Cuesta Women's Swimming is down to only five swimmers for the 2022 Western State Conference Championships, but for the Cougars it is quality not quantity. All five members of the team have scored in all their races and, after two days, the Cougars are in 3rd place and the middle of a title hunt. Multi-talented Annie Bartolome, who has set three school records this season, leads all scorers with 40 individual points over the first two days. Today she set a new Cuesta Record in the 100-backstroke (:58.15), while also winning the 100-butterfly (:58.48), with the second-best time in Cuesta History. Additionally, Bartolome led off the Cougars' win 800-freestyle relay to end the day. Returning Freshman Meghan Abbott and Freshman Jensen Perry also scored a bushel of points, while climbing up Cuesta's All Time Top 10. Abbott, who is only four points behind Bartolome for the meet's scoring lead, missed out on some points when she swam the 400-individual medley as an exhibition. She saved her scoring events for another race, however her time of 4:57.41 is the third fastest in Cuesta History. Abbott later scored in the 200-freestyle with a 3rd place (1:59.54) finish, just ahead of Perry in 4th place (1:59.90). The duo also moved into 9th and 10th place, respectively, all time for Cuesta. Freshmen Anna Kreowski and Chloe Porter round out the Cougars' quintet. Kreowski also owns a pair of Top 10 finishes over the first two days, after earning a Runner-up spot in the 50-freestyle (:25.69) on Thursday and finishing 5th in the 100-butterfly today. Today Porter took 5th in the 100-backstroke, behind Bartolome, and landed 10th, out of 31 entrants in the 100-freestyle on Thursday.
Cuesta Women's Swimming, despite it all, remains in striking distance of the WSC Crown. The Cougars have collected 299 points the past two days and trail only Santa Barbara and Bakersfield, who own 429 and 367 points, in the standings. The final day of the 2022 Western State Conference Swim and Dive Championship begins tomorrow at 9:30 with the preliminary races. The finals begin at 4 PM. The Cougars are the defending WSC Champions and are chasing their 23rd title since 1979.
(pict L-R: Abbott, Perry, Bartolome, Kreowski)
