Vaqueros break school record; Jacobson gets 2nd All-American honor

SBCC shattered the school record in the 800 free relay on Friday night and Gina Jacobson placed third in 3-meter diving on Day 2 of the CCCAA State Swimming & Diving Championships at East L.A. Swim Stadium.

The 800 free relay of Halie Johnson, Alex Humann, Mackenzie Richards and Addison Seale took fourth in 7:58.67, breaking last year's school record by 0.12 seconds. The Vaquero foursome in the 200 medley relay of Reese Ellestad, Seale, Serafina Chavez and Richards placed eighth in the No. 2 all-time school mark of 1:52.46.

The Vaqueros are in fifth place with one day to go. Sierra tops the women's standings with 326 points. Santa Rosa is second at 226, followed closely by Las Positas (224), San Diego Mesa (219) and Santa Barbara (217).

Jacobson took third in the 3-meter to earn her second All-America diving honor in two days. She won the 1-meter springboard on Thursday with a state-record score. Alejandra Gomez of Cypress was the 3-meter winner with 259.15 points. Valentina Barbalinardo of Las Positas was second at 247.25 and Jacobson was third with 241.64. SBCC's Ashley Dettmann also earned All-American honors for her sixth-place finish (186.75).

"It was a horse race with the top divers going back and forth," said SBCC diving coach Trish Salvatore. "Gina's third dive was amazing, earning 21 points on a back 1½  somersault with a ½  twist. Ashley's second dive was a 2½  somersault in tuck, which earned her 19 points. It was such a clean dive.

"I'm so proud to be part of such a wonderful team."

Humann and Seale both turned in season bests while finishing fifth (1:57.32) and sixth (1:57.35), respectively, in the 200 free.

"Just 20 minutes later, Addison swam the 100 breast and got eighth," said coach Chuckie Roth. "She had a really hard day and swam her heart out. In all, she raced seven times for over 800 yards."

Seale, who's going to play water polo at UCSB next year, was SBCC's Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Female Athlete of the Year.

"Alex also had a great day swimming with a fantastic prelim leg of the 200 medley, then finaled in the 200 free and swam a great second leg on the 800 free relay."

Roth says his team of seven swimmers and two divers has "competed so hard, I'm really proud of this group. They give it their all. We're in fifth right now and will have to swim really well to maintain our place."

The third and final day of the State Championships will take place on Saturday with prelims at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 4 p.m.