Jafari Era Begins, ELAC Swim Splashes to Solid Results
PASADENA, CA — The East Los Angeles College women’s swim team had some solid results in the season opening meet today, the South Coast Conference Pentathlon in the Pasadena City College Aquatics Center.
There are no official results of team scores reported, however, the official ELAC head coach Michael Jafari era began. Jafari also coaches the water polo team. Assistant coaches include Irene Young and Katia Montoya.
Unofficially, freshman Caitlin Woo (Mark Keppel High School) scored 91 percent of ELAC’s individual points. She was a Top Ten finisher in four of the five events and placed 11th in the other.
The freshmen laden team has only one sophomore, veteran Crystal Rubalcava (Schurr HS).
Event 1: 200 Medley Relay: The ELAC “A” team took fourth place over LA Trade Tech by seven seconds. Rubalcava swam the breastroke leg, Woo followed with the fly, and Vicky Zia-Lopez (Mark Keppel HS) finished with the free. The ELAC “B” team took seventh place out of eight teams. The team consisted of Lizbeth Perez (Orthopedic Hospital Medical Magnet HS) in the back, Daniela Pastor (South Gate HS) in the breast, Elizabeth Melendrez (Mark Keppel HS) in the fly and Kellie Ton (Mark Keppel HS) in the free.
Event 3: 200 Individual Medley: Woo placed fifth from a field of 53. Melendrez and Zia-Lopez finished mid-pack followed by Perez, Ton, Gaston and Alejandra Gazpar (Maywood Academy HS).
Event 5: 100 Butterfly: Woo placed eighth from a field of 49. Melendrez came in at 19th and Zia-Lopez took 22nd place. Rubalcava finished mid-pack followed by Pastor, Perez, Gazpar, Ton and Michelea Esparza (Los Angeles HS).
Event 7: 100 Backstroke: Woo tapped the wall 27/100’s of a second faster than Pasadena’s Sharon Perez to take fifth place out of 68 women. Melendrez finished at No. 23. Zia-Lopez finished mid-pack followed by Rubalcava, Perez, Ton, Pastor, Gazpar and Esparza.
Event 9: 100 Breaststroke: Woo placed 11th out of 63 women. Zia-Lopez placed 23rd. Rubalcava finished mid-pack followed by Melendrez, Perez, Gazpar, Pastor, Ton and Esparza.
Event 11: 100 Freestyle: In the largest event of the day with 76 competitors, Woo edged Pasadena’s Jocelyn Jo, who won three second place finishes, by 1/100th of a second for fourth place. Rubalcava and Zia-Lopez finished 24th and 28th, respectively. Melendrez finished mid-pack followed by Ton, Perez, Pastor, Gazpar and Esparza.
Event 32: Co-ed 200 Free Relay: This event featured relay teams of two women and two men from most teams. ELAC’s two teams competed with four women each. The ELAC “A” team of Zia-Lopez, Rubalcava and Woo placed 9th. The Huskies “B” team of Perez, Pastor, Ton and Melendrez beat LA Trade Tech by 5-1/2 seconds for 10th place.
Next Up
The dive team competes tomorrow in the SCC Diving Preview at El Camino College at noon. The swim & dive team competes next week in the Mt. San Antonio Invitational. The diving events are on Thursday and the swimming events are on Friday and Saturday.
Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia