Friday, March 5, 2018

It was a refreshingly cool day with passing clouds Friday, March 2 at the first Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) swim and dive meet of the season. Our Grossmont College Griffins traveled to San Diego Mesa College to compete versus the Olympians (San Diego Mesa) and the Roadrunners (Crafton Hills), where freshman Carli Willis broke the school record in the 200 meter butterfly.

Carli Willis is a freshman out of West Hills High School in Santee, CA. Her teammates describe her as a "team leader."

Willis dove into 1st place in the 200 meter butterfly Friday after her 1000 meter freestyle event. She finished the 200 meter butterfly in 2:29.01, breaking the school record by more than 10 seconds.

Before Willis, the record time for the 200 meter butterfly was 2:43.56, which held its position for over 2 years. The last record holder in the event was swimmer Ashley Ayers, who swam as a Griffin in 2015.

Ayers is pictured right next to Carli Willis at the PCAC meet last Friday, after the record was broken. Ayers is currently the assistant coach to the women's swim and dive program here at Grossmont College and trains with Willis daily.

Head coach Larry Larsen believes that it takes a special swimmer to compete in the 200 meter butterfly, since the event is 8 laps in a 25 meter pool (similar to the pool at Grossmont College), and describes the event as a "full body burn." Larsen continues, "Carli is a club swimmer, she is a point leader, scoring 17 points in the conference meet. She works hard - the hardest - and has a positive attitude."

The women's next swim and dive meet is the Riverside Invitational Friday and Saturday, March 9-10th all day. The men's swim and dive squad will be there too! For more information about our Griffins, visit grossmontgriffins.com.

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