SWIMMING: WESTLAKE'S SMALLING LIVES UP TO BILLING.

Byline: KEVIN CONNELLY Special to the Daily News

SANTA CLARITA -- Westlake High junior Aislinn Smalling dislikes heading into a swim meet with a target on her back.

``I would rather slip under the radar in Lane 1 or Lane 8,'' said Smalling, who entered the 2006 Southern California Swimming Junior Olympics at Santa Clarita Aquatic Center as a favorite in the girls' 15-year-old and over 200-meter freestyle.

Competing for the Thousand Oaks-based Class Aquatics swim team, Smalling bore the burden of swimming from Lane 4 Thursday afternoon. She stalled early, falling behind in the first 100 meters, but surged in the second half to finish with a first-place clocking of 2 minutes, 6.76 seconds -- a personal best for the 16-year-old.

Smalling, a two-time Southern Section Div. II qualifier in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, won the race by more than three seconds to bounce back convincingly after a disappointing sixth-place finish Wednesday in the 100-meter freestyle.

In other events: Zachary Stevens of the Arroyo Grande-based South County Aquatics Waves swim team set a national record in the boys' 10-year-old and younger 50breaststroke with a prelims clocking of 36.16. The previous national record of 36.60 was set in 1988 by Atiba Wade.

Continuing their dominance of the girls' 11- to 12-year old field, identical twins Allison and Adria Morales of the Santa Clarita Valley-based Canyon Aquatics swim team dominated the 200 freestyle. Allison -- the first-place finished Wednesday in the 100 freestyle -- finished first in 2:15.41, while Adria -- who won the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly Wednesday -- clocked a 2:16.92.

Thousand Oaks junior and Class Aquatics swimmer Alex Henley won the girls' 15-year-old and over 400 individual medleys by more than three body lengths with a time of 5:12.56.

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