The Golden West College Men's Swim team finished off the regular season with some strong momentum heading into the Orange-Empire Conference finals in less than two weeks. The performances by team members at the Orange Coast Invitational were steps in the right direction. The team finished second with 703 points behind the host Pirates who accumulated 768 points. The next three teams in order were Santa Monica (306), Grossmont (223) and Southwestern (223).

 

The top swimmer for Golden West was Jake M. Kiss. He won the 500 free comfortably with a time of 4:50.62, and finished second twice in the 200 free (1:47.82) and the 200 breast (2:19.98). Bobby Wright set a school record in the 100 IM with a time of 56.69 and also had two fourth place finishes in the 400 IM( 4:39.99) and the 200 Back (2:10.63). Ryan Novak was the runner-up in the 100 back with a time of 57.16 and a third place effort in the 200 IM notching a time of 2:03.34. Sophomore Jacob Stoddard dropped four seconds off his seasonal best in the 400 IM with a 4:31.28 to nab second and grabbed fourth in the 200 breast, swimming the event in a 2:24.53 time. He also added a fourth place in the 100 back (59.77). Daigo Fujita had a strong day as well as he popped a 2:06.57 in the 200 IM for fourth place points and later in the meet, finished third in the 100 IM (59.79). Gavin Little sped to a 58.88 in the 100 IM for third overall. Neven Cerkez completed the final top four individual finishes with a third in the 200 fly (2:17.62)

 

The following are the relay finishes for Golden West:

200 Free Relay 1:31.07 2nd Place Novak, James Smith, Jack Wright, Little

400 Medley Relay 3:45.74 2nd place M. Kiss, B. Wright, Taylor Juarez, Novak

200 Medley Relay 1:44.39 3rd Place M. Kiss, Little, Fujita, Smith

800 Free Relay 7:26.83 2nd Place Juarez, Fujita, J. Wright, Novak

400 Free Relay 3:23.70 2nd Place Stoddard, Smith, J. Wright, Novak

 

Following the meet, when asked for comments, Head Coach Tracy Maurer was pleasantly surprised with the day's results. "We came into this meet after putting in some really focused work in practice that resulted in some very tired individuals but they took advantage of the beautiful day, the competition and a great pool. The guys are looking forward to the championships in a few weeks."

 

The Orange-Empire Conference Championships will be held April 17-19 at Saddleback College.