ELAC Swim and Dive Outscores Rio Hondo at Chaffey Invitational
RIVERSIDE, CA — The East Los Angeles College women’s swim and dive took 6th place in the Chaffey College Invitational held at the Riverside City College Aquatics Center today and yesterday.
In their best performance of the year, the Huskies scored 284 points and got by 8th place Southwestern College who scored 233. ELAC outscored South Coast Conference rival Rio Hondo, who was favored over ELAC based on this season’s times. Rio Hondo placed ninth place with 223 points.
Three powerhouses duked it out for the top three spots, Riverside, San Diego Mesa College and Palomar College and finished in that order.
ELAC continues to improve as every Husky had at least one personal record (PR) for a season-high 21 PRs in one event, 19 of them individual.
The Huskies best results of the day was in the 400-yard individual medley with Caitlin Woo (Mark Keppel High School) winning the event in a personal record. Woo placed second in the 200-yard individual medley.
Event 3: 500 Freestyle: Sophomore Crystal Rubalcava (Schurr HS) placed 13th with a personal record. Vicky Zia-Lopez (Mark Keppel HS) followed in 14th place in her initial 500-yard freestyle of the season. Huskies that followed included Elizabeth Melendrez (Mark Keppel HS) and Kellie Ton (Mark Keppel HS).
Event 5: 200 Individual Medley: Woo second place finish was a personal record. Lizbeth Perez (Orthopedic Hospital Medical Magnet HS) also finished with a personal record.
Event 7: 50 Free: Michelea Esparza (Los Angeles HS) finished with a personal record knocking off five seconds from her previous best time.
Event 9: 800 Free Relay: It was the initial 800-yard free for the Huskies with Woo, Rubalcava, Melendrez and Zia-Lopez who scored 24 points for ELAC with a seventh-place finish.
Event 11: 1-Meter Diving: Zia-Lopez placed 6th.
Event 13: 200 Medley Relay: The Huskies scored 18 points with a personal record for a ninth-place finish. It was Woo in the backstroke, Zia-Lopez in the breastroke, Melendrez in the butterfly and Rubalcava in the free.
Event 15: 400 IM: Woo’s first place finish was won by the slimmest of margins, 5:19.25 to 5:19.59 over Carli Willis of Grossmont College. Zia-Lopez finished mid-pack with a personal record followed by Perez.
Event 17: 100 Fly: Melendrez placed 7th in a field of 17. Rubalcava placed 12th. Both Huskies had personal records.
Event 19: 200 Free: Woo placed seventh out of 30 women with a personal record. Ton also finished with a personal record.
Event 21: 100 Breast: Zia-Lopez placed 16th with a personal record.
Event 23: 100 Back: Woo placed 4th out of 28 women with a PR. Perez, who competed in her initial 100-yard back of the season, followed as did Ton who finished with a personal record.
Event 25: 400 Free Relay: ELAC placed 6th of 13, good enough for 26 points with the team of Rubalcava, Melendrez, Zia-Lopez and Woo.
Event 29: 1650 Free: Rubalcava and Melendrez swam their initial 1650-yard marathon event of the year and finished in an impressive fourth and fifth, respectively.
Event 31: 100 Free: Esparza, with her best performance of the year today, added her second personal record of the meet in the 100-yard event.
Event 33: 200 Back: Woo placed sixth with her fifth individual personal record of the day. Perez also finished with a personal record.
Event 35: 200 Fly: Melendrez placed an impressive fifth and Rubalcava ninth with a personal record.
Event 37: 200 Breast: Zia-Lopez finished the 200-yard breast with a personal record.
Event 39: 400 Medley Relay: In the final event, the Huskies had their best relay results of the day with a fifth-place finish and 28 points. The 400-yard medley consisted of Woo, Zia-Lopez, Melendrez, and Rubalcava.
Next Up
The Huskies compete in a South Coast Conference dual meet at El Camino College against the Warriors and LA Trade Tech College on Friday.
Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia