Pirate Men and Women Both 3rd at WSC #2

The Pirates' men's and women's swimming and diving teams both came in third of nine teams at the Western State Conference No. 2 meet at Santa Monica Saturday. Jaiden Monroe paced the men's team with three gold medal swims while Olivia Badaracco added a first- and a second-place finish to her individual accomplishments. VC's 400-yard medley relay team of Nick Santander, Michael Ramirez, Luigi Travi and Monroe also claimed a first-place finish.

Monroe posted a time of 55.67 in the 100-yard individual medley to finish first by nearly two seconds over the next closest competitor and touched in 1:58.58 to win gold in the 200-yard backstroke. He also swam a 52.32 to win the 100-yard backstroke by over a two-second margin.

VC's 400-yard freestyle relay quartet finished in 3:24.26 to with their race by a healthy 3.48 seconds.

Meanwhile, Santander won a pair of silver medals in the 200-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, respectively. Travi was third in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard IM and Ramon Rodriguez won bronze in the 1m diving event.

Other notable finishes for the Pirates included the 400-yard medley relay's fourth place finish, and individual fourths by Ramirez in the 100-yard IM and Travi in the 100-yard back. Shane Speth and Kyle Quach each came in fifth in the 400-yard IM and the 100-yard back, respectively.

Ventura produced 386 points on the day, finishing behind Bakersfield at 454.

Badaracco added to her outstanding season by touching in 1:00.82 to win the 100-yard backstroke by over a second. She also won silver in the 200-yard back and placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle. 

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Carissa Clay, Sarah Glassman, Ava Carey and Badaracco also won a silver medal.

Carey had a strong day individually finishing fifth in the 400-yard IM and 200-yard breast stroke while coming in sixth in the 200-yard free. Alex Williams was fourth in the 3m diving event and sixth at the 1m height. 

Bella Palacios came in fifth in the 200-yard butterfly while Glassman, Brooke Sitton and Kayla Foster all produced seventh-place finishes in the 200-yard free, 100-yard back and 1m diving events, respectively. Stevie Sturges earned points with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard breast stroke.

The women earned 317 points to finish third, close behind LA Valley's 331 points.

The Pirates will next hit the pool on Friday March 28 at the WSC No. 3 meet at Allan Hancock College.