Cerritos College Athletics - 2009 Women's Swimming News: Natalie Peng named state's Athlete of the Month

After the first three meets of the season, Cerritos College freshman swimmer Natalie Peng (Cerritos HS) has already been involved in breaking six school records. As an individual, she has obliterated the old school record in the 50-yard butterfly and in the 100-yard butterfly, which were both set by Tammy Ferris in 1982, while she has been a part of four relay teams that have set new records. As a result, Peng was named the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Female Athlete of the Month for February.

In the 50-yard butterfly, Peng has been beating the competition by at least three seconds and set the new school record of 26.61 at the Golden West Sprint Meet. She broke the 100-yard butterfly in the same meet, posting a time of 58.11, in which her closest competition was more than three seconds behind. In addition, Peng has been a part of record-breaking teams in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.14), 400-yard freestyle (3:47.89), 200-yard medley relay (1:56.48) and 400-yard medley relay (4:17.50) races. Peng opened the season by winning the Waterman Pentathlon beating out 127 other swimmers based on cumulative time in five events (which she won two and came in second in another).

In the last five months that the CCCAA and the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) have awarded the Female Athlete of the Month, three have come from Cerritos College, as soccer players Corina Villegas (December, 2008) and Monique Cisneros (October, 2008) were the other award recipients. Since the inception of the award in September, 2005, there have been six Falcons to win the award, more than any other school in the state.