By Ron Smith
February 13, 2026
 
(MONTEREY PARK, Calif.) "Today was nothing short of incredible," said Westmont Swim head coach Jill Lin. "So many amazing swims, so much spirit and emotions. It was, all-around, an incredible day."
 
The day started with the 500 yard freestyle that included 11 Westmont swimmers.
 
"Kimberly Greene went a lifetime best of 5:09.67, which put her in the 'B' final. We also had Grace McAnear, who went a 5:12.78, which was a great swim for her. She was in 16th place. Katlyn McCurtain went a 5:11.52, just off her lifetime best.
 
"At the last minute, we chose to have Willow Pezone swim the event as an exhibition. We wanted to save her for Saturday's events. She has a good shot at making the top eight in the 100 free. If we had kept her in, she would have done really well. She went 5:11.33 – a lifetime best by three seconds. McKenzie Rion had a great 500 and swam close to a lifetime best (5:18.69).
 
"Kate Spraul did not have a great morning swim, but she was really solid and managed to sneak into the 'A' finals with a seventh place (5:08.60).
 
"Katlyn, Kimberly and Grace were all in the 'B' final, which was amazing. It was so great for us to have the three of them in there. Kimberly dropped more time, going a 5:07.30 with an all-around amazing swim. She was second in the heat and out there racing the whole time.
 
"We had made a deal with Katlyn that if she went under 5:10, Willow could get guacamole with her Chipotle tomorrow. Katlyn went 5:09.99. Of course, she did.
 
"Grace had a great swim (5:14.14). It was so awesome to have her in the finals tonight.
 
"Kate was lightening tonight. She went for it and was 0.02 off her lifetime best, despite the load she has had this week and how she was feeling. It was truly a gutsy and incredible swim. I talked with her a lot today about having confidence and knowing she can give all she has in every race that she has, and that is the best she can do. She went out and did that. She requested that all her teammates be on the side of the pool showing their heart signs to her. So, we were all there cheering her on."
 
Three Warriors competed in the 100 yard backstroke with two advancing to finals.
 
"Noelle Landon went a lifetime best (57.28) and a program record in a great swim and made it back to finals. Megan was just off her lifetime best (59.66), but it was a super-solid season best for her.
 
"Tonight, in the final, Noelle (58.79) swam a little bit slower, but Megan came back and dropped about a full second from her lifetime best at 58.69. It was a really great swim and she got second in her heat. Overall, it was just amazing and I was really proud of her for the effort she was able to give in that."
 
In the 100 yard breaststroke, four Warriors compete in the pool with three earning final's berths.
 
"Melina Calica went a lifetime best, Madi Edwards was just off of hers and Kelly Neill was right on hers.
 
"Abby Rickard has consistently been going 1:08, 1:08, 1:08. Always, 1:08. She has wanted to go a lifetime best so badly. So, she went a 1:08.39, and we thought, 'Not bad'.
 
"Abby, Madi and Mel all made it back to the 'C' final. From the beginning, Abby just went for it. She was able to go out about half a second faster than this morning and was able to hold on half a second and dropped an entire second from her lifetime best to go 1:07.11."
 
Rickard, who had finished at 19th in the prelims, improved to 17th in the finals. Edwards dropped 0.41 seconds to post a time of 1:09.17 in the finals and take 21st place. Calica posted a time of 1:11.19 in the final, finishing 24th.
 
"I get emotional just talking about Abby," expressed Lin. "She is someone who has done everything right, every single day. She has led our team selflessly. She is an animal in the weight room who works her tail off, all the while having a torn labrum in her hip and truly being unable to do anything without a substantial amount of pain.
 
"She has led our team so well with grace and humility and grit. She has embodied this program. I am so grateful for her and her commitment to do that. She does everything for everyone else and doesn't get a lot in return. For her to do that was the perfect ending of her career."
 
Next up was the 200 yard butterfly with four Warriors participating: Emma Bustamante, Daisy Marquardt, Brogan Braaten and Izzy Garcia.
 
"We had some good swims from our 200 butterfliers," noted Lin. "Daisy and Boost made it back. Boost got a lifetime best and broke her own program record (2:10.42), which was a huge win. She was a little discouraged after her 100 fly yesterday, so it was really awesome to see her go out and go fast. They both had lifetime bests. Then in the final, Daisy continued to lower her lifetime best (2:12.24).
 
"Daisy has been our chameleon. She has done every single race for this team, no matter what we needed. Considering she has a pretty broken hip and knee, we have had to be creative with the events that she can swim.
 
"When the 200 fly was brought up as an event she could contribute in, she said, 'Absolutely.' She went for it and went all out. When she finished the race, she said, 'I can guarantee you that I was having the most fun of anyone swimming the 200 fly.' That was true. She had her teammates on both sides of the pool screaming for her. I am so grateful for Daisy for giving us everything that she had and doing it with so much positivity and encouragement. She has set the standard for how this team interacts with each other."
 
The third evening of championship competition ended with the 4 x 50 yard medley relay with Landon, Rickard, Bustamante and Lauren Healy finishing sixth with a time of 1:48.59.
 
"We had great splits," said Lin of the relay. "We were half a second off our program record that has stood for quite a while. Overall, they did a great job."
 
Summarizing the team's performance, Lin said, "It was a great day and the icing on the cake is that we are beating The Master's right now. That speaks a lot to our program and the depth that we have. We are not necessarily winning. We haven't been on the podium in any event like they have. However, we are chipping away and we have those athletes that are swimming in events they don't necessarily feel comfortable in. However, they are doing it to get back to the finals to push others out and score points for the team."
 
Headed into the final day of competition, Westmont is currently in sixth place out of 12 teams with 476 points, Alaska Fairbanks, is in fifth place with 569. The Master's is in seventh with 459.5.
 
"We are hoping we can keep the momentum going for tomorrow," noted Lin. "We have a big day with the mile, the 200 backstroke, the 100 freestyle and the 200 breaststroke. It is going to be an interesting day for us."