Vaqueros claim Pasadena Invitational title

Reese Ellestad posted seconds in the 100 back and 100 free on Saturday and swam on a pair of second-place relay teams as SBCC captured the 17th Pasadena Invitational women's swimming & diving meet.

The Vaqueros, in their fourth year of competition, totaled 634 points to win the two-day meet by 52 points. Diablo Valley was second with 582 points, followed by Orange Coast (530), Pasadena (339) and Mt. SAC (253).

SBCC remained perfect on the year with a 31-0 record.

Ellestad, a sophomore from San Diego, was second in the 100 back in 1:04.30 and second in the 100 free in 54.72. Cindy Ngo of El Camino won the 100 free in 54.08, just .64 hundredths of a second faster than Ellestad. There were 109 swimmers in the 100 free race.

Addison Seale took third in the 200 breast (2:38.10) and eighth in the 100 free (56.98). The Vaqueros went 2-4-8 in the 100 free with Alex Humann placing fourth (55.86). Serafina Chavez was seventh in the 200 butterfly in 2:37.25.

The Vaqueros opened Saturday with a second-place showing in the 200 medley relay (1:56.72) and closed the meet with a runner-up finish in the 400 free relay (3:45.02). Diablo Valley won both relay events.

"I am very proud of our performance this weekend," said coach Chuckie Roth. "All the girls swam their hearts out. I feel that this weekend will set us up for a great conference swim meet. We had several best times of the year and expect further improvements at conference. I also think it is important to mention that our success is largely thanks to our two divers (Gina Jacobson and Ashley Dettmann who went 1-2 in 1- and 3-meter diving at PCC).

"Anna Manfreda has been great all season. She swims anything I ask her to and improves every day. She trains hard and always looks for improvement, she's a very special person."

The Vaqueros will compete in the WSC/Southern Cal Diving Championships on Friday-Saturday at El Camino College, then travel north in search of their third straight title in the WSC Swim Championships on April 20-22 at Hancock College.