Santa Barbara Women Win Program’s First 3C2A Swim & Dive State Title; Sierra Men Four-Peat

2024 CCCAA (3C2A) Swim and Dive Championships

• May 2-4, 2024
• Costa Mesa, California
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results (PDF)
• Team Scores (PDF)

The Sierra College men continued their run of dominance in the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) swimming & diving scene while the Santa Barbara Community College women climbed to the top of the mountain for the first time at the 2024 state championships in Costa Mesa.

WOMEN’S RECAP

The Santa Barbara women won four of five relays and had a pair of individual titles come from freshmen to secure the team title by a wide margin, outpacing runner-up Santa Rosa by 178.5 points.

Last season, Santa Barbara was 5th in the team race, with Santa Monica winning the title.

Santa Barbara first-years Maddie Myers and Lily Carrick led the way for the winning squad, both eclipsing 50 points individually and winning one event.

Myers topped the field in the 100 free, setting a new best time of 51.36, and added a 2nd-place showing in the 200 free (1:52.69) and a 3rd-place finish in the 50 free (24.21).

Carrick, an Australian native, set a new state record in the 400 IM (4:29.59), was the runner-up in the 500 free (5:01.03) and also placed 4th in the 100 free (52.66).

Carrick also factored into three of the winning relays, swimming fly on the victorious 200 medley (1:49.00) and 400 medley (3:59.33) relays, with Myers anchoring the 200 medley and swimming breast on the 400 medley. In the 400 free relay, Erin Otsuki and Caroline Oates opened things up before Carrick and Myers closed things out.

Winning Relays:

• 400 Medley Relay – Erin Otsuki-Maddie Myers-Lily Carrick-Caroline Oates, 3:59.33
• 200 Medley Relay – Erin Otsuki-Lila Waechter-Lily Carrick-Maddie Myers, 1:49.00
• 800 Free Relay – Addie Lane-Sofia Paez-Caroline Oates-Erin Otsuki, 7:51.79
• 400 Free Relay – Erin Otsuki-Caroline Oates-Lily Carrick-Maddie Myers, 3:31.68

Santa Barbara head coach Chuckie Roth was named 3C2A State Coach of the Year for the first time. Roth noted that a large portion of the team’s roster are primarily water polo players, making their championship title even more impressive.

“I’ve got a really special group of kids, who worked really hard this year,” Roth told the 3C2A. “They bought into the program and they bought into each other, making each other better each day. Our kids don’t have a ton of swimming background – most are water polo athletes – but they’re relentless, they’re gritty and support each other in and out of the water. It’s been incredible.”

El Camino sophomore Mia Park was named Co-Swimmer of the Meet for the second straight year, setting a state record in the 1650 free (17:04.63) while also winning the 200 free (1:50.71) and 500 free (4:59.51).

Park’s freshman teammate Iyanah Samayoa joined her with Co-Swimmer of the Meet honors, sweeping the 100 breast (1:04.09), 200 breast (2:18.62) and 200 IM (2:07.32).

Another state record went down on the women’s side at the hands of Santa Monica sophomore Ema Klimauskas in the 200 fly (2:01.99). Klimauskas also topped the field in the 100 fly (55.60).

American City River College’s Rachel Choi swept the diving events, as the freshman scored 229.60 on 1-meter and 241.65 on 3-meter.

Other Winners

• 200 free relay – Orange Coast College, 1:37.77
• 50 free – Camille Seiley (Grossmont College), 23.62
• 100 back – Lilliana Noriega (LA Valley College), 57.19
• 200 back – Noemi Bravo-Guzman (Allan Hancock College), 2:02.88

Team Scores – Top 10

1. Santa Barbara, 460
2. Santa Rosa, 281.5
3. Long Beach, 255
4. El Camino, 248
5. Sierra, 229
6. Mt. San Antonio, 217
7. Orange Coast, 215
8. West Valley, 204
9. Diablo, 189
10. Foothill, 182.5

MEN’S RECAP

The Sierra men’s team won eight events to roll to a 110.5-point victory over runner-up Orange Coast, securing their fourth-straight state title.

Leading the charge for Sierra were freshmen Troy Quintana and Deklan Heinzen, who had two individual wins apiece and combined to score 111 points.

Quintana went three-for-three in best times, winning the 200 free (1:38.08) and 500 free (4:30.96) while placing 3rd in the mile (15:58.25).

Heinzen also set PBs across the board, winning the 100 breast (54.38) and 200 breast (1:58.72)—nearing the state record in the latter—while adding a 4th-place showing in the 200 IM (1:51.67).

Sierra also had full control of the butterfly events, as Genoa Nixon won the 100 fly (49.51) and Aidan Thompson set a best time to claim the 200 fly (1:49.53).

Sierra won two relays, claiming the 800 free relay in 6:45.18 behind a 1:39.27 lead-off from Thompson, and then rolling to the 400 medley relay title in 3:20.48 with Heinzen and Nixon swimming critical middle legs.

Winning Relays:

• 400 Medley Relay – Tyler Natrass-Deklan Heinzen-Genoa Nixon-Chris Nihart, 3:59.33
• 800 Free Relay – Aidan Thompson-Brock Sippola-Tyler Natrass-Troy Quintana, 6:45.18

Sierra’s Chris Breitbart earned Men’s Coach of the Year honors.

“We are fully blessed with an athletic department that fully supports what we do and we not have a culture in place where the men show up with common goals and we do what we can to achieve them,” Breitbart said.

“We’re also blessed to have tremendous athletes and great coaches and it’s awesome when something like this comes together. Coaching staff and support staff here at Orange Coast did an amazing job of running an amazing state championship. We knew we needed to perform really well against a really talented and deep OCC team. Our guys just really responded this weekend and I’m super proud of them.”

Grossmont sophomore Greyson Davies was named Men’s Swimmer of the Meet after winning the 200 back (1:48.33) and 200 IM (1:49.17) while earning a runner-up finish in the 400 IM (3:59.90), setting new bests across the board.

A new state record fell at the hands of Orange Coast in the 200 free relay, as Gideon Stemmons (20.36), Ryan Xu (20.16), Dylan Bertino (20.72) and Mason Parker (20.02) combined for a time of 1:21.26.

Stemmons, a freshman, was the top freestyle sprinter of the meet, sweeping the 50 free (20.45) and 100 free (44.43). He also led off Orange Coast to wins in the 200 medley (1:30.22) and 400 free relay (3:01.33).

Other Winners

• 3-meter diving – Ayden Jacobus (Ventura Community College), 238.50
• 400 IM – Zachary Zauhar-Kurr (Las Positas College), 3:56.31
• 100 Back – Eric Yeh (Mt San Antonio College), 49.92
• 1-meter diving – Easton Farmer (College of the Sequoias), 243.25
• 1650 free – Samuel Slezak (Mt San Antonio College), 15:35.93

Team Scores – Top 10

1. Sierra, 633.5
2. Orange Coast, 523
3. Mt. San Antonio, 318
4. Riverside, 248
5. Cuesta, 236
6. El Camino, 234
7. Golden West, 229.5
8. Las Positas College, 199
9. American River, 195
10. Diablo Valley, 178.5