Tigers Tighten Grasp on OEC Championship

Riverside City College increased its lead after the second day of the Orange Empire Conference Championships. 

The Tigers sit in first place with 567 points, while Golden West College holds in second with 431 points and Orange Coast College is right behind in third with 421 points.

Jared Ladinez won the 100-yard breaststroke in 55.61 seconds, just beating out his competition by less than a second. Davis DeAnda followed in third with a time of 58.03 seconds, while Xavier Potencion took eighth in 1:02.83.

Eli Martinez Spencer picked up another championship on Friday, taking first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.69 seconds – almost three full seconds faster than the rest of the field. Isaac Sheu followed in fourth with a time of 55.08 seconds.

Wyatt Miner finished runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 50.17 seconds. Aaron Ho took fourth in 53.06 seconds, while Damion Montague finished fifth in 53.35 seconds.

Jeremiah Ireland took second in the 200-yard free, posting a time of 1:40.75 to just edge out the third-place swimmer by .22 seconds. Alejandro Mondragon (1:48.02, sixth) and Vincent Fierro (1:48.40, seventh) also finished in the top 10.

Bryce Hitter grabbed third in the 400-yard individual medley, clocking in at 4:13.87, while Adrian Thompson took seventh in 4:36.95.

RCC won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:32.28 and took second in the 800-yard free relay with a time of 6:53.70.

The Tigers close out the championship meet on Saturday, looking to finish strong. Prelims are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. with the finals session starting at 3 p.m.