The Golden West Rustlers captured the Orange Empire Conference swimming championship on Friday night at Orange Coast College. It was the first OEC title in women's swimming for the Rustlers since 2001.
Golden West has had a long history of success in swimming, but it has been rare that they have won an Orange Empire Conference title. The Rustlers won the state title in 2013, but didn't win the OEC title that season.
All the waiting is over as Golden West now has a new banner to hang after Friday night. The Rustlers scored a narrow win over arch rival Orange Coast College, outscoring the Pirates 487-457. Fullerton College finished in third place (350) while Cypress College was fourth (218) and Saddleback College fifth (100).
Riley McGrath was the headliner for Golden West, winning three separate events in being named the Swimmer-of-the-Meet. McGrath won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.85, the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.68 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:24.51.
The Golden West women's team was also solid in the relays, winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:48.37.
TOP-5 FINISHES:
400 Free Relay
1. OCC 3:48.26
2. GWC 3:54.44
3. FC 4:03.39
4. CC 4:45.18
200 Medley Relay
1. OCC 1:58.44
2. FC 2:03.06
3. GWC 2:03.98
4. CC 2:08.19
200 Free Relay
1. GWC 1:48.37
2. OCC 1:50.40
3. CC 1:52.33
4. FC 1:53.22
200 Freestyle
1. Journey Werner OCC 1:57.63
2. Lauren Bellavia GWC 1:59.17
3. Noelle Yanagawa SC 2:05.09
4. Delaney Lewellyn OCC 2:05.14
5. Diana Levias FC 2:16.38
200 Individual Medley
1. Riley McGrath GWC 2:15.85
2. Yuuri Yoshikawa OCC 2:19.93
3. Emma Johansen GWC 2:22.52
4. Marisol Narvez CC 2:25.36
5. Alaire Thomas OCC 2:25.68
50 Freestyle
1. Sarah Maver OCC 24.87
2. Noelle Yanagawa SC 26.32
3. Kaitlyn Van Buren GWC 26.51
4. Estelle Zhou FC 26.97
5. Kayla Yamamoto OCC 27.08
100 Fly
1. Alair Thomas OCC 1:03.87
2. Tarsis Ledezma FC 1:11.07
3. Madison Ainley GWC 1:12.75
4. Perla Estrada OCC 1:13.09
5. Isabella Garcia CC 1:13.25
100 Freestyle
1. Journey Werner OCC 53.87
2. Sarah Maver OCC 55.09
3. Lauren Bellavia GWC 55.48
4. Delaney Lewellyn OCC 56.68
5. Noelle Yanagawa SC 56.73
500 Freestyle
1. Riley McGrath GWC 5:24.51
2. Kaitlyn Santala SC 5:44.14
3. Elizabeth Gendron GWC 5:49.51
4. Stephanie Offner GWC 6:00.37
5. Neida Torres FC 6:03.55
100 Backstroke
1. Journey Werner OCC 1:00.40
2. Delaney Lewellyn OCC 1:03.78
3. Alaire Thomas OCC 1:04.28
4. Emma Johansen GWC 1:04.36
5. Kayla Yamamoto OCC 1:04.67
100 Breaststroke
1. Riley McGrath GWC 1:07.68
2. Yuuri Yoshikawa OCC 1:09.92
3. Marisol Narvez CC 1:12.19
4. Charley Jackson FC 1:14.28
5. Elizabeth Gendron GWC 1:15.80