Shimizu shines as Vaqueros capture WSC No. 3
Kelee Shimizu won the 1650 free, placed third in the 100 free and swam on two winning relays on Friday as SBCC continued its WSC swimming and diving dominance with a victory in WSC No. 3 at San Marcos High.
Kelee Shimizu won the 1650 free, placed third in the 100 free and swam on two winning relays on Friday as SBCC continued its WSC swimming and diving dominance with a victory in WSC No. 3 at San Marcos High.
The four-time defending WSC champion Vaqueros won the five-team meet with 124 points. Santa Monica was second with 102 and Cuesta took third with 75.
Santa Barbara is 30-2 this season and 17-0 in conference. They've won 105 consecutive WSC meets, dating back to 2015.
Shimizu, a sophomore from Kuristown, Hawaii, took first in the grueling 1650 race in 19:27.33 despite battling illness and fatigue. Alyssa Russell-Sadoff was second in 21:34.95.
Shimizu also swam on the victorious 400 and 800 free relays. The 400 free relay beat Cuesta by nearly 17 seconds and the 800 relay was 24 seconds faster than Santa Monica. Haunani Bautista led off both winning relays.
"I was really proud of Kelee today," said coach Chuckie Roth. "She is so special, it is hard to convey. She trains so hard and never has an excuse. Even today, swimming sick and tired, she tried not to let me know. I love her competitiveness and desire to be competitive and uphold our tradition.
"I am lucky to have her as a part of the program and even though our time is coming to an end, she is going on to achieve a lot of greatness wherever she goes."
Sarah Parson won the 100 freestyle (57.35) and took second in the 200 breast (2:41.25), a mere 29 hundredths behind Tristian Bennett of Cuesta. Melisa Walk was fifth in the 200 breast.
Sarah Parson takes second in 200 breast in WSC No. 3 at San Marcos High. pic.twitter.com/RlsWbB55Vi
— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqueros) March 30, 2019
Hana Wigzell was second in the 400 IM (5:01.87) and the 200 back (2:23.31). Dany Garcia took fourth in the 400 IM.
"We had a great outing today and learned a lot about ourselves," added Roth. "This meet is always challenging as it right at the end of our spring break. With that being said, I thought we had a really good outing. We had a great day of training the day prior and swam very well.
"I think the season is about the process and I want to stress the emphasis on the end result. We always do a great job of training down the stretch."
The Vaqueros will compete in the prestigious Pasadena Invitational next Friday and Saturday.