Although the Cerritos
College men's swimming team lost their dual
match against Chaffey College earlier in the
year, the Falcons saved their best for last as
they captured the South Coast Conference
Championship this past weekend. The Falcons, who
went 6-1 in SCC action, compiled 664 team
points, which beat out both Chaffey (630.5) and
Long Beach City College, who had 614 team
points. Along the way during the championships,
Cerritos had three of their swimmers qualify for
the State Championships, which will be held next
weekend at Ohlone College. Adding to the
accomplishment in winning the conference
championship, it was done by a team that is
comprised of all freshman, except for two
swimmers.
In addition to the team awards, the Falcons also earned some
individual awards. Head coach
Joe
Abing was named the conference's Coach
of the Year, while
Glen
Myer was named the conference's Diving
Coach of the Year for the work he did with both
the men's and women's team. Freshman diver
Anthony Mayfield (Norwalk HS),
who won the 1-meter diving championship and
advanced to the state championships, was named
the Diver of the Year.
Freshman
Nikos Kostianis (Downey HS),
one of the three who will be competing in the
state championships, won two events and placed
second in another. He won the conference
championship in the 100-yard backstroke with a
time of 51.61, while his time of 1:52.82 earned
him the championship in the 200-yard backstroke.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Kostianis posted a
time of 56.27 during the preliminaries, but
shaved five seconds off that time to win the
event in the finals. His second place came in
the 100 yard butterfly, as he was clocked in a
time of 50.77. Kostianis will swim in the
100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly and the
100-yard backstroke. He also qualified in the
200-yard backstroke, but it is right after the
200-yard butterfly and he would not be able to
recover. A swimmer is only allowed to swim in
three individual events and seven events total,
which includes relay races.
In the 200-yard butterfly, freshman
Tristan Friend (Liberty
Christian HS) qualified for the state meet
with a time of 2:00.24, which was good for
second place, with freshman teammate
Kevin
Nguyen (Cerritos HS)
placing sixth in a time of 2:12.36. Friend also
posted a fifth place finish in the 200-yard
freestyle race in a time of 1:47.97, while he
came in sixth place in the 200-yard individual
medley with a time of 2:00.63. Friend will
compete next weekend in the 200-yard freestyle,
200-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual
medley races.
The third Falcon to qualify for the state
championships is sophomore
Eddie
Kim (Cerritos HS), who
came in second place in the 400-yard individual
medley with a time of 4:26.42, while he also
swam the 500-yard freestyle race and came in
sixth place with a time of 5:03.62. In addition
to the 400-yard IM, Kim also qualified in the
200-yard backstroke at the state championships.
The relay teams had one third place finish
and three fourth place finishes. In the 800-yard
freestyle relay, the quartet of Friend, Lee, Kim
and Kostianis posted a time of 7:18.03 for
third, while sophomore
Jose
Aguirre (Downey HS), Lee,
Nguyen and freshman
Austin Cooper (Downey HS)
posted a fourth place time of 1:32.08 in the
200-yard freestyle race. In the 400-yard medley
relay, Kostianis, Lee, Friend and Aguirre place
fourth (3:41.75), with Friend, Aguirre, Kim and
Kostianis coming in fourth place in the 400-yard
freestyle relay with a time of 3:18.87.
|
NAME |
EVENT |
TIME |
PLACE |
|
Tristan Friend |
200-Yard Freestyle |
1:47.97 |
5th Place |
| Eddie Kim |
500-Yard Freestyle |
5:03.62 |
6th Place |
|
Billy Smith |
1650-Yard Freestyle |
18:11.17 |
6th Place |
| Nikos
Kostianis |
100-Yard Butterfly |
50.77 |
2nd Place |
|
Tristan Friend |
200-Yard Butterfly |
2:00.24 |
2nd Place |
| Kevin Nguyen |
200-Yard Butterfly |
2:12.36 |
6th Place |
|
Torrance Lee |
100-Yard Breaststroke |
1:04.70 |
5th Place |
| Nick Young |
100-Yard Breaststroke |
1:04.86 |
6th Place |
|
Torrence Lee |
200-Yard Breaststroke |
2:17.43 |
4th Place |
| Nikos
Kostianis |
100-Yard Backstroke |
51.61 |
1st Place |
|
Nikos Kostianis |
200-Yard Backstroke |
1:52.82 |
1st Place |
| Tristian
Friend |
200-Yard IM |
2:00.63 |
6th Place |
|
Eddie Kim |
400-Yard IM |
4:26.42 |
2nd Place |
| Billy Smith |
400-Yard IM |
4:42.48 |
5th Place |
|
|
200-Yard Freestyle Relay |
1:32.08 |
5th Place |
| |
400-Yard Freestyle Relay |
3:18.87 |
4th Place |
|
|
800-Yard Freestyle Relay |
7:18.03 |
3rd Place |
| |
200-Yard Medley Relay |
1:40.79 |
4th Place |
|
|
400-Yard Medley Relay |
3:41.75 |
4th Place |
|
