Shimizu, Parson help Vaqueros move up to seventh in State

Sarah Parson, a freshman from Arroyo Grande, took fifth in the 100 breast and narrowly missed her school record. She also swam on two sixth-place relay teams. (Photo by Merrill Riley)
Sarah Parson, a freshman from Arroyo Grande, took fifth in the 100 breast and narrowly missed her school record. She also swam on two sixth-place relay teams. (Photo by Merrill Riley)

Kelee Shimizu and Sarah Parson placed fifth in the 200 free and 100 breast, respectively, on Thursday as SBCC went from 10th to seventh on Day 2 of the CCCAA State Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at De Anza College.

Shimizu swam 1:56.00 in the 200 free, just 1.78 seconds behind the winner, Melissa Cienega of Pasadena (1:54.22). Parson took fifth in the 100 breast in 1:06.94, missing the school record she set two weeks ago by 0.47 seconds.

       Day 2 State Wrap-Up on CCCAA Website

Orange Coast leads the pack of 30 schools with 354 points. Santa Rosa is second (296.5), Diablo Valley is third (249) and the Vaqueros are seventh with 132.

The Vaqueros posted sixth-place efforts in two relays – the 200 medley that opened the afternoon finals and the 800 free relay that closed the night. Meagan Mckillican, Parson, Shimizu and Kendra Carr swam the 200 medley in 1:51.75, just 0.21 off the school record.

The freshmen foursome of Parson, Mckillican, Lily Riley and Shimizu combined to take sixth in the 800 free relay in 8:02.80. Parson turned in the fastest leg on the leadoff swim in 1:56.77. Their relay time was nearly 16 seconds faster than their winning time in the WSC Championships two weeks ago.

"It was a good day today, we had a great 800 free relay with a monster lead-off split by Sarah," said coach Chuckie Roth. "Meagan Mckillican had a huge improvement in her 400 IM, scoring big points for the team.

"This group gives so much and really cares for each other. Tomorrow will be the last day of our season. This is an amazing group and I am so lucky I have one more year with most of them."