Heroics in the home pool for Comets at PCAC finals

Palomar College hosted the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference swim championships over the weekend of April 21 at the Wallace Memorial Pool.

Palomar's Michelle Jacob pushes of the wall to start the Women's 100 Yard Backstroke championship final during the 2016 PCAC Swim Meet on April 22 at the Wallace Memorial Pool. Jacob placed first with a time of 1.01.68. Coleen Burnham/The Telescope — Palomar’s Michelle Jacob pushes of the wall to start the Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke championship final during the 2016 PCAC Swim Meet Coleen Burnham/The Telescope

On day one of the three-day championship Palomar’s Michelle Jacob, Lucy Gates, Paulina DeHaan and Kendyl Mundt won the women’s 400-yard medley relay in 4:09.52.

Palomar’s men took home three second places on day two of the event, where Neal Gorman, Nick Hendricks, Ryan McCauley and Paul Schaner were runners-up in the 200 medley relay in 1:37.18. In the 200 freestyle, Andrew Bertlotti swam a 1:46.78 to finish second, while Gorman finished second in the 200 backstroke with a 54.22.

Day two also saw a record-breaking performance from Jacob, a Palomar freshman from La Costa Canyon High School, who set a meet record by winning the women’s 400-yard individual medley in 4:45.98. Jacob set another meet record on day 3 of the event, swimming 2:11.60 a in the women’s 200-yard backstroke.

Palomar's Michelle Jacob (L) and Paulina DeHaan (R) are all smiles after swimming the Women's 100 Yard Backstroke championship final during the 2016 PCAC Swim Meet on April 22 at the Wallace Memorial Pool. Jacob placed first with a time of 1.01.68 and DeHaan placed second with a time of 1.04.30. Coleen Burnham/The Telescope — Palomar’s Michelle Jacob (L) and Paulina DeHaan (R) are all smiles after swimming the Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke championship final during the 2016 PCAC Swim Meet on April 22 at the Wallace Memorial Pool. Jacob placed first with a time of 1.01.68 and DeHaan placed second with a time of 1.04.30. Coleen Burnham/The Telescope

“The record was awesome. One of my biggest accomplishments I think of swimming ever,” Jacob said. “Hopefully my name will be up there for awhile.”

The final day of the championship also saw Palomar’s Mundt re-break her own meet record in the women’s 200 butterfly with a time of 2:20.13. Mundt finished just ahead of teammate Morgan Brown in the race, who finished second with a time of 2:22.72.

“I wanted to drop 10 seconds in finals… that was my main goal, but I was happy that I broke the record again,” Mundt said. “Hopefully it’ll stay for another year.”

Palomar’s other winners on the day were Andrew Bertotti (17:18.02 in the men’s 1650 freestyle), and Lucy Gates (2:39.67 in the women’s 200 breaststroke).

Palomar’s second-place finishers on the final day were Nick Hendricks (2:09.36 in the men’s 200 breaststroke), Brown (women’s 200 butterfly), DeHaan (women’s 200-yard backstroke) Hayden McCauley (2:05.80 in the men’s 200 butterfly) and the Comets’ men’s and women’s 400 freestyle relay teams.

The final tally of the event had Mesa winning the men’s championship with 922 points, followed by Grossmont (761) in second, Palomar (753) in third and Southwestern (301) in fourth. Grossmont captured the women’s title, also with 922 points, followed by Mesa (651) in second, Palomar (616) in third and Southwestern (378) in fourth.

The Comets next event will be the the final meet of the season as the team heads to Monterey Park at the East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium for the CCCAA State Championships running May 5-7.

Jacob’s top-four finishes in two events, Jacob finished third in the 400-yard individual medley with a 4:40.03 time and was fourth in the 200 IM with a 2:12.02.

Palomar’s Michelle Jacob, Ryan McCauley and the Comets’ 400-yard medley relay team placed in the CCCAA State Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday through Saturday at East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium.

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