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Santa Rosa Junior College
Santa Rosa Junior College Athletics

SRJC Women's Swim & Dive are Your 2015 CCCAA State Champions

Sophomore team captain, Christine Lewis, set a new school record in the 100 Breaststroke (1:05.10) when she won the race at the 2015 CCCAA State Championship Meet. Photo: Richard Quinton
Sophomore team captain, Christine Lewis, set a new school record in the 100 Breaststroke (1:05.10) when she won the race at the 2015 CCCAA State Championship Meet. Photo: Richard Quinton
Posted: May 12, 2015

The SRJC Women's Swim & Dive Team are the 2015 CCCAA State Champions! This is an unprecedented seventh title for SRJC in women's swimming and diving, and fifth state championship title under CCCAA Women's Swimming Coach of the Year, Jill McCormick.

SRJC has never won a swim title the way they won it this year. In past seasons SRJC captured titles as a result of multiple relay and individual wins. This year SRJC didn't win a relay; however they were consistent with 5 top eight finishes in all relays (2nd-200 Medley, 3rd-800 Free, 4th-200 Free, 6th-400 Medley, and 8th-400 Free).

SRJC was only 37 points ahead of Orange Coast going into the final relay of the night, which meant if OCC won the relay and SRJC didn't finish legally in 8th place, SRJC could have lost the title by a margin of three points. Thus, it literally came down to the last event, and SRJC's 400 Free Relay team of Miranda Howell, Celine Sargis, Megan Warren, and Christine Lewis had to execute a conservative race with an emphasis on extremely safe exchanges. That extra time spent on the blocks cost them a few places on the relay itself, but it was worth it to bring the title back home to SRJC. It was the team's overall depth and consistency from EVERY ATHLETE that won them the title.

This was also a historic year for the CCCAA in which women were given the opportunity to swim the full NCAA championship event list for the first time including 4 new events: the 400 IM and the 200's in the Back, Breast, and Fly. SRJC gained the advantage they needed over Orange Coast and last year's champions Diablo Valley College in those grueling distance events with:

  • Midori Dobson taking 3rd and Olivia Strouse taking 11th in the 400 IM
  • Miranda Howell taking 2nd in the 200 Back
  • Christine Lewis taking 4th and Dobson taking 6th in the 200 Breast, and
  • Celine Sargis taking 11th and Ivylee Senn taking 16th in the 200 Fly.

To win the title in a year when the CCCAA took a huge step forward in the sport by adding these events to the women's list was especially significant to Coach McCormick and her team.

Special recognition goes to our sophomore divers Logan Williams, Kristin Schmidt, and Savannah Moen who all scored in the top 8 on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards; scoring SRJC over 80 points in those two events alone which is significant since we only won the title by 25 points.

Williams was the Big 8 Diver of the year and the state champion on the 1M board. Team co-captain Lewis was the state champion in the 100 Breaststroke as well.

Finally between the Big 8 Championships and the CCCAA State Championships the SRJC team set/broke 6 new school records:

  • Miranda Howell, Christine Lewis, Ivylee Senn, Megan Warren in the 200 Medley Relay
  • Christine Lewis in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke
  • Miranda Howell in the 200 Back
  • Celine Sargis in the 200 Fly, and
  • Midori Dobson in the 400 IM.

STATE MEET RECAP

Day 1

Team Standings Through Event 11: 1. SRJC 138 2. Orange Coast 136 3. Diablo Valley 120

SRJC women narrowly take the lead largely due to the stellar 1st, 6th, 8th placing by the divers. Highlights: Logan Williams winning the 1M diving competition and top 8 finishes in the 500 Free by Christine Lewis and Megan Warren, and the 200 IM by Celine Sargis.

Day 2

Team Standings Through Event 27: 1. SRJC 336.50 2. Orange Coast 279.50 3. Diablo Valley 258

SRJC extends their lead through consistent top 8 finishes in most events and a 2nd and 3rd finish in the relays.

Highlights: Christine Lewis wins the 100 Breast. Miranda Howell turns an impressive double and finishes 3rd in the 100 Fly and 2nd in the 100 Back. Midori Dobson finishes 3rd in the 400 IM, and the divers (Williams, Savannah Moen, and Kristin Schmidt) again all finish in the top 8 on the 3M board (5th, 6th, 7th).

Day 3

Final Team Standings: 1. SRJC 424.5 2. Orange Coast 399.5 3. Diablo Valley 364

Highlights: SRJC hangs on to a 25 point lead over a charging Orange Coast team after taking a conservative 8th place in the final relay to clinch the title. Top 8 finishes in the the grueling distance events included Miranda Howell 2nd in the 200 Back, Megan Warren's 6th in the 100 Free, and Christine Lewis 4th and Midori Dobson 6th in the 200 Breast.

CCCAA State Swimming & Dive Championship Meet Complete Results