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The Lancers swim team made a huge statement during the three-day South Coast Conference Championship by walking away with 11 event wins in hand and multiple awards recognizing the players and coaches.

The 11 conference event wins is now a new school record, surpassing the 10 wins that the 2013 and 2014 teams were able to snag.

Head Coach Terry Stoddard was awarded the SCC Women’s Coach of the Year for the third time in 4 years, while teammates Ariahn Givens and Liza Echeverria shared the SCC Swimmer of the Year honors.

“Coach Stoddard has always pushed me and reminded me of the goals I want to reach,” said Givens. “I was not always willing to give 100 percent at practice but he never gave up on me.”

PCC participated in 29 of the 40 events that were scheduled during the meet hosted by Cerritos College and placed in the top 4 in 21 of them.

The women’s swim team ultimately finished in second place overall to Mt. San Antonio College for the second consecutive year but were able to dominate in relays and win some individual competitions.

“Mt. SAC swimmers are successful because they train hard,” said sophomore Sharon Perez. “They always come out strong and never give up.”

The Lancers started the meet on the right foot by winning the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay by having freshman Anais Hacobian in the lead-off spot and sophomore Ariahn Givens in the anchor role with Sharon Perez and Phoebe Lee in the middle of the pecking order.

The group would later go on to win the 200-yard medley, 400-yard medley, 400-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay events.

Ariahn Givens continues to lead the team with her experience and patience which Coach Stoddard praises her for.

“It’s the first time in the 17 years that I’ve been here that we’ve won all 5 relays,” said Stoddard. “To be clear, we would not win these relays without Ariahn Givens. She is the blue chip swimmer that makes our team competitive.”

Despite a 6th place finish for the men’s swim team, freshman David Jimenez turned some heads with solid individual performances in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.

Jimenez made conference history by becoming the the only swimmer to clock in under two minutes in the 200-yard backstroke with a 1:59.19 time. He also had a flair for the dramatic as he just edged out Long Beach City College’s Aaron Mowl by .46 of a second to win the 100-yard backstroke.

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