Sierra College, Santa Monica College Win 2023 CCCAA Titles

2023 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Championships

• May 4-6, 2023
• East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park, CA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Full Results

The 44th annual California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Championships were held earlier this month in Monterey Park, California. The meet drew nearly 500 student-athletes from 57 different community colleges across California.

Sierra College captured its third consecutive men’s CCCAA title by a dominating 210-point margin. The women’s meet was won by just 38 points, with Santa Monica College coming out on top of the team standings for the first time in program history.

Team Scores – Women:

1. Santa Monica College – 410
2. Sierra College – 372
3. Orange Coast College – 333

Team Scores – Men:

1. Sierra College – 712
2. Orange Coast College – 502
3. Mt. San Antonio College – 316.5

Meet Awards

• Men’s Swimmer of the Meet: Ethan Smith, Orange Coast
• Women’s Co-Swimmers of the Meet: Mia Park, El Camino & Courtney Seljeseth, De Anza
• Men’s Performance of the Meet: Jake Reuter, 400 IM (state meet record)
• Women’s Performance of the Meet: Isabella Urlando, Santa Barbara, 200 backstroke (state meet record)
• Men’s Swim Coach of the Year: Chris Breitbart, Sierra 
• Women’s Swim Coach of the Year: Brian Eskridge, Santa Monica
• Men’s Diver of the Year: Donovan Taylor, Palomar, 
• Women’s Diver of the Year: Maia Chase, Santa Rosa,
• Men’s Diving Coach of Year: Marnie Young, Palomar
• Women’s Diving Coach of Year: Eddie Stevens, Santa Rosa

Women’s Recap

Santa Monica College’s first team title was largely fueled by their sweep of all five relays. The closest race was the opening 200 freestyle relay, where Emily Lester brought Santa Monica in at 1:38.56, while Santa Barbara finished under a second behind (1:39.40). 

Mia Park of El Camino and Courtney Seljeseth from De Anza led the way on the women’s side with three individual victories each. Park hit a 5:04.73 in the 500 free to defeat defending champion Giselle Quinonez by just under three seconds (5:07.09). Park went on to win the 200 by a similar margin (1:51.54), while her final event came down to the touch. Park got her hand on the wall first in the 100 free at 52.11, narrowly out-touching defending champion Camryn Bussey (52.28). 

Seljeseth took home the CCCAA titles in the breaststroke events and 200 IM. She trailed Emma Hart at the halfway point of the 200 IM, but came back to win in 2:07.05. She went on to decisively win the 100 breaststroke (1:03.68) and 200 breaststroke (2:19.70) to go three-for-three on victories.

Hart secured two wins of her own in the butterfly events, swimming both in meet record times. Hart clocked a 54.82 in finals of the 100 fly, and a 2:03.76 in the 200 to win by nearly four seconds. In addition to the 200 back, Urlando also touched first in the 100 back (56.07).

Santa Barbara’s Isabella Urlando earned the Performance of the Meet award with her record-setting swim in the 200 back. Urlando, who is the younger sister of American record holder Luca Urlando, dropped over four seconds from her prelims swim to log a 2:01.56 in finals, taking  her below the previous mark by 0.19. In addition to the 200 back, Urlando also touched first in the 100 back (56.07).

Urlando’s 200 backstroke time is about a second faster than the conference record she posted at the Western State Conference Championships in April. Her lifetime best in the event stands at 2:00.88 from March of 2018.  

Men’s Recap

Despite only winning five events, Sierra College dominated the men’s team standings in large part due to depth. Jake Reuter led the way for Sierra with two victories individually, highlighted by his record-breaking performance in the 400 IM (3:52.54). He also won the 200 breast by nearly three seconds (2:00.53), while Evan Terry took the title in the 100 backstroke (48.19). 

Orange Coast’s Ethan Smith was the lone swimmer on the men’s side to win all three of his individual events. Smith opened his meet with a victory in the 50 freestyle, where he stopped the clock at 19.81, making him the only athlete in the event to crack 20-seconds. He then won the 100 fly (47.50) and 200 fly (1:44.45), with his 200 fly time marking a new meet record. He led his team to a new meet record in the 400 freestyle relay, while also setting an individual meet record in the process on his lead-off leg (43.58).

West Valley’s Alec Mortensen was another double-event winner. He topped Reuter in the 200 IM by a few tenths (1:49.56) thanks to a strong freestyle split. He also won the 200 free the following day, posting a 1:38.24 in finals.

Another standout swimmer was Marcu Holunga of Las Positas, who swept the distance freestyle races. Holunga held off Tyler LeDet to win the 500 in 4:35.09, with LeDet finishing just behind at 4:36.77. Later in the meet, the 1650 came down to the final 500 with Samuel Slezak making a late push. Holunga managed to hang on to the lead he built and won in 15:53.52, while Slezak touched only half a second back at 15:54.05. 

Orange Coast walked away with relay titles in the 200 medley relay (1:29.79), 400 medley relay (3:17.40), and 400 freestyle relay (2:59.94), setting meet records in all three. Sierra won the remaining 200 freestyle relay and 800 freestyle relay, clocking times of 1:21.63 and 6:44.51, respectively.