Parson breaks her school record; SBCC storms into first at WSC Finals

Sarah Parson broke her school record while winning the 100 breaststroke on Friday and Kelee Shimizu took the 200 freestyle as SBCC stormed into first place on Day 2 of the WSC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at Bakersfield College.

The three-time defending WSC champion Vaqueros started the day in fourth place, 75 points behind Cuesta. They piled up 315 points on Friday to grab first place in the 10-team race with 423 points. Bakersfield is second at 372 and Cuesta is third with 317.

Parson, a key player on the Vaqueros' state championship water polo squad last fall, won the 100 breast in 106.47, lowering her two-week-old school record by 0.97 seconds. Daniela Garza was fifth in 1:14.87 and Natalie Muehring was eighth.

Shimizu won the 200 free for her third WSC title (2 freestyles, 1 relay) in two days. She was clocked in 1:55.23, missing Rachelle Visser's 2014 school record by 0.43.

"It was an amazing day with all our swimmers posting their best times," said coach Chuckie Roth. "Our girls train hard and deserve every bit of success. We have a special group who all care more about the team than themselves.

"This group has truly overachieved and we're not done yet."

Meagan Mckillican placed third in the 400 IM (4:54.96) and fifth in the 100 back (1:05.09). Lily Riley was sixth in the 200 free in a PR of 2:07.63 and won the consolation heat (9th) in the 100 fly in 1:09.52.

Emma Fraser was seventh in the 100 back in 1:08.26.

The Vaqueros won the 800 free relay (Riley, Mckillican, Garza, Shimizu) in 8:18.67, beating Bakersfield by four seconds. SBCC took third in the 200 medley relay.

The third and final day gets underway on Saturday with prelims at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 4 p.m.