The Pirates' men's swim team was in second place while the women were in third following day one of three days of competition Thursday at the Western State Conference Championships in Bakersfield. Cooper Fuchs claimed VC's lone conference title in the 50-yard freestyle while Kelsey Golden claimed the women's best individual result on the day, a sixth place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.
Fuchs claimed the gold by touching in 21.02 seconds, a full three-quarters of a second faster than the second place finisher. Fuchs was also the anchor leg of the fifth-place 200-yard freestyle relay team, which also included Joseph MacDonald, Joseph Padilla and David Peterson. MacDonald claimed eighth place in the 50-yard free.
Peterson claimed fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley with Brian Hicks and Padilla finishing in sixth and 14th place, respectively. In the 500-yard freestyle for the men, Anthony Amezcua was fifth while Hunter Massey came in sixth and Nathan ohen was 14th. The 400-yard medley relay team of Padilla, Hicks, John Collins and Massey finished in eighth place.
For the VC women, Golden's fifth place finish in the 50-yard freestyle was the top individual place. Gracelyn De La Cruz was ninth in that race for VC.
Sabrina Cherfane came in ninth in the 500-yard freestyle for the Pirates while Christina Jimenez and Sarah Rundle finished in 10th and 12th place, respectively. Katia Flores on the consolation heat of the 200-yard IM for ninth place points.
The Pirate women's two relay teams provided the team's best finishes on day one of the competition. The quartet of De La Cruz, Adrianna Bese, Cherfane and Golden came in fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the same group finished fourth in the 400-yard medley relay.
Cuesta leads the women's competition with 183 points, followed by Bakersfield (154), Ventura (113) and Santa Barbara (108). On the men's side, The Cougars also lead with 184 points, followed by VC with 152, Santa Monica (146) and Bakersfield (145).
The WSC Championships continue on Friday and Saturday April 20 and 21 in Bakersfield.