Cougars Take First in 10 Events at WSC Meet No. 1

Story and photos by Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons hosted Western State Conference (WSC) Meet No. 1 on a cold and rainy day at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center last Friday, with the Cougars taking first place in a combined 10 events.

The meet featured swimmers from Canyons, Santa Monica College and Citrus College. Cuesta College and Santa Barbara City College had both been scheduled to compete but were unable to make the trip due to road conditions associated with inclement weather.

Canyons scored its first points of the day in the men's and women's 1,650y freestyle events. Kendall Payne finished in first place with a time of 18:56.67 on the men's side, while Kassidy Gerome took first at a pace of 23:29.85 for the women's team.

COC's women's squad also scored well in the 50y freestyle with Antoinette Peterson (28.25) taking first followed by Melissa Rainbird (28.41) in second, Gerome (30.05) in third and Brittanyjae Najjar (31.31) in fourth.

Jennifer Yamauchi had a pair of first place finishes, taking the top spot in the 100y backstroke with a time of 1:04.41 and first in the 200y IM with a finish of 2:25.95.

The women's 200y freestyle relay team of Peterson, Jordan Arceneaux, Rainbird and Yamauchi closed out the meet with a first-place time of 1:54.08.

COC freshman Rowdy Feather was also a two-event winner for the Cougars, taking the meet's top spot in the 200y IM at a time of 2:09.19 and was later clocked at 58.28 in the 100y backstroke to finish first in that event.

Nick Anguetta swam to victory in the 50y freestyle at 23.39, and then finished second in the 100y freestyle at 53.46.

It was Ian Werner who took first in the 100y freestyle at 51.24. Miguel Martinez added a second place time of 54.83 in the 100y butterfly.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.