By Ron Smith
February 16, 2024
 
(MONTEREY PARK, Calif.) The third day of the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships was the busiest yet for Westmont swimmers. Altogether, the team competed in 31 individual races and three relays.
 
The day started with the 100 yard butterfly.
 
"Hannah DeSoto swam her lifetime best of 1:03.49, which was exciting," said Westmont's head coach Jill Lin. "Daisy Marquardt, Emma Diehl and Emma Bustamante, all made it into the 'C' finals. Emma Bustamante swam a lifetime best 59.93."
 
Diehl swam a time of 59.70 in the prelims and Marquardt posted a time of 1:00.13.
 
"In the finals, Daisy had a lifetime best of 59.54 and Emma Bustamante was just off her prelim swim (1:00.24)," said Lin. "Emma Diehl went faster than she had in prelims for a great finish (59.39)."
 
Three freshman – Allison McDougal, Kelly Neill and Brogan Braaten were slated for the 400 individual medley.
 
"We knew they all had a chance to make the finals and come back and have a second swim. Of course, all three of them did, which was awesome. Kelly had a lifetime best time in the prelims (4:53.39) and Allison had an all-around great race (4:52.80), just off her lifetime best time. Brogan had a good race in the morning (4:55.61) and snuck into finals and then stepped it up in the finals.
 
"In the 'C' finals, our 400 IMers were all right next to each other in lanes one, two and three. Brogan had a standout swim, improving by four seconds from her morning swim (4:51.34). She had a change of mindset and was able to get out there and race."
 
The 200 yard freestyle produced Westmont's best individual finish of the day.
 
"Katlyn McCurtain had a good prelim swim (1:55.04), but definitely had some room for improvement," noted Lin. "She finished ninth and qualified to swim in the 'B' final.
 
"Before the finals, we challenged her to break the school record. She was in eighth place (of eight) in the heat at the 100 yard mark. She absolutely blasted the last 100 and ended up winning the "B" final in a new school record time of 1:53.81.
 
Also competing in the 200 yard freestyle were Willow Pezone and McKenzie Rion.
 
"Willow crushed it," assessed Lin. "She went out flying and came back and finished with a lifetime best time of 1:57.19 and was able to make it back into the 'C' finals. McKenzie did the same thing with a life-time best of 1:57.92.
 
"In the finals, McKenzie had another lifetime best of 1:57.57. It was awesome to see her achieving those races. Willow had never swam the 200 free before college and was able to come away with a 1:57.77 in the final."
 
Abigail Rickard and Neill both qualified for the finals in the 100 yard breaststroke. Rickard's time of 1:09.58 in the prelims qualified her for the 'B' final while Neill's mark of 1:11.73 put her into the 'C' final.
 
"Abby was right on her time for the morning," pointed out Lin regarding her final's performance. "Kelly had swam in the 400 IM and the 100 yard breaststroke this morning. Then she raced in the finals of those same events in the evening. She was very tired, but was still able to have a great race."
 
Neill posted a time of 1:12.01 in the finals.
 
Also competing in the breaststroke, but as an exhibition, was Grace McAnear.
 
"Grace is not a breaststroker and hasn't trained for it," explained Lin. "She swam a lifetime best of 1:10.28."
 
"Ella Chaisson had a good morning swim and made it into the 'B' finals of the 100 yard backstroke," said Lin. "However, she was dealing with some pain from injury so we decided to scratch her in the finals."
 
Chaisson finished in a time of 58.44 in the prelims, which was good enough for 12th place.
 
Westmont's 'B' team in the 400 medley relay of Hannah DeSoto, Grace McAnear, Emma Bustamante and Olivia Garrison posted a time of 4:07 flat.
 
"Hannah led off with a lifetime best 1:03.0 in the backstroke," described Lin. "Grace went a lifetime best 1:09.4 in the breaststroke. Emma had a split of 59.9 which was a great split for her. Olivia is always someone we can count on and she had a 54.0 split at the end.
 
The Warriors' 'A' team consisted of Chaisson, Rickard, Diehl and Pezone. They finished in eighth place with a time of 4:01.08.
 
"Ella went 58.1, Abby a solid 1:09 and Emma was able to go 59.6." said Lin. "Willow, our anchor, has been swimming out of her mind and went a 53 for the first time.
 
"All around, it was a fun day. It was exhausting and everyone is tired, but they are keeping the energy high and having a good time.
 
"Our freshmen are really stepping up and filling in some of the gaps that we had. It is fun to see it all come together."
 
The Warriors will get some rest tonight, then return to the pool on Saturday for the final day of competition in the conference championships.