Link Has Eight First-Place Finishes at Mt. SAC Invitational
By Jimmy Friery
WALNUT, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Swimming & Diving team competed at the 40th Annual Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Invitational on Friday and Saturday, finishing second among 21 programs. The hosts' 597.5 points were just two ahead of the Vaqueros' 595.5, giving the latter a very rare non-first-place result.
As always, the Vaqueros dominated the relays, winning every one they competed in. First in the 200 Medley, Makena Quinones, May Guidoux, Trinity Link, and Leah Rummelhoff teamed up to win (1:51.41) with two seconds to spare. That same group would unsurprisingly win the 400 Medley (4:08.11) later in the day.
Katie Strohl swapped into Guidoux's spot in the 200 Free Relay as the team similarly earned a first-place 1:39.61. Link, Guidoux, Strohl, and Rummelhoff unsurprisingly won the 400 Free (3:40.94) thereafter.
For all of Santa Barbara's dominance in the relays, it is ironic that in the final event—which they did not compete in—Mt. SAC won the 800 Free Relay to win the meet.
Link won a handful of individual races, too, beginning with the 50 Fly where she logged a school-record 26.51 time. Her 1:00.26 in the 100 IM won the event and is second in the school record books. She also won the 100 Fly (58.73) and 100 Free (53.52).
Rummelhoff's 24.37 time in the 50 Free was good for first place on the day and second in program history. Quinones also placed first in the 50 Back (29.72).
A note that at the time of publication, Link's 50 Fly school-record win is currently marked as a second-place finish, behind another swimmer listed with a 16.12 time. The women's world record is 23.72, so that surely is a mistake. Once that is changed, Link should officially be credited with a first-place finish, and it may also impact the Vaqueros' team score and result, too.
The Vaqueros compete next Thursday and Friday at the non-conference Cuesta Invite.
1st place finishes:
200 Medley Relay – Makena Quinones-May Guidoux-Trinity Link-Leah Rummelhoff (1:51.41)
50 Back – Makena Quinones (29.72)
50 Fly – Trinity Link (26.51)
50 Free – Leah Rummelhoff (24.37)
200 Free Relay – Trinity Link-Makena Quinones-Katie Strohl-Leah Rummelhoff (1:39.61)
100 IM – Trinity Link (1:00.26)
100 Fly – Trinity Link (58.73)
400 Free Relay – Trinity Link-May Guidoux-Katie Strohl-Leah Rummelhoff (3:40.94)
400 Medley Relay – Makena Quinones-May Guidoux-Trinity Link-Leah Rummelhoff (4:08.11)
100 Free – Trinity Link (53.52)
2nd place finishes:
200 Breast – May Guidoux (2:32.86)
200 Fly – Katie Strohl (2:23.99)
3rd place finishes:
100 Breast – May Guidoux (1:08.12)
