Build it and they will … swim.
Southwestern College’s new aquatics complex has definitely helped elevate water sports locally into the next millennium.
The new complex, which opened last spring, has been going seemingly non-stop with in-house water safety classes and club program events as well as providing a home base for the Sweetwater Union High School District’s aquatic programs, including water polo, swimming and diving.
The college’s aquatics programs also use the new facility.
The impact is already being felt on campus.
Southwestern College’s women’s water polo team is experiencing one of its most successful seasons in a decade or more.
The Lady Jaguars defeated defending Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champion San Diego Mesa on Wednesday (Oct. 23) to improve to 2-2 in conference play, 9-5 overall.
Southwestern closes out regular season conference play with a game this coming Wednesday (Oct. 30) at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, then will compete in the Rio Hondo mini-tournament on Nov. 1 before hosting the PCAC championship finals Nov. 8-9 at the new campus pool.
Grossmont College hosted last year’s conference finals at the SWC aquatics program.
Southwestern women’s head coach Alissa Mashburn could not understate the importance of competing on campus in a showcase environment.
“It was huge to have the team win at home, to send our sophomores on to the PCAC finals – it was their last home game,” Mashburn said after Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the Lady Olympians.
Freshman Alma Castillo (Eastlake) led SWC in scoring with three goals while freshman Jasmyn Austin (Bonita Vista) scored two goals. Freshman Savannah Collum (Hilltop) and sophomore Caitlin Torres (Hilltop) both scored one goal.
Freshman Julissa Diaz (Eastlake) led the team defensively with nine steals while freshman Tess Johnson (Eastlake) and freshman Lauryn Rockwell (Mar Vista) both had four steals.
Sophomore goalie Odette Ortega (Eastlake) was credited with nine blocks and two steals.
The teams finished the first quarter tied 2-2 before the Lady Jags managed to double the score to 6-3 at halftime. The hosts eventually built an 8-3 lead heading into the final quarter.
Mesa, which is fielding a young team this season, fell to 0-3 in PCAC play, 4-15 overall.
Southwestern opened conference play with an 18-9 loss at Grossmont on Sept. 25 and followed with a 10-7 home loss to Palomar on Oct. 2. The Lady Jaguars defeated host Miramar College, 9-5, on Oct. 9 to record their first conference win of the season.
Grossmont (12-2 overall) currently tops the PCAC standings with a 4-0 record, followed by Palomar at 3-1 (10-8 overall), Southwestern at 2-2, Miramar at 1-3 (9-9 overall) and Crafton Hills (1-9 overall) and Mesa both at 0-3.
The victory against Mesa was Southwestern’s fourth consecutive after defeating Palomar, 13-12, and Pasadena City, 8-5, in the San Diego Classic tournament Oct. 5 at Miramar College, and tacking on the conference win over Miramar during the following week.
Castillo, Johnson and Rockwell each scored two goals in the win over Miramar.
Scoring leaders for the Lady Jags include Austin with 28 goals and nine assists, Johnson with 20 goals and 15 assists, Torres with 18 goals and 14 assists, freshman Daniela Diaz (Hilltop) with nine goals and nine assists, Julissa Diaz with five goals and 10 assists, freshman Brianna Jones (Eastlake) with eight goals and six assists, Rockwell with nine goals and four assists and Collum with 11 goals and one assist.
Ortega has started 13 games with an 8-5 record and .493 save percentage.
Ortega, Torres and Jazmin Glaman (Eastlake) are the team’s three sophomores.
Southwestern’s men’s team dropped a 17-6 decision to Mesa on Wednesday to fall to 1-3 in PCAC play, 4-14 overall.
The Jaguars have picked up the pace since starting the season 0-5, battling the Olympians to an early 3-3 standoff before the deeper Mesa team zipped in front 13-5 entering the final quarter.
Southwestern opened PCAC play with a 16-4 loss at Grossmont and a 17-14 setback to visiting Palomar before sinking host Miramar, 16-11, for its only conference win to date.
The victory against Miramar snapped a five-game losing streak that included a 0-4 showing at the Saddleback tournament Oct. 4-5.
SWC lost both games at the Santa Monica mini-tournament on Oct. 18. The loss to Mesa extended the Jags’ current losing streak to three games.
The Olympians (13-7 overall) improved their PCAC-leading record to 4-0. Palomar (9-9 overall) and Grossmont (8-11 overall) are both 3-1 in conference play, followed by Southwestern and Crafton Hills both at 1-3 and Miramar at 0-4.
Crafton Hills is 1-10 overall while Miramar is 1-11 overall.
The Jaguars defeated Chaffey, 17-16, and Citrus, 14-13, in a pair of nail-biters to open play in the San Diego Mesa South of the Border tournament on Sept. 27. Southwestern split its two games on the final day of competition on Sept. 28 to finish 3-1 in the weekend event.
The Jaguars defeated Los Positas, 18-15, before closing out tourney play with a 16-10 loss to Rio Hondo.
Southwestern will attempt to get back in the win column by competing in two mini-tournaments this weekend.
The Jaguars will play Rio Hondo and El Camino in the second mini-tournament at Santa Monica College before hosting El Camino (10 a.m.) and Chaffey (2:40 p.m.) on Saturday, Oct. 26.
More action in the water follows. After traveling to Crafton Hills for its final conference match-up in regular season play, Southwestern will host the Dia de los Muertos tournament Nov. 1-2. The Jaguars will play Fullerton (noon) and Santa Monica (5:20 p.m.) on the first day and Orange Coast (11:20 a.m.) and Cypress (3:20 p.m.) on the second day.
Scoring leaders for Southwestern include freshman Jeremy Longworth (Mar Vista) with 53 goals and 25 assists, freshman Bryce Heber (Mar Vista) with 55 goals and 22 assists, sophomore Andy Becerra (Hilltop) with nine goals and 17 assists, freshman Jose Nobles (Otay Ranch) with 13 goals and 12 assists, sophomore Jorge Salinas (Bonita Vista) with 17 goals and seven assists and freshman Rodrigo Perez (Hilltop) with 13 goals and one assist.
Heber leads the team with 23 steals while fellow Mar Vista alum Longworth has 13 steals.
Mater Dei Catholic grad Dionico Saucedo is 2-4 in the cage with a .488 save percentage while Alexander Uribe (La Jolla) is 2-7 with a .436 save percentage.
Heber and Longworth rank third and fourth in the conference in goals scored, respectively, behind former Bonita Vista standout Emiliano Castro (85 goals) and Miramar’s Milos Lewit (66 goals).
Heber led SWC in the win over Miramar with five goals while Salinas scored four goals. Becerra had two goals and two assists while Longworth contributed one goal and three assists. Freshman Jordan Brown (Otay Ranch) tacked on two goals and one assist.
Heber and Longworth both scored two goals in the loss to the Olympians while Brown and Becerra both picked up one goal.
Mesa’s roster includes Eastlake alums Jake Rose and Jeremy Redden. Rose has started 16 of 20 games with 23 goals, eight assists and 16 steals. Redden has appeared in seven games with one start while collecting one goal and four assists.
Sophomores Roman Rosser (Bishop’s) and Eric Orozco (University City) lead the Olympians in season scoring with 61 and 60 points, respectively. Rosser has racked up 52 goals and nine assists while Orozco has amassed 20 goals and 40 assists.
Rosser scored six goals on eights shots against Southwestern while freshman teammate Jonathan Nunez (Steele Canyon) scored five goals on five shots. Sophomore Cooper Lynch (University City) scored four goals on eight shots.
Rose had two steals in the game while going scoreless on two shots.
The Olympians finished third at last year’s PCAC finals. Mesa head coach Nathan Resch said a large turnout has helped buoy this team this season.
“We have great numbers and a great returning group,” Resch said. “The freshmen class has brought in a lot of good experience. That combination has created a great competitive atmosphere in practice that we’ve managed to carry over into games.”
Pacific Coast Athletic Conference
Statistical Leaders
(Through Oct. 16)
Men’s Water Polo
Goals: Emiliano Castro (Grossmont) 71, Milos Lewit (Miramar) 53, Bryce Heber (SWC) 51, Jeremy Longworth (SWC) 48, Kevin McCollum (Palomar) 47
Assists: Robert Sporleder (Miramar) 121, Thomas O’Carrol (Grossmont) 39, Eric Orozco (Mesa) 31, Jeremy Longworth (SWC) 25, Keith Patrick (Grossmont) 24
Goalkeeper saves: Dalton DeSpain (Palomar) 169, Alexander Uribe (SWC) 119, Daltin Collie (Grossmont) 114, Kyle Bos (Mesa) 71, Dionicio Saucedo (SWC) 56
Steals: Emiliano Castro (Grossmont) 29, Roman Rosser (Mesa) 25, Milos Lewit (Miramar) 22, Keith McCollum (Palomar) 21, Scott Richards (Palomar) 19
Notables
•Grossmont’s Emiliano Castro state leader with 71 goals
•Miramar’s Robert Sporleader is the state leader with 121 assists
•Palomar’s Dalton DeSpain fourth in state with 169 saves
Southwestern College Leaders
Jeremy Longworth 48 goals, 25 assists
Bryce Heber 51 goals, 21 assists
Andy Becerra 9 goals, 17 assists
Jose Nobles 12 goals, 11 assists
Jorge Salinas 14 goals, 6 assists
Rodrigo Perez 3 goals, 13 assists
Jorge Clayton 7 goals, 8 assists
Dionicio Saucedo (2-3) .544 save percentage
Alexander Uribe (2-7) .455 save percentage
CCCAA Men's Water Polo Rankings
1. Long Beach City
2. Golden West
3. LA Valley
4. Cerritos
5. Cuesta
6. Diablo Valley
7. Mesa
8. Orange Coast
9. Riverside
10. Merced
Women’s Water Polo
Notables
•Miramar’s Devon Lima ranks third in the state with 36 assists
•Mesa’s Julia Miller ranks fourth in the state with 165 goalkeeper saves
Southwestern College Leaders
Jasmyn Austin 26 goals, 9 assists
Tess Johnson 20 goals, 15 assists
Caitlin Torres 16 goals, 14 assists
Daniela Diaz 9 goals, 9 assists
Odette Ortega (7-5) .481 save percentage
COLLEGE SOCCER
SWC men road warriors hanging onto second place in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference standings
Southwestern College’s men’s soccer team will return to the home pitch on Tuesday, Oct. 29, when the Jaguars host San Diego City College in a PCAC match. Kick-off is 3 p.m.
Southwestern is coming of a 2-2 tie at Palomar last Friday (Oct. 25) after being shut out in consecutive road matches at San Diego Mesa (4-0 on Oct. 15) and at Cuyamaca (3-0 on Oct. 18).
The Jaguars sit 3-2-2 in conference play, 5-9-3 overall, on the season.
After Tuesday’s match against the Knights, it’s back on the road for a pair of games for Southwestern. The Jags visit MiraCosta on Friday, Nov. 1, and Imperial Valley on Nov. 5.
Southwestern will host Mesa on Nov. 8 and Cuyamaca on Nov. 12 to close out regular season play.
The Jaguars and Comets exchanged goals in last Friday’s game. Arturo Soltero gave Palomar a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute while Ivan Lopez, assisted by Soya Simura, tied the game for SWC in the 60th minute.
Overall, the teams produced three goals in the second half, two by the visiting Jaguars.
Palomar regained the lead at 2-1 in the 82nd minute on Soltero’s second goal of the match.
Southwestern earned the deadlock on a dramatic goal in the 90th minute by Abraham Negrete, assisted by Adrian Reyes.
Palomar’s Shem Nikiza was issued a red card in the 90th minute after picking up his second yellow card of the match. A total of seven yellow cards were issued during the game.
Anthony Mendoza (Otay Ranch) leads Southwestern on the season in scoring with five goals.
Lopez is a graduate of Olympian High School while Negrete is from San Ysidro.
Cuyamaca (7-4-5 overall) leads the PCAC standings with a 5-0-2 conference record while the Jaguars are in second place.
San Diego City is 3-2-1 in conference, 3-9-1 overall. MiraCosta is 2-1-3 in conference, 5-3-6 overall. Palomar is 2-2-3 in conference, 6-5-5 overall. Mesa is 2-3-1 in conference, 4-9-1 overall. Imperial Valley is 0-7 in conference, 0-14 overall.
Lady Jaguars looking to close season with winning record
Southwestern College’s women’s soccer team is 5-2-2 in conference play, 7-7-3 overall, as regular season play heads toward a close.
The Lady Jaguars sit fourth deep in the nine-team PCAC standings behind leaders San Diego Mesa (9-0, 13-1), MiraCosta (8-1-2, 10-2-5) and Grossmont (7-2-1, 7-5-2).
Southwestern, riding a two-game winning streak, will host its next two games: Oct. 29 against Imperial Valley at 1 p.m. and Nov. 1 against San Diego Miramar at 1 p.m.
Southwestern will travel to Grossmont on Nov. 5 for a 1 p.m. game, followed by home matches against Mesa on Nov. 8 and Cuyamaca on Nov. 12, both at 1 p.m.
Interestingly, the Lady Jags are 3-5-1 at home and 4-2-2 on the road.
Top scorers on the season for Southwestern include freshman Natalie Dubon (Honduras) with seven goals, sophomore Brianna Sanchez (Mar Vista) with two goals and five assists and freshman Norma Kascinta (Hilltop) with four goals.
Southwestern defeated host Palomar, 4-1, on Oct. 22 as Myah Montoya (Bonita Vista) scored two goals and Dubon and Sanchez both scored one goal. The Lady Jags closed the match with four unanswered goals after Palomar’s Kassandra Blanchard scored very early in the match.
Southwestern shut out host San Diego City, 4-0, on Oct. 25 behind two goals by Dubon and single strikes from Karla Garcia (Montgomery) and Andrea Reyes (Otay Ranch).
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SDSU’s Barcoo named a Jim Thorpe award semifinalist
Senior cornerback ranks second in the nation with five interceptions
San Diego State University senior Luq Barcoo has been named a semifinalist for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame has announced. Barcoo is one of 10 semifinalists for the award, which goes out to the best defensive back in college football.
Barcoo has five interceptions on the season, which is tied for the second most in FBS. Barcoo is also tied for second in interceptions per game (0.71) and passes defended per game (INT + PBU) (2.00). Besides the five interceptions, Barcoo has 29 tackles (22 solo), three tackles for loss and nine pass breakups.
Barcoo’s best game came at Colorado State on Oct. 5 when he had three interceptions on consecutive snaps, the first time that has happened in FBS since at least 2012 (and likely much longer).
Barcoo became the first San Diego State player with three interceptions in a game since current Atlanta Falcon Damontae Kazee on Sept. 5, 2015, and the first FBS player with an interception in three straight drives since Nevada’s Dameon Baber did so on Nov. 5, 2015. The three interceptions are tied for the most in an FBS game this season.
For his career, Barcoo has six interceptions and is tied for sixth among the active FBS players in interceptions per game (0.33).
Semifinalists for the award, which is based on performance on the field, athletic ability and character, are selected by a screening committee.
The 2019 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award winner is selected from the three finalists released at a later date and will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards presented by Gildan, which will be broadcast on ESPN on Dec. 12. The Paycom Jim Thorpe Award commemorative banquet will be held in Oklahoma City on Feb. 4, 2020.
The award was established in 1986 and is named after history’s greatest all-around athlete, Jim Thorpe. Thorpe excelled as a running back, passer and kicker on the offensive side of the ball, but also stood out as a defensive back. In addition to his legendary performance on the football field, Thorpe played professional baseball and won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon.
The only FBS team unbeaten on the road with at least four road wins, San Diego State (6-1, 3-1 MW) travels to UNLV (2-5, 0-3 MW) for a Saturday night game (Oct. 25) at 7:30 p.m. PT.
The Aztecs defeated host San Jose State, 27-17, on Oct. 19 to improve to 3-1 in conference play, 6-1 overall. SDSU opened the game on a 95-yard kickoff return by Kaegun Williams and later added a pair of field goals by Matt Araiza to take a 13-7 halftime lead.
Juwan Washington scored on a one-yard run and teammate Chase Jasmin ripped off a 50-yard scoring run to boost the SDSU lead to 27-10 in the third quarter.
The Aztecs racked up 348 total offense yards, including 260 rushing yards.
With six wins, SDSU becomes bowl eligible for the 10th consecutive season.
Mountain West Conference Standings
(Through Oct. 29)
West Division
San Diego State 3-1, 6-1
Fresno State 1-1, 3-3
Nevada 1-2, 4-3
Hawaii 1-2, 4-3
San Jose State 1-3, 3-4
East Division
Boise State 3-0, 6-1
Utah State 3-0, 4-2
Air Force 3-1, 5-2
Wyoming 2-1, 5-2
Colorado State 1-2, 2-5
New Mexico 0-3, 2-5
Community college football:
Saddleback 45, Southwestern 7
The Jaguars’ four-game winning streak came to an end as host Saddleback pushed to a 24-7 first-half lead and piled on 21 unanswered points in the second half in the conference opener for both teams Oct. 19 at Mission Viejo High School.
SWC never led in the Oct. 19 game. Tyler Saikhon scored on a 36-yard pass from quarterback Joshua Owen in the second quarter to narrow the Saddleback lead to 8-7. But the host team answered with 37 unanswered points.
Owen completed nine of 24 passes for 159 yards with one touchdown. Saikhon had three catches for 73 yards and one score.
Chance Nolen passed for 201 yards and four touchdowns to lead Saddleback, which accumulated 396 total offensive yards to Southwestern’s 284. Saddleback out-gained the Jaguars 187-71 in net rushing yards.
Saddleback improves to 1-0 in conference play, 6-0 overall.
Southwestern drops to 0-1 in conference play, 4-2 overall.
Riverside defeated Grossmont, 55-12, to improve to 1-0 in conference play, 6-0 overall.
Southwestern hosts Grossmont (0-1 in conference, 0-6 overall) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m.
