RUSTLER DISTANCE SWIMMERS IMPACTFUL ON DAY ONE OF STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
April 30, 2026
Costa Mesa, Calif. - The Golden West College Men's Swim team started the 2026 California State Swim and Dive Championships on a strong note with four swimmers scoring in the 500 yard freestyle. Avery Pellicano led the way with a runner-up 4:29.81 effort followed by teammates Ryan Novak, fourth at 4:33.58 and Wyatt Mitchell, sixth at 4:37.58 and Daigo Fujita, 15th at 4:48 after putting in a lifetime best of 4:47.06 in the prelims.
Pellicano had another great race with Riverside CC's Eli Martinez-Spencer. The two had battled at the OEC championship meet two weeks earlier. As before, the RCC swimmer took the field out fast in 50.87 the first 100 with Avery close behind at 51.67. The race got tighter as it wore on and at the 350 mark, the lead switched to the Rustler swimmer. By the 450 mark, the lead was only .11 and with a sub-26 second final 50, Martinez-Spencer eased by to touch out Pellicano in a time of 4:29.22
The Golden West team was strong in the relays as well. The first event of the finals, the 200 freestyle relay, saw the Rustlers finish 7th overall in a time of 1:25.34. Ryder Tonkovich led off with a time of 21.56 followed by Mitchell's blazing 20.72, Pellicano's 21.59 and Novak's 21.47. The 400 Medley relay combined Novak, Matt Wolf, Pellicano and Tonkovich to go 3:34.66 and finish 13th overall.
Head Coach Tracy Maurer was pleased with the swims on the first day. "Distance swimming is a strength for our team. But what I find pretty impressive is the fact that three of our four swimmers on our sprint relay turn around minutes later and stand out in the 500 free race."
In the team race, American River leads with 143 points followed by Sierra (129) and Riverside CC (121). Golden West is eighth with 79 points but just 10 points from 5th place after one day.
Action continues today at Orange Coast College with the second of three days of swim and dive action. Prelims start at 9:30 am with the finals again at 4:30 pm.