PCC's Lao wins first place at Cuesta invitational

              PCC's Lao Wins First[
Place at Ctlesta Invitational
Mario Aguirre
SPORTS EDITOR
"Nick has a chance of approach­ing
or breaking school records that
,,
•'
They also. finished ·the 400 medley
reiay squad at 4 :52.7 and placed . '
have been around for 15 years," seventh. - . . .
Stoddard said. "The meet signifies · · Freshman Ashley Jacobs placed
Nick Lao is just in his first sea- that he could win in state and attack - 25th in the 50-breaststroke with a
son with the PCC swimming team these school records." time of 36.07 seconds. She also
and he is already proving to be one The event i~ the state's largest came in 33rd in the 100-breast-of
the top swimmers in the state. regular season meet, which featured stroke: But this event was particu-
Lao earned first place honors in ·more than 100 individuals in anum- : 1ar1y speCicl.i because of what Jac~bs
the 50-yard freestyle at the 28th ber of the events. There were just . had to overcome:
Cuesta Invitational held in San Luis about 30 schools represented at the "It was the first time she was
.·
Obispo March 17-18. He finished event from the North and South able to compete since getting into
with a time of 21.09 seconds, best- regions of the state. ·an automobile accident four weeks
ing his second-place opponent by In terms of team accomplish- ago," Stoddard said. · "We'r.e happy
0.63 seconds. ments, the Lancers' men's team fin- to have her back.· _It'~ a good start."
"It was the first time we had ished 14th and scored 105 points at Freshman Maggie Gonzalez
someone who got first place at the the competition. grabbed· 31st-'in ·the 50-freestyle
Cuesta Invitational in the seven Andrereh Hacopian came in (28.17). : ,:, ' , ' · · .
• .. .<... • . ·_ "1. ""', . · - f~" • • ~ .
years I've been coaching," PCC 12th in the 100-butterfly at 55.29 Gass1a Krikonan came m 36th
swimming coach Terry Stoddard and finished 15th in the 200-butter~ in the 100 IM (1:13.50) and 40th in
said. fly in 2:13:30. He was also 25th in the 100-breasi:stroke (1:21.34).
In addition to that, Lao came in
second in the 100-freestyle at 46.93,
failing short of first place by 0.23
seconds.
In the 100-butterfly, Lao's third
event, he finished with a time of
51.77, just 0.13 seconds shy of gar­nering
first place.
Stoddard believes that Lao's per­formance
is only a preview of
what's to come.
the 200 individual medley (2:13:85). The Lancers will host ~ SCC
"We were very pleased that he's
fa,ster than he was at conference last
season," Stoddard added. "Our
goal -- he set it, I went along with it
because I agree with him -- is for
him to make state. Once we're
there, we want him to score in the
top eight."
The PCC women's team placed
20th overall out of 29 colleges; ·
Tri-Meet in whl~h El Camino and
Cerritos College and is scheduled to
participate. it will mark the first
time that, the- team.-Will compete ~t
'home. ·.· ,. f :! ,.' .. -· ..
., ·;'::·we're i eally i?oking forward to ·
the ·competition/' said Stoddard.
·"It'll be our firsth~~e>competition;
so·y~u always ~ant to do well a{
home:":·.· •· · ..•. ·· ...... , .· .-. , ..