Men's & Women's Swimming Collect Six Individual Titles at WSC Championship, Ashmore Named as Coach of the Year
VALLEY GLEN, Calif. - The Allan Hancock College swimming teams saw several school records fall while competing at the 2023 Western State Conference Championship over the weekend. The two programs saw several records fall and combined to collect six conference titles.
On the women's side, the Bulldogs finished the meet in 5th place out of 10 competing programs after totaling 405 points. Emma Marsalek highlighted the meet with a top finish in the 500-YD Freestyle en route to a new school record of 5:14.03. The Central Coast New Tech alum also placed first in the 1,650-YD Freestyle (18:05.95) and second in the 400-YD Individual Medley. Lizzie Hernandez, a native of Santa Maria, was a runner-up in the 200-YD Backstroke after turning in a final time of 2:20.92. Julia Zimsen and Jada Brown followed with third place finishes in the 200-YD Breaststroke and 200-YD Backstroke, respectively. Hernandez, Zimsen, Brown, and Marsalek served as members of the women's 400-YD Medley Relay that placed third.
On the men's side, Hancock secured the program's highest finish in history as the conference runner-up with a total of 559.5 points after day three. Head coach, Mike Ashmore, was honored as the Men's Swimming Coach of the Year at the end of the meet. Max Pecile was named as the Western State Conference Men's Swimming Athlete of the Year after tallying 60 individual points for the Bulldogs while collecting three conference titles. On day one, the Santa Ynez native set a new school record of 1:52.18 and earned a champion title in the 200-YD Individual Medley. Pecile set both a new conference record and school record with a top finish in the 400-YD Individual Medley on day two after clocking a final time of 4:02.30 before earning his third title in the 200-YD Backstroke on day three.
Ryan Lacaste also earned a conference title in the 200-YD Butterfly after notching a time of 1:59.67 while claiming third place finishes in both the 200-YD Individual Medley and 400-YD Individual Medley. Jarred Torres secured runner-up finishes in the 200-YD Freestyle and 1,650-YD Freestyle and placed third in the 200-YD Freestyle. Elias Lopez also finished the weekend with a pair of third place marks in the 100-YD and 200-YD Butterfly races.
The men's team also saw three record-setting showings through four stellar runner-up relay performances, highlighted by the 400-YD Freestyle Relay (3:17.98 | Torres, Jacob Larson, Lacaste, and Pecile). Torres, Pecile, Lacaste, Asa Marsalek each swam in the 800-YD Freestyle Relay while working towards a final time of 7:13.13. Lacaste, Jericho Orcino, Pecile, and Torres swam legs on both the 200-YD and 400-YD Medley Relays.
An official announcement of CCCAA State Championship qualifiers is expected to be made public early this week. The three-day championship event is scheduled to begin on May 4th on the East Los Angeles College campus in Monterey Park, Calif.