Diablo Valley Men, Santa Rosa Women Capture CCCAA Titles

Diablo Valley Community College won the 2008 California Community College Athletic Association men’s swimming and diving championships in Mission Viejo, California.  Santa Rosa Community College won the women’s competition, besting nearly forty other schools.

While the NJCAA is largely known for the impressive string of titles put together by Indian River, the league is a little lacking in the area of drama.  Contrast that with the CCCAA where seven different schools were represented among the top five of both the men’s and women’s meets.

Diablo Valley’s men were able to outlast the competition in what turned out to be a very close competition between first through third.  Cerritos’ Nikos Kostainis and Chaffey’s Akbar Nasution were named co-swimmers of the year while DV’s Rick Millington took away men’s coach of the year award.   Santa Rosa had an easier time in the women’s meet where just ten points separated second from fourth.  For the women, Kimberly Bierwith (Diablo Valley) was named swimmer-of-the-year while Jill McCormick (Santa Rosa) and John Wright (Santa Ana) were named co-coaches of the year.

Ventura College took an early lead, but Diablo Valley wins in the 200 free relay, 200 individual medley, and the 400 medley relay set the standard. Orange Coast’s Jonathan Franzen, took home first place in the 3 meter diving while Chaffey’s Akbar Nasution captured the 500 freestyle.  DV’s Rafael Aponte took this year’s title as the State fastest man, winning the 50 freestyle and playing a role in the state record-breaking 200 free relay (1:22.22).

Nasution picked up his second win in the 400 individual medley. Nikos Kostianis from Cerritos left his mark on day 2, landing himself 2 first place finishes in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke.  Diablo Valley's strength prevailed as Joseph Natina took the 200 free with at 1:39.67.   Keisuke Yagi won the 100 Breaststroke keeping Pasadena in the top 10.

On the final day, Garrett Richman of American River picked up his first state win in the 1650 with a time of 15:52.31.  DVC separated from Ventura with a win the 200 backstroke by Donny Mata, and yet another record setting performance in the 400 free relay.  Ventura’s Rafael Aponte captured the 100 freestyle title with just three-tenths off the record (45.04).  Akbar Nasution (Chaffey), and Nikos Kostanis (Cerritos) each took home their third individual state championship hardware in the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly respectively.  

On the women’s side, Diablo Valley began its quest for a championship by winning the opening event with a time of 1:39.06 in the 200 Free Relay.  Alex Peters from Saddleback won the 500 freestyle in 4:59.55 while Riverside’s Paloma Dinkel dominated the field and captured the 100 IM title with 2 seconds separating first and second place.  Once again nobody in the complex could catch the State’s fastest woman in the 50 freestyle.  American River’s Anne Scott blew away the field a time of :23.45. Santa Rosa cleaned up the evening with a big win in the 400 Medley Relay, with a time of 4:03.69.

On the second day, Diablo Valley’s women took home the title in the 200 Medley Relay for the second year in a row.  Paloma Dinkel annihilated the field in the 200 Individual Medley posting a time of 2:07.55.  Kimberly Bierwith from Diablo Valley set a new state record in the 50 butterfly, and took home this year's state title in the 50 backstroke.  American River's Anne Scott defended her title in the 200 freestyle and won her second event of the weekend for the Beavers.  Cuesta College's Amanda Takahashi took first place in the 50 breaststroke with a time of :31.78.

Saddleback’s Alex Petters took home her second individual state title with a win in the 1650, with just 2 seconds off the state record.  Diablo Valley’s Kimberly Bierwith, American River’s Anne Scott and Riverside’s Paloma Dinkel all won three individual State Titles, but Bierwith was named the 2008 State Swimmer of the year because of her record setting performance in the 50 butterfly.  Jen Cadmus of Modesto won the 100 butterfly with a time of :57.70.  Diablo Valley ended the year with a W in the 400 free relay, knocking out Ventura by one-hundredth of a second.

Co-State Swimmer of the Year:  Nikos Kostianis, Cerritos
Co-State Swimmer of the Year:  Akbar Nasution, Chaffey
State Diver of the Year: Chris Molloy, Orange Coast
Co-Best Performance of the Meet: Diablo Valley’s 200 Free Relay (1:22.22)
Co-Best Performance of the Meet: Rafael Aponte, Ventura 100 Freestyle (45.04)
State Swimming Coach of the Year: Rick Millington, Diablo Valley
State Diving Coach of the Year: Bryan Franzen, Orange Coast
State Swimmer of the Year: Kimberly Bierwith, Diablo Valley
Co-State Diver of the Year: Nikki Burrelli, Orange Coast
Co-State Diver of the Year: Dominique Campora, Sierra
Best Performance of the Meet: Anne Scott, American River, 50 freestyle
Co-State Swimming Coach of the Year: Jill McCormick, Santa Rosa
Co-State Swimming Coach of the Year: John Wright, Santa Ana
State Diving Coach of the Year: Rowland King