Pirate women earn third-place team finish at PCC Invitational

PASADENA -- With 10 top-three finishes, the Orange Coast College women's swim team earned third place overall at the 2017 Pasadena City College Invitational this past weekend.

Leading the way for the Pirates was distance specialist Katya Burjakowsky, who took on the best of the best in the 1,650-yard freestyle and pulled away from the field over the final 500 yards, winning the finals with a time of 18 minutes, 24.69 seconds.  Cypress' Kayleen Ertz finished seven seconds behind Burjakowsky with a silver medal time of 18:24.69.

A pair of sophomores -- Lexy Heyerly and Sierra Cox -- left their names all over the results sheets last weekend, thanks to several strong performances.

Heyerly took second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:20.14 and was followed close behind by Cox, who took third with a time of 5:24.1.

In the 200 free, Heyerly placed third overall with a time of 2:00.77 and in the 400 IM, it was Cox, who took runner-up with a time of 4:51.89. To cap off her busy day, Cox also placed fourth in the 1,650 free (18:33.04).

That dynamic duo also took part in a pair of top-three relay finishes for the Pirates as well. In the 200 free relay, Cox and Heyerly joined Darian Davis and Lucy Lightle as the Pirates took third with a time of 1:44.48.

Darian Davis showed her all-around talent in the 200 individual medley, where she finished third with a time of 2:24.96.

In the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay, it was Cox, Heyerly, Lightle and Sian Davis touching the wall with a third-place time of 3:46.91.

And, in the 800 free relay, Heyerly, Burjakowsky, Darian Davis and Sian Davis led the Pirates to a third-place time of 8:23.73.

OCC diver Kaitlyn Smith earned a pair of top-five marks in her two events, placing third in the 3-meter (129.80 points) and fifth in the 1-meter (111.40).

Smith and her Pirate diving teammates will take part in the Southern California Diving Regionals on Friday and Saturday at El Camino College, beginning at 12 p.m. OCC's swimmers AND divers will compete in the Orange Empire Conference Championships, beginning on Thursday, April 20 at Golden West College, beginning at 9:30 a.m.