MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – The final day of the 2026 PCSC swimming and diving championships is in the books, and the Cougars fought their way to a fourth-place finish at the PCSC Championships at East Los Angeles College.

In the morning qualifiers, Sydnee Wilson had the third-fastest time in the 100 freestyle, earning a spot in the championship final, with Ellie Sivesind and Gillian Sato each earning spots in the consolation finals and additional points.  The Cougars were shut out of the top eight in the 200 backstroke final, but Mikaela Maemura, Aleena Herrera, and Ashley Cochran all earned places in the B final for times between 9th and 16th.  And Angelica Benitez had the fastest time of anyone in the qualifying for the 200 breaststroke finals, earning the coveted spot in lane number 4 with a time of 2:18.36, while Courtney Seljeseth and Adelle Brush qualified for the B final.

The evening finals kicked off with the longest swim of the meet, the 1650 freestyle.  Kya Guikema set a personal best in this near-mile-long event, finishing third in a time of 17:25.01.  That marked six consecutive events in which an Azusa Pacific swimmer had earned third place.  In the 100 free, Wilson snapped that streak with a second-place, touching the wall in just 51.46.  In the consolation finals, Sivesind set a personal best, finishing 12th in 52.94, and Sato also put up her best-ever time of 53.48 to earn 21st.  The highlight of the day for the Cougars was Benitez winning the 200 breaststroke with a PB of 2:16.81, meeting the NCAA B qualifying standard for next month's national championships.  In the final event of the championships, the Cougars again found themselves in bronze-medal position, finishing third in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

In all, the Cougars put forth a strong effort on the week, finishing in fourth place in the overall standings.  They will wait to see whether any of the NCAA B standards they have put up over the course of the season are selected to compete in the national championships next month in Evansville, Indiana.

Top 5 Final Standings

1.    Cal State East Bay (1353.5 points)

2.    UC Santa Cruz (1301)

3.    Biola (1083.5)

4.    Azusa Pacific (1027)

5.    Alaska-Fairbanks (751)