Pirate Men & Women Each 3rd; Monroe WSC AOY

The VC men's and women's swimming and Diving teams each finished third at the Western State Conference Championships held Thursday through Saturday at Santa Monica. Jaiden Monroe won three individual golds for the Ventura men, including a record-setting performance in the 100-yard butterfly to earn WSC Male Athlete of the Year honors. Olivia Badaracco also won an individual gold with two silver medals for the Pirate women.

Monroe claimed his first gold with his record-setting performance in the 100-yard butterfly. He touched in 49.31 to beat the record by an astonishing .32 second, winning the race by over two seconds. He also won gold in the 100-yard backstroke in 49.89 and finished first in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:52.10.  With the three gold medals and the meet record, Monroe was named the WSC Male Athlete of the Year by the conference coaches.

Meanwhile, Badaracco had a strong meet to lead the Pirate women, earning an individual gold and two silvers over the three days.  She touched in 59.56 in the 100-yard backstroke to claim first place in the 100-yard backstroke and claimed second place in the 50-yard and 200-yard freestyle races.

Ava Carey won a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley, and Ami Cruz place sixth in both the 1650- and 200-yard freestyle events. Stevie Sturges placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke while Kenda Gibson came in seventh in the 200-yard free. Carissa Clay was eighth in the 50-yard free. Alex Williams placed fourth in the 3m diving and ninth in the 1m diving with Sarah Glassman and Kayla Foster coming in seventh and tenth, respectively, in the 1m event.

The women's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Badaracco, Carey, Glassman and Clay placed second in the conference while the 200-yard medley quartet of Badaracco, Sturges, Glassman and Clay also won a silver medal.

Nick Santander won silver in the 100-yard freestyle and placed fourth in the 200-yard free. Michael Ramirez finished fourth in the 200-yard IM while Michael Soho was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Shane Speth touched in seventh in the 400-yard IM.

Thomas Shea placed third in the 3m diving and fourth in the 3m competition while Brayden Black was third in the 3m and Evan Augusta was fourth in the 1m event.

The Pirate men also placed with three relay teams. Santander, Monroe, Shea and Luigi Travi were runners-up in the 200-yard freestyle relay while Shea, Soho, Michael Ramirez and Travi won silver in the 400-yard medley relay. She, Soho, Ramirez and Travi also claimed bronze in the 200-yard medley relay.

The Ventura men earned 612 points over the three days to place a close third behind second-place Bakersfield with 637.5 points. Cuesta won the meet with 908.5 points. The Pirates finished far ahead of fourth-place Los Angeles Valley with 405 points.

The Pirate women were locked in a tight race for second, third and fourth. Santa Barbara was first with 840 points and Los Angeles Valley was second with 467 points. VC scored 434 points for third place ahead of Cuesta with 430 points. 

Ventura looks to place a number of men and women into the 3C2A State Championships to be held May 1-3 in Santa Rosa.