy.''

--Div. III prelims: Quartz Hill sophomore Peter McVey - one of only two individual qualifiers from the Antelope Valley in the last two years - placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke. He swam the event in 1:02.34, almost one second slower than his seeding time, which was the third- fastest in the division.

McVey will compete in the finals at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool and he expects to swim faster.

``I really just swam to get into the finals; then I'll race when I get there,'' said McVey, who finished 14th in the 200 individual medley, which means he likely won't swim in the finals in that event. ``If I go too fast on the first day, sometimes I get disappointed when I don't do better the second day.''

Calabasas sophomore Robin Kim, who injured herself during last year's prelims, was disappointing in her individual events. She felt better about contributing on the 200 freestyle relay team with Susan Grant, Gina Levine and Aya Osuga, which placed sixth in 1:44.99.

``It's OK; I'll learn from it,'' said Kim, who finished 13th in the 50 freestyle and 12th in the 100 butterfly. ``I'm really happy about our relay. It makes me feel better.''