Griffin swimmers set marks at PCAC meet
- Updated: May 1, 2023
2023 COMMUNITY COLLEGE SWIMMING
From GC media relations
CHULA VISTA – The Grossmont College swim team has had a great two days at Southwestern College’s aquatic center, where the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championships were held.
In the first two days, six races and a school record that had stood for nearly half a century were won and broken.
On Thursday, the Griffins were crowned the 500-yard freestyle Queens as three of the top four were wearing Green and Gold on their swim cap. Maya Garcia-Hale won with a time of 5:10.72, Maegan Calcutt finished in second and Maddison Dickman finished fourth.
Also on Thursday, the sprinters took center stage. In the women’s 50-yard free, Kristen Furuholmen and Michaylla Cuff finished in third and fourth respectively. On the men’s side, Trevor Arnes and Nathan Snyder finished first and third respectively, with just .38 seconds between the two. For reference, it takes .333 seconds to blink your eye.
The women’s 400-yard medley relay finals saw Madison Dickman (backstroke) leadoff, Garcia-Hale (Breaststroke) was second, Calcutt (Butterfly) and Furuholmen (Freestyle) teamed up to take the win by just three-quarters of ONE second.
Day two was highlighted by Garcia-Hale breaking a 43-year-old Grossmont College record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.08 while winning the race. Fiona Ostermann and Ryley Gorence also swam in the event.
Calcutt also had a great day in the pool as she won the 200-yard freestyle by 11 seconds over San Diego Mesa’s Daniella Rivas. Cuff, Avery Easley, AJ Tinkess and Emilee Orlander also competed in the same distance.
The men’s time in the pool began with the 200-yard medley relay with Snyder (backstroke), Arnes (breaststroke), Ryan Beery (butterfly) and Eli Mohr (free) coming in second with a 1:40.38 time.
Beery and Arnes finished second and third in the 100-yard fly, while Dmitri Singer and Peter Ornelas finished sixth and seventh in the same discipline.
In the men’s 200-yard free, Mohr finished second while Russell Hess finished seventh in the same race.
Snyder and Arnes came in second and third in the 100-yard breaststroke. Eric Bates, Hess and Joey Asaro all competed in the same distance as well.
Dickman (fourth), Anika Prado (fifth), Ashley Leland (sixth), and Ostermann (tenth) competed in the 100-yard backstroke. In the same discipline, on the men’s side, Eli Mohr was the only Griffin qualifier and finished sixth.
Wrapping up the day was the 800-yard free relay races. The Griffins women (Garcia-Hale, Dickmann, Furuholmen and Calcutt) were the winners with a 38.5 second victory over SD Mesa. Meanwhile, the Griffin men (Ornelas, Asaro, Bates and Singer) teamed up to finish third.
The Griffins will be back at Southwestern to close out the Championships and see who takes the win for the team competition. Heading into the final day, Grossmont is in second in both the men’s and women’s team competitions (Mesa on the women’s side and Palomar on the men’s side are leading).
