Diaz Finishes 13th in 500-Yard Freestyle Final to Open State Championships
(Monterey Park, CA) Allan Hancock College freshman Madalena Diaz finished thirteenth in the women's 500-yard freestyle final on Thursday at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Swim and Diving Championships at East LA College.
The Pioneer Valley High School graduate was clocked in 5:26.18 to earn four points for the Bulldogs in the team standings. Orange Coast College's Sierra Cox upset the favorite Susanna Gonzales of Golden West by .34 of a second with a time of 5:02.27.
Earlier in the day, Diaz swam the 12th fastest time in the preliminary heats of 5:27.14. She entered the meet seeded No. 13 in the first of her three events.
Three Bulldogs will be in action in Friday morning's preliminary round. Diaz will swim the 500-yard freestyle, where she ranks 13th out of the 22 qualifiers with a time of 5:25.41. Alexandria Kwong will swim the 100-yard butterfly, where her qualifying time of 1:00.53 ranks eighth out of the 21-person field. Rebecca Gonzalez will compete in the 100-yard breaststroke prelim. The top 16 in the prelims qualify for the evening finals.
Diaz will be in the 1,650-freestyle final on Saturday. Kwong will compete in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly, and Gonzalez will swim the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday.
Hancock finished 23rd out of nearly 40 teams in the 2014 and 2015 state meets. Leanna Bramble competed in three events each year.
More than 40 teams are competing at this year's championships.