RIVERSIDE MEN DOMINATE OEC MEET TWO

The Riverside City College men's swimming and diving team won for a second straight time in Orange Empire Conference competition on Friday at Orange Coast College.  The Tigers pulled away from the field, winning eight different events.

Riverside had the largest roster at the meet on Friday, boasting 21 swimmers and divers in the water.  The Tigers also had the most wins, posting eight individual and relay titles.  RCC was led by Jared Ladinez and Wyatt Miner, who both had two wins for the day.  Ladinez captured titles in the 100 Breaststroke (56.54) and 200 Breaststroke (2:08.23) while Miner was a winner in both the 100 Individual Medley (52.52) and 200 Butterfly (1:56.84).  The Tigers had two more individual wins, with Dionisio Martinez-Spencer touching the pad first in the 100 Backstroke (54.50) and Zachary McDonald winning the 1-meter dive competition (271.28). RCC then won both relay races, winning the 400 Medley Relay (3:30.48) and 400 Freestyle Relay (3:11.68).

Golden West finished second in the team competition and also had the second most individual wins.  Ryder Tonkovich was the leader for the Rustlers, winning both the 50 Freestyle (21.67) and 100 Freestyle (47.32) races.  Wyatt Mitchell was a winner in the 200 Freestyle (1:44.81) while Ryan Novak beat the field in the 500 Freestyle (4:42.09). Anthony Pellicano won the grueling 1650 Freestyle race when he hit the pad in 16:57.38.

Not far back in third place was Orange Coast, who managed three individual wins for the day.  The Pirates had wins from Jun Caruso in the 200 Individual Medley (1:58.36), Kaua Mota in the 100 Butterfly (50.98) and Merrik Riddle in the 200 Backstroke (2:06.92).

Cypress finished in fourth place in the competition.  The Chargers took home the last individual title when Sean Eoin Tannehill outraced the field in the 400 Individual Medley (4:18.99).

The Orange Empire Conference Finals take place at Orange Coast College on April 16-18.

Story by Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback College