(Monterey Park, CA) East Los Angeles College was the site of the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association Swimming and Diving State Championships, held on Thursday-Saturday, May 4-6. In a field of 173 competitors from 31 schools, the Mt. San Antonio College Men's Swimming and Diving team placed third with 317 points. Sierra College captured its third consecutive state title finishing with 712 points while Orange Coast College took second with 502.
"The State Championships are a grueling 3-day event in which your top swimmers will swim a total of 13-14 swims over that 3-day period (between prelims and finals for each of their events and relays)," said head coach Marc Ruh. "The guys swam very fast and had some really amazing individual and relay results throughout the meet. Even though we didn't win any individual or relay events, we had enough individuals score high enough to be able to put the team into 3rd place. I couldn't be more proud of this group."
At the three-day event, the Mounties turned in two second-place, and three third-place performances. Eric Yeh finished second in the 100 Fly, while Samuel Slezak took second in the 1650 Free and 4th in the 500 Free. The 200 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, and 400 Medley Relay teams finished third in their respective events.
"This group had a goal at the beginning of the year to crack the top 3 at the State Championships, and we were able to put a great meet together and accomplish that goal," said coach Ruh.
The Mounties made a little history at the state meet by breaking multiple school records and setting new personal bests. Eric Yeh set records in the 100 Fly with a time of 48.56, the 100 FR with a time of 45.57, the 50 FR with a time of 20.78, and the 100 Back with a time of 49.06.
Samuel Slezak also made an incredible feat, breaking the school record in the 1650 FR with a time of 15:54.05. In the relays, the team has proven to be a force to be reckoned with, setting new records in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:32.27 (featuring Yeh, Stegbuchner, Neoh, and Huerta), the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:24.37 (featuring Yeh, Stegbuchner, Neoh, and Huerta), the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:24.52 (featuring Yeh, Neoh, Sorosky, and Huerta), and the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:06.44 (featuring Yeh, Neoh, Slezak, and Huerta).
Other top Mt. SAC performances included Markus Stegbuchner (fifth in the 100 Breast and 200 Breast), Matthew Neoh (fifth in the 200 Back, seventh in the 100 Back), and Jason Matsuda (fifth in the 200 Fly).
This concludes the Mounties' 2023 campaign. A heartfelt thank you to all who supported the team this season. See you again in 2024!