Cuesta Men's and Women's Swim & Dive teams invaded the North last weekend and came away with a pair of Top 10 finishes. The men claimed the team Silver, while the women finished 8th in the 13-team event.
Once again Freshman Phenom Grant Huston led the way for the the men's team. Huston won all three of his individual events, whole also setting three new school records, which brings his total for the season to seven new school records. All three records broken were set in 2022, he broke Lucas Esenwein's 100-freestyle record by .35 of a second with a time of :44.82, while becoming the first Cuesta swimmer to break the 45 second barrier. After setting new Cuesta marks in the 500 and 1,650 freestyles, Huston claimed his third record from All American Stash Perry by breaking his 200-freestyle record and becoming the first Cougars to finish the event in under 1:40 with a time of 1:39.25. The Cougars also got great performances from Cuesta's other current record holder Conner Rocha. Rocha, who holds the Cougars' 50-butterfly mark and ranks 2nd for the 100-butterfly, extended himself in the 200-butterfly and moved into 7th all time at 1:58.07. Freshman Beau Gendron also spent the weekend leading his competitior in the lanes and chasing Cuesta greats on the reocrd board. His time of :59.92 in the 100-breastroke cracked Cuesta's Top 10, while he already owned the 3rd spot for the 50-breastsroke.
The women's team finished 8th overall led by Freshman Annika Pauschek. Pauschek cracked the meet's Top 25, among the 13 team and 133 competitors, with 456.3 total points. Her best finish was 4th place in the 1,650-freestyler, where her time of 19:18.03 also earned her the 8th spot on Cuesta's all time Top 10. She also took 6th in the 100-backstroke with a time of 104.25. Freshman Amelia Braun and Sophomore Madison Corrigan also earned recognition in the lanes. Braun made the finals in the 100-butterlfy and took 7th place (1:09.25) overall, while Corrigan finished 10th inthe 200-breastroke, despite her time of 2:46.17 earning her the 6th best time in Cuesta history. On the planks, Diver Elyse Smith also added a pair of 6th place finishes off the 1-meter (155.85) and 3-meter (153.30) boards.
Cuesta Aqua-Jocks return to action this Friday (11 AM) for their final Western State Conference Mini Meet. The event is hosted by Allan Hancock and shall be held at Paul Nelson Pool.
