Dria Kwong Wins WSC Pentathlon to Open Season, Diaz Finishes Eighth

Sophomore Dria Kwong opened the 2017 season with a bang by winning the Western State Conference Pentathlon in Ventura on Friday. Kwong, who won three individual conference titles and was a three-time All-American as a freshman, finished atop the leaderboard that included nearly 60 other swimmers. There was no team scoring during the event.

The pentathlon requires swimmers to compete in five events: 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle, and 100 individual medley. Their times in the five events are added up at the end and the swimmer with the fastest combined time is declared the winner. Kwong turned in the fastest times in two events: the 100 butterfly (1:01.45) and the 100 IM (1:03.61). She posted the second fastest times in the 100 backstroke (1:03.25) and the 100 breaststroke (1:13.73), and the third best time in the 100 freestyle (57.12). Her total time of 5:19.16 was 9.86 seconds fastest than Santa Barbara's Addison Seale, who finished in second place.

Hancock sophomore Maddie Diaz finished eighth overall with a total time of 5:50.29. She placed eighth in the 100 IM (1:10.23) and fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:18.24). Freshman Meagan Stevens came in 15^th overall at 6:02.94, Makena Blanco finished 27^th in 6:14.31, and sophomore Rebecca Gonzalez came in 30^th with a time of 6:23.70.  Gonzalez finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke event in 1:18.24.