By Tadzio Garcia
The swimming team placed eight out of 10 teams at the Chaffey Invitational at Riverside Community College last weekend. The Huskies improved on their score by more than 100 points from their previous invitational.
“We have to race against top teams to be able to compete at that level. We try to improve individual times to move up in the standings,” said Head Coach Erik Matheson. All four Husky entries in the 500-yard freestyle swam their fastest times of the year. Christina Burrola swam 6:14.54 min.
“We try our hardest and cheer each other on in every event,” said Burrola. Burrola was followed by Edith Rivas (6:29.06) who beat teammate Lyz Ruvalcaba by .17 of a second, followed by teammate Michelle Sierra (6:59.54). “I broke seven minutes today and feel very accomplished,” said Sierra.
Sierra also swam her fastest time of the year in the 100 backstroke. The Huskies totaled 122 points in 11 events, surpassing the three points scored in their previous invitational competition. “Each meet we try to do better than the last,” Sierra said.
Top scorers for the East Los Angeles College were Veronica Pelayo and Beisi Li. Pelayo placed 11th out of 54 in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 35.76 seconds. Li, who finished with a time of 35.89 seconds, placed 13th.
Both Huskies recorded their fastest times of the year in this event. Li edged Pelayo by .40 of a second in the 100 breast to finish in 10th place with a time of 1:18.90.
Other individual scores were Melissa Marinero who finished in 9th place in the one-meter women’s diving event while Martha Rivas placed 16th in the 50 butterfly. Edith Rivas took 15th place in the 50 meter backstroke. Sandy Mendieta edged Martha Rivas for 13th place in the 100 fly by .34 of a second.
ELAC scored 80 points in the relay events alone. In the last race of the two-day meet, the ELAC 400-yard medley relay A-team edged the Husky B-team for 10th place. The A-team swimmers were Edith Rivas, Pelayo, Mendieta and Burrola. The B-team swimmers were Alexandra Gonzalez, Li, Ashley Jauregui and Krysten Aguilar.
The 200 free relay A-team finished in 13th place. The team included Burrola, Genesis Hermosillo, Rivas and Pelayo. Also scoring in the event was the B-team that was made up of Gonzalez, Li, Mendieta and Ruvalcaba.
Both the 200 medley relay teams scored. The A-team placed 9th out of 25 teams and was made up of Gonzalez, Li, Martha Rivas and Pelayo. They clocked in at 2:10.53. The B-team included Edith Rivas, Hermosillo, Mendieta and Aguilar.
The 400 free relay teams also scored for the Huskies. The A-team placed 13th with a time of 4:18.29. Martha Rivas, Hermosillo, Burrola and Pelayo competed for the A-team. The B-team was made up of Sierra, Aguilar, Jauregui and Gonzalez.
The A-team edged the B-team in the 800 free relay for a 14th place finish. The A-team was made up of Burrola, Jauregui, Martha Rivas and her sister Edith. The B-team consisted of Hermosillo, Li, Mendieta and Suzette Merchain-Cota.
The Huskies travel to Long Beach City College on Friday to compete against El Camino College and the host Vikings, starting at 12:30 p.m.