By Ron Smith
February 12, 2026
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Three days of competition remain, but with the first day of the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference Championships is in the books, Westmont swimmers have already broken school records and earned conference honors.
 
"We had an awesome day today," said Westmont's head coach Jill Lin. "We started with the 200 individual medley and Kate Spraul having a lifetime best of 2:09.26 and making it back to finals. It was a last-minute add for her. We weren't planning for her to swim that event, but she did really well at UCSB and we thought we would throw her in it. She did really well, making it back to the 'B' final by finishing 13th. She finished 12th in the finals with another lifetime best of 2:08.41. Overall, it was an awesome swim. Her strokes looked really good."

With the 12th place finish, Spraul earned All-PCSC Honorable Mention recognition.
 
"In the 50 yard freestyle, Willow Pezone made the 'C' finals and was able to come back and win her final heat with a lifetime best of 24.19," noted Lin. "She finished 17th overall with a really great swim."
 
The first day of the championship also includes the 1000 yard freestyle. Because of the length of the event, there are no preliminaries. Most of the competitors swim at the end of the morning session. However, the swimmers with the best times coming into the championship do not swim until the beginning of the evening session.
 
"In the morning, we had Leighton Bell, Izzy Garcia, Tiffany Ball, Grace McAnear and Katlyn McCurtain," reported Lin. "Grace had an amazing swim, coming off a shoulder injury and not training much. She was within a second (10:43.75) of her lifetime best and our record. Katlyn had never swam this event before, but we threw her in looking to see what she could do. She had a great swim (11:43.58) and placed high. Emma Robinson had a lifetime best as well (11:03.69)."
 
McCurtain finished in 11th place with McAnear right behind her in 12th. Both swimmers received All-PCSC Honorable Mention recognition.
 
"Kimberly Greene swam the 1000 yard freestyle in the evening and had a great swim with a lifetime best and a program record of 10:32.91. She finished seventh and it was so awesome to see that all come together for her. What was really sweet about that was to see how excited Grace was to see Kimberly (a freshman) beat Grace's record. It felt like a symbolic passing of the baton of preparing Kimberly to take on the leadership role of the distance group over the next few years when Grace won't be there anymore."
 
The seventh-place finish earned Greene All-PCSC honors.
 
"Tonight, we also had the 800 yard freestyle relay," added Lin. "Our 'A' relay beat our program record by two seconds (7:41.92). Kate started off with a great opening split. Katlyn, Willow and Daisy Marquardt had really solid swims. Daisy swam in a lot of pain with a torn hip labrum. She has been such a consistent relay swimmer for us and I never doubted that she would be a part of that team. I am so glad that she gets that team record and gets her mark on this program in that way. She has been someone that we can rely on to be in any event and has been so versatile. Despite all she has been through, she pulled out a great anchor leg for the team and had a great split to help us get that program record.
 
"The 'B' relay consisted of McKenzie Rion, Leighton, Emma Bustamante and Emma Robinson. A highlight was Leighton having a lifetime best of 1:58 in her split. That was something she had been working really hard towards. She did a great job after coming off swimming the 1000 yard and the 50 yard freestyles in the morning."
 
The championship, which is being held at the swim stadium at East Los Angeles College, resumes on Thursday morning and continues through Saturday evening.
 
"I am very proud of the effort the team put in and so proud of their encouragement and support for one another," expressed Lin at the end of the first day. "There were so many tears after every single race because they feel so much pride for their teammates and know the work that they have put in. To see them accomplish their goals is so inspiring. I am so proud to be their coach and of their commitment to loving each other through it all."