Three days of swimming and diving and the women’s team came out on top to win the conference championship this weekend.
This is the first championship since 2002 for the Warriors and the third overall, the first being in 1996 according to CCCAA sports.
The women’s team was in third place with a 6-2 record in the dual meet season, but still managed to come up big at the conference meet.
“They were favored,” coach Corey Stanbury said. “We weren’t even supposed to win. PCC has great swimmers. They swam good, but we swam even better.”
The Warriors had a dominating performance in day one that helped keep them in the lead for the rest of the competition.
“We led by like 50 points in the first day,” Stanbury said. “The second day it fell into a 13-point lead. But we came out on top in day three because one of our swimmers didn’t have a race in day two, but had two of them in day three.”
Sophomore distance and individual medley swimmer, and captain, Hana Otsuka felt “extraordinary” after hearing the women’s team won conference.
“Everybody mattered in this competition,” she said. “There wasn’t one person who did everything.”
Sophomore sprinter, brackstroker, and freestyle swimmer Martina Exlerova anticipated the victory.
“We had a big point advantage,” she said. “But we accomplished it and knew we were going to carry the advantage and win.”
Going into the state competition Thursday and ending it on Saturday, the women seemed prepared for it.
“We’ve already been shaved and tapered,” Otsuka said. “But we worked hard and now it’s about individual performance. I want to be top 10. It’s not about first place, it’s about dropping time, but first place would be the cherry on top.”
Exlerova said that she does feel a bit of the nerves and even had a bad dream about going into the competition.
“I had a dream last night that I didn’t show up to my event,” she said. “And of course it can always be a little nerve-wrecking but once you’re on the block, you’re ready.”
