Vaqueros take 8th in State; Visser gets Performance of the Meet award

Rachelle Visser took second in the 200 butterfly and Katherine Warren turned in a stellar effort in the 1650 free as SBCC took eighth place on the final day of the CCCAA State Swimming Championships at East L.A. College.

The Vaqueros' goal was to crack the top 10 in the state meet after finishing 12th a year ago in their first season. SBCC won its first Western State Conference women's swim title two weeks ago.

Santa Rosa won the state title with 424.5 points and Orange Coast was second with 399.5. The Vaqueros took eighth with 212 and were the highest scoring WSC team.

Visser swam 2:11.29 in the 200 fly and Alaina Chela was seventh in 2:14.97. Visser received the women's Performance of the Meet award, along with Kelsey Leonard of Diablo Valley. Visser, a sophomore from Holland, won two state titles in the three-day event (200 IM, 400 IM) and the award was for her meet record of 4:31.73 in the 400 IM, one of two new events at this year's meet.

Warren had the swim of the day in the 1650 free. The freshman from New Jersey had her goggles fall off, then stopped to fix them halfway through the race. A leg injury resurfaced during the race but she still finished third in 18:02.41, taking 10.4 seconds off her school-record time.

Despite those obstacles, Warren was just 5.3 seconds behind the winner, Suzanna Gonzales of Golden West, and less than a second behind the runner-up.

"That was the gutsiest swim I've ever seen," said coach Chuckie Roth, who's seen a lot of races. "Her goggles fall off and she stops to fix them, then she can't use her left leg for at least 1000 yards and she still gets third. I was very impressed."

Autumn Lovett was 12th in the 200 back in a personal-best 2:17.43. The 400 free relay won the consolation final and took ninth overall in 3:40.83, which broke the school record. The 400 relay team featured Chela, Warren, Ashley Macedo and Visser.

Visser's anchor leg of 51.97 was the fastest of any of the 16 final swimmers. Visser had two firsts and a second in her last state meet.

"I'm pretty ecstatic about finishing eighth," said Roth. "This is a special group of girls. They do all the work and I just get to enjoy watching them.

"I'm sad it's over but I'm very proud of all they've accomplished and what we've been able to do in two years."