This story was updated with coach Finfrock’s name spelled correctly.

By: Nathan Anaya

The Riverside City College men’s and women’s swim teams both had solid outings at the Riverside City Invitational on March 8, as the women’s team placed second just behind Orange Coast College and the men’s team placed fourth overall with OCC placing first as well. 

The women’s team was led by its sophomore captain Jessie Nelson with a total of 69 points for the team as well as freshman Nicole Robertson with 60 points and co-captain Anabella Storar with 50. 

“I think we performed really good considering it’s the middle of the season and we’ve all been beaten down and have been working really hard for the past few weeks,” Nelson said. 

Although Nelson led the team in points, she still feels like she has another gear she can tap into.  

“I think there’s definitely some improvement that I can make but I’m really happy with where I’m at right now,” Nelson said. 

Anabella Storar scored 50 points for the Tigers, which was the third most for the team during the invitational. 

“Every day we’re gonna practice harder and try to be champions and make our state times,” Storar said.

Women’s head coach Doug Finfrock was happy with what he saw from the team 

“I’m happy with their performance,” coach Finfrock said. “They’ve been training hard and I think they swam pretty well in all the meets. Overall I liked the effort today and their times are about where we want them to be.” 

Coach Frinfrock’s biggest goals for the remainder of the season are to maintain the team’s second-place spot in the conference and possibly push towards first, but most importantly state. 

“We want to be swimming our best at the end of the year and try to qualify as many individuals as we can, as well as our relays for state championships and that’s really what we want,” Frinfrock said.

For the men’s team, a fourth-place finish was the outcome but men’s head coach Jason Northcott does not seem too concerned, maintaining that the regular season is a process. 

“Everything we do in the regular season is just about being prepared for conference and state, to try to win a conference title,” Northcott said. “But most importantly try and get as many swimmers into the right position at first state qualifiers so this is just all part of that process going forward.” 

The men’s swim team captain Yousif Nahali also had an impressive performance placing first in the men’s 50-meter freestyle and scoring 39 points overall.

“I expect a lot from this team,” Nahali said. “We have a lot of good swimmers, and we hope for the best.”