Piate Swimmers Continue with Strong Performances at WSC Championships

On day two of the three-day Western State Conference Championships in Santa Clarita, the Pirates' men's and women's swimming and diving teams continued to post strong performances. Cooper Fuchs led the charge once again with his second individual gold in the 100-yard backstroke and also helped Kevin Smallwood, Marcel Hurtubise and Tobias Hynes to a runner-up finish in the 200-yard medley relay. For he women, Alli Hopkins earned silver in the 100-yard butterfly while Adrianna Bese and Gracelyn De La Cruz had personal-best times in the 100-yard breast stroke and backstroke events, respectively.

Fuchs claimed his second gold of the championships with a razor-thin victoy by .01 seconds in he 100-yard backstroke. Fuchs touched in a time of 51.26 with the runner-up posting a time of 51.27. The 200-yard medley relay team of Fuchs, Smallwood, Hurtubise and Hynes came in second while the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Johnny Ditlof, Ethan Enquist, Jake Peters and Hunter Massey claimed bronze.

Smallwood was third in the 100-yard breast stroke while Hurtubise was fourth, Ditlof was sixth and Hynes was ninth in the 100-yard butterfly. Massey and Peters were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle and Christian Foster came in eighth in he 400-yard individual medley.  Also included in Friday's point total was last week's 1 meter diving competition. Rawley Mathis came in second in the competition while Izaiah Martinez was third.

The Pirate men fell to second place overall after day two of the championships. VC has 447 points as compared to Santa Monica's 477.5. Saturday's final day of competition appears to be a two-team race as Bakersfield and Cuesta are a distant third and fourth with 288.5 and 285 points, respectively.

Hopkins had the top performance for the Pirate women with her silver medal finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Bese swam a personal record 1:08.02 in the 100-yard breast stroke for a bronze medal finish while De La Cruz's PR of 1:03.53 in the 100-yard backstroke was also good for third place. The Priates' 200-yard medley relay team of De La Cruz, Bese,Hopkins and Kaitlin Reagan also earned third place honors. Ary Martinez won the "B" final of the 400-yard individual medley for a ninth place overall finish and Caitlin Burditt came in 13th in the 100-yard back.

VC's women's team slipped to seventh place overall with 219 points. Santa Barbara leads with Cuesta in second. Bakersfield, Santa Monica, Hancock, LA valley and Ventura are all within 60 points in the battle for third.

The WSC Championships will conclude on Saturday April 20, hosted by College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.