The Ventura College men's and women's swimming teams continued their strong performances on day two of the Western State Conference Championships at Cuesta College Friday. The Pirate men sit in first place with one day remaining in the meet with the VC women sitting strongly in second.
The VC men are in first place on the strength on a pair of individual golds and a relay gold Friday. Austin Hammond claimed his second win of the meet with a 4:17.53 time in the 400 yard individual medley, finishing eight seconds ahead of second place. Meanwhile Marcus Rodarte claimed victory in the 100 yard backstroke with a mark of 53.15. The team of Hammond, Thomas Bunker, Derek Krzyski and Rodarte won the 800 yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:07.74.
VC also showed depth with many other swimmers earning points on the day. James Heckman finished second to Rodarte in the 100 yard backstroke and Tyler Bleiberg was eighth in the 400 yard IM. Kenneth Quach and Trevor Edwards earned points in the 200 yard freestyle while James Abernathy, Jack Pickett and Bleiberg all totaled points in the 100 yard breast stroke.
In the 100 yard butterfly, VC claimed five of the top 16 spots, fifth, sixth, eighth, 10th and 13th. Earning points for the Pirates were Krzyski, Sam Robertson, Brandon Haase, Keaton Hess and Parker Larriue, respectively.
The Pirate men had 401 points following day two of the competition, followed by LA Valley and Canyons with 364 and 326, respectively.
The VC women remained in second place on the strength of four runner-up finishes Friday. Raquel Rodriguez claimed second in the 100 yard backstroke while Delani Clark won silver in the 400 yard individual medley. the 800 yard freestyle relay team of Paige Treloar-Ballard, Allison Olney, Cheyanne Irigoyen and Clark also finished in the runner-up place as did the 200 yard medley relay team of Rodriguez, Allison Herman, Maria Petraitis and Mikala Cvijanovich.
Treloar-Ballard and Petraitis finished fourth snd sixth, respectively, in the 100 yard butterfly while Cvijanovich, Herman and Petraitis were fourth, fifth and 10th in the 100 yard breast stroke.
VC showed off its depth with four swimmers earning points in the 100 yard backstroke. Behind runner-up Rodriguez were Scarlett Lund-Sidi, Quinn Cotter and Brittany Camp. Meanwhile five Pirates earned points in the 200 yard freestyle, including Olney, Irigoyen, Lund-Sidi, Maeve Flynn and Christina Tellez.
Ventura remained in second place with 400.5 points, behind Santa Barbara (505.5) and well ahead of LA Pierce (229).
The WSC Championships conclude Saturday April 24 in San Luis Obispo.