The Las Positas College men's and women's teams delivered memorable efforts at the Coast Conference Swimming and Diving Championships last week at Chabot College. 

The Hawks men won the team title for the seventh time under head coach Jason Craighead, and for the first time had three high-point winners, each with three individual conference titles: Ryan Ridosko (500-yard free, 200 free, 1650 free); Zach Zauhar-Kurr 200 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast); and Logan Borrelli (100 back, 200 back, 400 IM).

"It's a tough thing to do, and it just worked out well that way this year," Craighead said of having three high-point winners.

The Las Positas men amassed 660 points, well clear of runner-up Foothill, with 518.

The Hawks women, led by Livermore High graduate Makenzie Duffin, runner-up in the 1,650 free, finished third as a team. The Hawks had 497 points, one point behind runner-up Foothill. West Valley raced away with the women's title with 720.50 points.

"I think we, as a whole, overachieved," Craighead said of the women's team. "They did fantastic."

On the men's side, it was an impressive haul for the Hawks, who won four out of the five relays and took second in the other one. Ridosko's time in the 1650 of 16:09.72 puts the Granada High graduate fourth in the state.

"That was probably the best one," Craighead said of Ridosko's effort. "That was an event that he did last year, and we weren't really focusing on this year, and he decided, 'Hey, I want to give this another try,' and I so I said, 'Great, let's do it.' He was seven or eight seconds faster than he was in the State Championships last year."

Craighead also raved of Duffin's runner-up 1,650 effort, in a time of 18:56.05, considering she is new to the event. It puts her 10^th in the state.

"She had the overall outstanding swim. That was awesome for someone who was a water polo player and really didn't want to swim at the beginning of the season," Craighead said of Duffin. "She was like, 'Ah man, I've never done anything more than a 200,' and I said, 'Let's try a 500.' She was like, 'OK, that isn't bad.' And I was like, 'the mile is really your best race.'"

A couple of tries in the 1650 later, and she "took to it," Craighead said. "It took a little convincing, but sometimes success really is a good reinforcer, so that's good."

Samantha Fehr, a freshman out of Liberty High, had a strong Coast meet, taking second in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and is likely seeded fourth or fifth in the state in the 100 breaststroke.

The State Championships are May 2-4 at Orange Coast College, and the competition will be fierce as the level has returned to the pre-COVID shutdown levels, Craighead shared. 

"We have a few guys who are top eight, really seeded well. Our goal is always to be top 10, but I think we can be top six, which is really what we're shooting for. It's hard to tell because it's super-competitive this year; it's significantly faster than it was last year. … Depth and speed across the state are better than they have been since before COVID, which is good to see."