The Cerritos College women's swimming team had two home meets this year during the South Coast Conference season, and won both meets. On Friday at the Falcon Aquatic Center, the Falcons (4-4) defeated both Chaffey College (180-91) and Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (228-34) and will now compete in the Golden West Invitational next Friday.

Of the 15 events that were held, Cerritos won the first 11 events and finished the day with 13 first place finishes, along with six second places. The came close to a 12th first place finish, but sophomore Stephanie Alfaro (Gahr HS) was barely defeated in the 100-yard butterfly. She touched up in 1:08.73, which was right behind Dalilah Mendoza (1:08.42) of Chaffey College.

Winning all three of their events, along with a relay race, were the duo of sophomores Amanda Loya (St. Joseph HS) and Angela Covarrubias (Paramount HS). The duo teamed with Stephanie Alfaro and freshman Elizabeth Alfaro (Gahr HS) to win the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:03.72 in the first event of the day.

Covarrubias also picked up a win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:11.04 and edged Abigail Evans of Chaffey College (1:12.61). She followed that up with a win in the 200-yard backstroke and finished in 2:39.35, which was one second ahead of freshman teammate Nicole Alvarado (Whittier HS). The trifecta for Covarrubias came in the 50-yard freestyle, where she sprinted to a time of 27.11 and held off Elizabeth Alfaro (27.38) and sophomore Ashley Padilla (California HS), who took third place in 28.96.

As for Loya, she dominated all three of her races and started with a time of 1:13.59 in the 100-yard breaststroke and won by six seconds. She doubled her winning time in the 200-yard breaststroke by posting a time of 2:41.22. It was another six-second win in the 200-yard IM when she finished in 2:27.11. Elizabeth Alfaro earned wins in both of the freestyle races, and recorded a time of 2:14.98 to win the 200-yard race by nine seconds over Padilla. In the 100-yard race, she defeated Padilla by three seconds with her time of 1:00.12.

The lengthy 1000-yard freestyle race was won by freshman Breanna Zuniga (California HS), who recorded a time of 12:46.63 and won by nine seconds, while Stephanie Alfaro earned a win in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:34.85. The 1-meter and 3-meter diving event was won by freshman Amanda Rabb (Gahr HS), who amassed 126.10 points. The day ended with the quartet of Celeste Ibarra (Gahr HS), Padilla, Zuniga and Gabriela Bobadila (South Gate HS) winning the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:49.28.

Photos by Daryl Peterson