The Ventura College swim teams continued their strong season as the Pirate men were first, and the women second at the Western State Conference meet at Santa Barbara on Saturday. Cheyanne Irigoyen led the women with first and third place finishes while the men had four double-winners, Chris Sands, Austin Hammond, Mitchell Ongstad and Marcus Rodarte.
The VC men totaled 446.5 points to outdistance themselves from Los Angeles Pierce (276.5 points) and Canyons (190) in the three-team field. Meanwhile, the women scored 328.5 points, finishing behind host Santa Barbara (419.5 points), and ahead of Canyons (303), Los Angeles Pierce (262) and Hancock (237).
Irogoyen led the list of medal winners for the Pirates with a first place finish in the 100 -yard freestyle (58.28). She was also third in the 200-yard freestyle. Delani Clark was second i both the 1000-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley and came in third in the 500-yard freestyle while Allison Olney had a pair of runner-up finishes in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events. Raquel Rodriguez also found the top-3 twice with a second in the 200-yard backstroke and a third in the 1000-yard freestyle. VC's 4x100 yard medley relay team of Rodriguez, Jessica Peace, Irogoyen, and Onley came in second.
The Ventura College men dominated, winning eight of nine individual events. Sands prevailed in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:38.24) and 200-yard butterfly (2:01.27) while Hammond won the 200-yard (1:48.97) and 500-yard freestyle (4:59.93) events. Ongstad continued his breakout year with a pair of wins in the 50-yard (21.83) and 100-yard freestyle (48.56) races and Marcus Rodarte was fastest in the 400-yard individual medley and in the 200-yard backstroke.
Other VC men in the medal haul were Alec Kruse, second in both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle events and Kaleb Rodarte, who was second in the 400-yard individual medley and third in the 200-yard breast stroke. The Pirate 4x100-yard medley relay team of Marcus Rodarte, Kaleb Rodarte, Sands and Ongstad also came home in first (3:40.50) as did VC's 4x100-yard freestyle relay team of Kruse, Hammonds, Keaton Hess and Trevor Edwards.
The Pirates return to the pool on saturday April 4 at the Pasadena Invitational before hosting theWestern State Conference Championships at the Ventura Aquatic Center April 16-18.