The Pirates' men's swimming and diving team had a sizable advantage after day one of the Western State Conference Championships in Santa Maria Thursday. Meanwhile the Pirate women were in second place in the three-day competition hosted by Allan Hancock College. The men's 200-yard freestyle relay highlighted the day with a conference title, with numerous other solid individual performances for both teams.
For the men, already with an early lead thanks to the efforts of divers Deonn Crilly and David Kromka last week, the day got off to a hot start when the team of David Peterson, Derek Krzyski, Jack Burleigh and Jack Pickett swam the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:26.50 to claim WSC gold. The 400-yard medley relay team of Burleigh, Kaleb Rodarte, Krzyski and Pickett claimed third place in the finale of day one.
Pickett also had one of three individual silver medal performances on the day for VC, finishing second in the 50-yard freestyle. Other Ventura scorers in the event included Burleigh in fourth and Krzyski in sixth.
Rodarte was second in the 200-yard individual medley, followed by Peterson (3rd), Kevin Smallwood (7th), Liam Hicks (8th) and Mitchell Caldwell (16th).
Thomas Bunker won silver in the 500-yard freestyle while Kyle Goodrich (9th) and Brandon Haase (11th) also scored points.
For the VC women, both relay teams produced bronze medal performances. Brittany Oliver, Kelsey Golden, Paige Treloar-Ballard and Kaitlyn Peters were third in the 200-yard freestyle relay while Alejendra Medina, Maria Petraitis, Treloar-Ballard and Peters placed third in the 400-yard medley relay.
Peters also came in third in the 50-yard freestyle with Treloar-Ballard in seventh and Golden in 11th. In that final, the eight top finishers touched within a second of each other.
Oliver was third in the 500-yard freestyle and Sabrina Cherfane finished in eighth.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Petraitis claimed the bronze with Medina finishing sixth and Kaylene Lehr finishing in eighth.
Through 10 events plus diving, the Pirate men have accumulated 269.5 points, well ahead of second place LA Valley with 156 and third-place Cuesta with 153.
Santa Barbara's women also used a diving head start to earn 242 points with VC in second with 165. Cuesta and Hancock are close behind with 158 and 152 points, respectively.
THe championships continue on Friday April 21 in Santa Maria and conclude on Saturday April 22.