Posted: Apr 23, 2022
Coach Pearson honored, Hawks excel at Coast meet
By Matt Schwab
The Las Positas College men's and women's swimming teams gave Hawks assistant coach Loren Pearson a grand sendoff at the Coast Conference Championships this past week.
The Las Positas College men's and women's swimming teams gave Hawks assistant coach Loren Pearson a grand sendoff at the Coast Conference Championships this past week.
The host Hawks finished second in the men's and women's team standings, and Pearson, who is retiring as coach and moving out of state with her husband, was honored as conference Coach of the Year for men and women.
Pearson's awards, believed to be unprecedented for an assistant coach in the conference, only added to the experience.
"The coaches, without my knowing, chose her as Coach of the Year not only for her effort and performance this year, but also for her contribution to our conference and sport over the past 11 years," Craighead stated proudly of Pearson, who helped start the LPC program and has worked with Tri-Valley Dolphins Special Olympics swimmers.
Highlighting the Las Positas men's efforts, Ross Brown won individual titles in both the 400-yard individual medley, in a time of 4 minutes, 23.13 seconds, and 500 freestyle (4:50.59), and was second in the 200 backstroke (1:59.76). He also helped the Hawks men win the 800 freestyle relay title, along with Zachary Perry, Kyle Young and Franco Moufarrej.
Young also earned individual titles in the 200 freestyle (1:50.60) and 1,650 freestyle (17:38.11), and Moufarrej won the 50 freestyle title (21.27) and was second in both the 100 freestyle (47.08) and 100 breaststroke (58.89).
On the women's side, Ashley Sand broke the Las Positas program record in two events — the 100 breaststroke, with a winning time of 1:07.60, and the 200 breaststroke (2:28.00), when she finished second and smashed the program mark by 3.5 seconds.
The Hawks' Samatha Dorn cruised to a conference title in the women's 1,650 freestyle. The Hawks were a close second in the men's and women's 200 freestyle relay finals.
In a close team race over the three-day meet, the Hawks' men finished with 692 points and the women had 569 points.
"It really was an outstanding effort from all our athletes," Craighead said. "I'm really proud of how we finished, especially for a team with only two swimmers with previous college experience. We asked a lot of them, and to swim some of the most difficult races to give ourselves a chance to win. In the end, West Valley was outstanding."
Here were some competitors Craighead pointed out:
* Sean Mendez: "His effort in swimming the toughest races (500 free, 1650 free, and 200 fly) got everyone's attention. He raced down competitors in the back half every race to earn more points," the coach said.
* Kean Zandona: "Another example of someone rising to the challenge. He learned to dive in one month, completed a legal dive list and finished fourth in conference. He also swam the 1,650 free and 200 Fly to maximize his individual scoring," Craighead said.
Las Positas enjoyed a five-year run of conference titles before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the previous two championship seasons. So, this meet marked a return for all the programs.
Now it's on to the CCCAA State Championships May 5-7 at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.