SOUTHERN SECTION SWIMMING: H.-W.'S MERZ TOP QUALIFIER IN 50 FREESTYLE.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

LONG BEACH - The Harvard-Westlake High of Studio City swimming team has been wearing the black T-shirts since the start of the season. With a mock Surgeon General's warning on the back, they declare that it is OK to ``smoke the competition.''

And though Wolverines sophomore Alexa Merz didn't come up with the idea, she certainly followed the mandate at the Southern Section Div. I preliminaries Wednesday afternoon at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

The 15-year-old clocked a personal-best 23.46 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, qualifying Merz for USA Swimming's national championships this summer in Maryland, and earning her the No. 1 seed in the race for the finals Friday night.

``It's scary,'' said Merz, who also qualified second in the 100 freestyle in 51.21. ``To go in as an underdog, there's no pressure because you have nothing to lose. But to go in as the No. 1, I don't know.''

Merz had a day to dream about as she dueled Irvine junior Courtney Cashion in each of her races Wednesday. She powered away to win the 50 freestyle, before tiring over the final 25 yards in the 100. In addition, Merz anchored two of the Wolverines' three relay teams, all of which qualified for finals.

Only a year ago, Merz won the 50 freestyle section title when Harvard- Westlake competed in Division II. But the school was moved up to Division I this year - along with the rest of its Mission League counterparts and teams from the Foothill and Pacific Leagues.

By moving from Division II, the local teams competed Wednesday for the first time against the traditional powers from Orange County, including Mission Viejo and Irvine. Even against the enhanced competition, though, 11 area swimmers joined Merz in qualifying for the finals.

``There are so many good swimmers, it's almost like another national (club) meet,'' said Alemany of Mission Hills senior junior Renee Viveros, who qualified fifth in the 100 butterfly (57.56) and eighth in the 100 backstroke (58.92). ``But it's still fun because it's high school.''

The Chaminade of West Hills boys also enjoyed a banner day. Senior Matthew Jensen, set to swim next year for Indiana, qualified fourth in the 100 butterfly (51.01) and third in the 100 backstroke (52.81). All despite Jensen's admission he took last year's Division II meet more seriously with his college future undecided.

``Right now, I'm a lot less worried,'' he said. ``This year, I'm just trying to have fun and swim my best times.''

Additionally, Jensen's younger Chaminade teammate, junior Blake Nilsson, qualified second in the 100 breaststroke in 58.37. Nilsson lost by just .08 seconds Wednesday to Servite of Anaheim junior Adam Hewko, whom he will face again Friday in the finals.

For Saugus sophomore Lizette Patterson, Wednesday's meet was far better than the one she endured last year. Patterson came down with a case of food poisoning then and struggled through the preliminaries.

This time, however, Patterson enjoyed a French toast breakfast at home and qualified in two events, securing the eighth and final spot in the 200 individual medley (2:08.74) and fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.92).

``My mom was like, `This year, you're not going to eat anything anyone makes for you except me,' '' Patterson said.

Hart of Newhall junior Kent Klawer qualified for the finals in the 200 individual medley in 1:56.13. Klawer made the Division II finals a year ago, when the Hart boys won the team championship, and fulfilled a season-long goal to make it back in Division I.