Wigzell guides Vaqueros to fifth straight WSC title

Hana Wigzell had a big day on Saturday with two wins and a relay victory as SBCC captured its fifth straight WSC women's swimming & diving championship at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center.

The Vaqueros piled up 647 points in the three-day meet, beating runner-up Cuesta (437.5) by 209.5 points. Bakersfield was third (419) in the 10-team field, Santa Monica took fourth at 361 and Hancock was fifth with 347.

SBCC completed the regular season with a 53-4 record. The Vaqueros were a perfect 26-0 in WSC competition, extending their conference win streak to 114 in a row.

Wigzell, a freshman from Sandy, Oregon, won the 200 backstroke in the 2nd-fastest time in school history (2:15.24) and the 200 butterfly in the 3rd-fastest time (2:22.31). She finished nearly seven seconds in front of Hancock's Helen Frazer in the 200 fly.

Wigzell also swam on the 400 free relay that earned a thrilling victory in the final event of the meet. Sarah Parson, Lily Riley, Wigzell and Kelee Shimizu combined for a 3:42.98 clocking that was just 0.40 of a second ahead of Ventura.

Wigzell was the No. 3 scorer in the WSC Finals with 57 points. Schimizu was No. 4 with 54 and Parson (48) and Haunani Bautista (44) weren't far behind.

"I'm super proud of my team," said sixth-year head coach Chuckie Roth, who boosted his sparkling record to 232-19. "We had many athletes step up and swim amazing today. Hana had a breakout day and Kelee won the 1650, which was a great swim for her. There were several other stellar performances.

"Each girl in the 4x100 free relay performed excellently. I'm really sad to see this group go but super thankful for the time we had."

Shimizu was first in the 1650 free in 18:39.42 while Melisa Walk finished sixth and Alyssa Russell-Sadoff took eighth. Emily Reilly was fourth in the 200 back (2:20.10), Bautista was fifth in the 100 free (57.68) and Riley was eighth in 58.37. Parson placed sixth in the 200 breast (2:38.79).

"Arguably the best part of the day was after the meet when we found out that sophomore Melisa Walk has been accepted to Cal Berkeley for next year," said Roth. "As a coach, it reminded me of what this is all about and what's really important. Today was a great day for the Vaqueros."

SBCC will compete in the CCCAA State Championships on May 2-4 at De Anza College in Cupertino. The Vaqueros finished seventh in the state last year and fourth in 2016 and 2017.


Hana Wigzell won the 200 backstroke in 2:15.24 for the No. 2 mark in school history, just 1.53
seconds off Meagan Mckillican's 2018 record. (Photo by Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)