Gauchos finish seventh at GWC Invite

The Saddleback women's swim team opened the 2020 campaign with a seventh place finish at the Golden West Invitational on Friday in Huntington Beach.  Freshman Ashleigh Lee had a strong showing in her first meet.

Saddleback finished with 105 points, which was good enough for seventh place in a 10-team field.  The Gauchos were just nine points out of fifth place in a meet won by Riverside City College.

Lee had a sensational performance, finishing first in the 200 individual medley and second in the 100 backstroke.  She swam the 200 IM in 2:24.98 while touching the pad in 1:06.09 in the 100 backstroke. 

Another with a top-5 finish was Noelle Yamagawa, who was fifth in the 50 backstroke with a time of 34.58.  She also finished sixth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 59.26.

The last Gaucho to earn points for the team was Merna Elashy, who finished seventh in the 50 backstroke (35.95).

Saddleback will be back in the water when they swim at an Orange Empire Conference meet at Golden West on March 6.