Men’s Swimming & Diving: Long Beach claims first SCC title since 2006

The Long Beach City College men's swimming & diving team needed a win in the final event of the 2012 South Coast Conference Championships and got just that to finish tied for first place and earn a co-conference championship with Chaffey College on Saturday at Pasadena City College.

It was the first time in the 43-year history of the meet that the SCC Finals ended in a tie. For Long Beach, it was the college's first SCC title since 2006. LBCC and Chaffey both scored 651 points in the final standings for the championship. Mt. San Antonio was third at 630, followed by Cerritos (483), and El Camino (413).

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of sophomores Bradley Adamson, Lance Reeves, and freshmen Michael Carrillo and Tristan Winterhalter closed the meet with a winning time of 3:09.11 to earn the Vikings a share of the team title. Chaffey kept pace at third place with a time of 3:11.87 to also secure its part of the championships.

Long Beach totaled five first-place medals at the event, but it was the Vikings' eight runner-up finishes and four third-place showings that really captured the points for the conference title.

Two other Long Beach relay teams took first place. The team of Mac Aahkus, Matthew Collins, Carrillo, and Winterhalter won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:35.11. Also, the 800 freestyle relay squad of Bradley Adamson, Ryan McDonald, Carrillo, and Winterhalter were winners at 7:04.32.

Winterhalter was a winner of the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.06 and finished second in the 100 freestyle at 47.16.

Collins also picked up first place in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:14.86 and was runner up in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.37.

Following the event, LBCC coach Dave Kasa was named the South Coast Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year.

Long Beach will close out the season at the 2012 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Swimming & Diving State Championship on April 26-27 at East Los Angeles College.