By Jimmy Friery
COSTA MESA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Swimming & Diving team had another 1st place finish at the Orange Coast Invitational this weekend, tallying a massive 878 points.
The Vaqueros have now placed 1st in six of seven meets this season. They did not compete at all on the final day of the only meet they did not win, still finishing 4th.
"We swam very well as a collective group this weekend. I was very encouraged by several swims," head coach Chuckie Roth said. "We had several athletes drop time in their personal events. We have been training hard, and now it is time to start preparing for the end of the season."
"The best part about this team is that everyone can swim hard and kick butt while also having fun, uplifting each other, and blasting music to make our own dance party," training triathlete Ava Smith said. "This weekend was no different with so many of us swimming season bests, along with endless laughter." Safe to say, the vibes are immaculate in the Vaqueros Aquatics program.
As for the nitty-gritty, Lily Carrick had 100 of the 878 points, unsurprisingly with 1st place times in all five individual events—the 50, 100, 200, and 500 Freestyles and 400 IM. Her 5:11.65 in the 500 Free is potentially a school record. She also was on four 1st place relays—the 200 and 400 Medleys and 400 and 800 Freestyles.
Maddie Myers equally was on four 1st place relay teams—both Medleys and the 200 and 400 Freestyles. Her personal best 1:10.51 in the 100 Breaststroke was good enough for 1st place, as well. Her three 2nd place finishes in the 50, 100, and 200 Freestyles were just 1.17 off of Carrick's 1st place times combined—goes to show how close the competition between the two was.
Erin Otsuki remained a great contributor with 86 points. She was the first swimmer in all of her four 1st place relay teams and individually finished 1st in the 100 Backstroke (1:00.38) and 200 Backstroke (2:10.42).
Distance swimmers Caroline Oates and Addie Lane swam well with 1st and 2nd place times in the 1650 (Mile) Freestyle, respectively. The pair also finished 2nd and 3rd in the 500 Freestyle behind Carrick, giving the Vaqueros a sweep of the top 3 in the event.
Tayten Neiderhiser swam a personal best in the 400 IM, clocking in at 5:02.07, good for 3rd place. Sofia Paez was 2nd at 5:00.60, giving SBCC another sweep of the top 3 (Carrick 1st). Neiderhiser also notched a personal best in the 200 Backstroke at 2:17.38, good enough for 2nd place on the day. Her times in both events will likely qualify her for State.
Speaking of the team, Neiderhiser said, "Overall, we did amazing this weekend! Everyone was excited and happy to be there. On top of that, it was a great warm up for State."
In diving, Morgan Cederholm continued to give the Vaqueros points with a 2nd place finish in 1-Meter Diving and a 4th place finish on the 3-Meter board.
Gabi Turnbull returned to the squad after healing from a finger injury to post personal best times in the 50 and 100 Freestyles.
"[Gabi] was the highlight of the meet for me, seeing her be able to swim pain free, be happy, and swim personal bests," Roth said proudly. The Vaquero sophomore (with Natalie Mancinelli) can boast the title of back-to-back Water Polo State Champion, as well. "She is such a great leader on our team, and she deserves to finish on a high note."
Flexing their depth, SBCC had the top 5 finishes and 7 of the top 10 in the 100 Freestyle (Carrick, Myers, Otsuki, Paez, Oates, Lane, Mancinelli, Waechter) and the top 6 finishes in the 200 Freestyle (Carrick, Myers, Oates, Otsuki, Lane, Paez).
"I think this weekend was a really good example of how we work as a team to accomplish our goals," Gabi Turnbull said. "At every event, we had people cheering each other on. The energy stayed high and I'm super proud of how everyone competed."
"We have conference championships in Ventura in one and a half weeks," Roth concluded. "That is our new focus and then we will re-gather for State."
As alluded to, the Vaqueros look towards WSC Championships beginning Thursday, April 18 in Ventura before State Championships in early May back at Orange Coast.
1st place finishes:
200 Free Relay – Erin Otsuki-Maddie Myers-Lila Waechter-Caroline Oates, 1:42.08
500 Free – Lily Carrick, 5:11.65
50 Free – Lily Carrick, 25.26
400 Medley Relay - Erin Otsuki-Maddie Myers-Lila Waechter-Lily Carrick, 4:15.23
200 Medley Relay - Erin Otsuki-Maddie Myers-Lila Waechter-Lily Carrick, 1:55.37
400 IM – Lily Carrick, 4:41.25
200 Free – Lily Carrick, 1:57.40
100 Breast – Maddie Myers, 1:10.51
100 Back – Erin Otsuki, 1:00.56
800 Free Relay – Addie Lane-Sofia Paez-Caroline Oates-Lily Carrick, 8:09.12
1650 Free – Caroline Oates, 18:42.62
200 Back – Erin Otsuki, 2:16.35
100 Free – Lily Carrick, 54.05
400 Free Relay – Erin Otsuki-Caroline Oates-Lily Carrick-Maddie Myers, 3:40.28
2nd place finishes:
200 Free Relay – Sofia Paez-Tayten Neiderhiser-Addie Lane-Natalie Mancinelli, 1:43.90
500 Free – Caroline Oates, 5:20.97
50 Free – Maddie Myers, 25.38
400 IM – Sofia Paez, 5:00.60
200 Free – Maddie Myers, 1:57.91
1650 Free – Addie Lane, 19:29.65
200 Back – Tayten Neiderhiser, 2:17.38
100 Free – Maddie Myers, 54.59
200 Fly – Natalie Mancinelli, 2:53.63
1-Meter Diving – Morgan Cederholm
3rd place finishes:
500 Free – Addie Lane, 5:33.57
400 IM – Tayten Neiderhiser, 5:02.07
200 Free – Caroline Oates, 1:58.96
100 Back – Tayten Neiderhiser, 1:06.02
100 Free – Erin Otsuki, 55.09
400 Free Relay – Lila Waechter-Sofia Paez-Addie Lane-Natalie Mancinelli, 3:51.70
Team scores:
1. SBCC (878)
2. Orange Coast (577)
3. Santa Monica (287)
4. Southwestern (201)
5. Grossmont (156)
6. Golden West (137)
7. Palomar (24)
Photos below: 200 Freestyle Heat 5, with 6 Vaqueros competing. Courtesy of assistant coach Paige Treloar-Ballard
Maddie Myers (Lane 3), Lily Carrick (4) Caroline Oates (5), Erin Otsuki (6), Sofia Paez (7), Addie Lane (8)
