Three Merced College swimmers to compete at state meet
Jordan Salcido thought his season was over.
The Merced College freshman ended it on a high note, capturing the Bay Valley Conference title in the 100-yard backstroke and helping the team win its seventh crown in eight years. The icing on the cake was that Salcido did it with the fastest swim of his life (54.74).
It just wasn’t fast enough.
“I was pleased to win the BVC title, but I’d been hoping to make state,” Salcido said. “Coach (Scott) McCall said we were probably going to have beat 54 to qualify, so I was a little disappointed.
“A few days later he sent me a text saying I’d qualified. I was pretty excited to get two more weeks of swimming.”
As an added bonus, Salcido learned that he’d have a teammate joining him. Kyle Sugimoto finished second in the 100 back at the BVC championships, also earning a trip to the state meet. The pair will be joined by Ayaka Sakamoto (200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) of the women’s team as the Blue Devils’ representatives on the East Los Angeles College campus in Monterey Park. The meet begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.
The MC men will race on Friday, while Sakamoto will have one race per day.
“Having just the one event, it’s easy to focus in on what we have to do,” Salcido said. “I think we’re entering as the 14th and 16th seeds, so we’ve got some ground to make up.
“I’m nervous, but I’m also the kind of guy who thrives on competition, so I feel like I can move up a few slots. I feel like if I can swim anywhere in the 52s, it’s going to be a really good meet.”
Sakamoto has the benefit of adjusting to the uptick in competition over a couple days before swimming in her best event (the 100 breaststroke) on Saturday.
“Her English is a work in progress, so it’s hard to tell just how much she gets about qualifying for state,” said women’s coach Karin Umemora. “I get a lot of smile and nods.
“She ripped her suit in our final meet and she sent back home to Japan for a new one, so that kind of leads me to believe she knows it’s a big deal. Haley (Fisicaro), who qualified for state last year, is going along with her to show her the ropes.”
MC baseball
The Blue Devils received the No. 12 seed in the Northern California regionals after taking second place in the Central Valley Conference and will travel to No. 5 San Mateo (25-11) for a best-of-three series.
MC will attempt to advance to a Super Regional for the third time in five years, this time without head coach Chris Pedretti. The Blue Devils skipper will take some time off after having a pacemaker inserted on Tuesday.
That means pitching coach Nate Devine will steer the ship in a very even-looking matchup on paper. MC (23-13) was the better offensive team, hitting .304 with 247 runs and 83 extra-base hits. The Blue Devils have been particularly hot since Jimbo Pernetti returned to the lineup two weeks ago, hitting .396 and scoring 58 runs during the six-game stretch.
The Bulldogs have been the better pitching and defensive team. Led by undefeated Sam Hellinger (7-0), the San Mateo staff has posted a 3.18 ERA while the defense has put up a .965 fielding percentage. Both teams will apply pressure on the base paths and will play small ball if the situation dictates it.
Game 1 will be played Friday at 2 p.m. Game 2 is set for Saturday at 11 a.m., and Game 3 would follow if necessary.
MC track and field
After a successful freshman season at Sacramento City College, Mahogany Stitt wanted to go to school closer to home.
The Merced High School alum enrolled at MC and has thrived with some home cooking. Stitt enters Friday’s NorCal Trials ranked No. 1 in the state for the women’s high jump (5 feet, 8 inches), No. 6 in the triple jump (36-63/4) and 10th in the long jump (17-93/4).
Stitt will be joined at College of San Mateo by fellow Merced alum Courtney Brown (100 and 200 meters) as the Blue Devils’ two representatives in a bid to qualify for the May 9 NorCal finals. Coach Luis Foy said Emoni Mitchell and Bykema Mobley also qualified for the trials, but won’t be able to compete due to scheduling conflicts.
This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Three Merced College swimmers to compete at state meet."