Sierra College Men’s and Women’s Aquatics Dominate at State Level

May 13, 2022
Group photo of Sierra College men's swimming team holding state champion banner
Sierra College Men’s Swimming and Diving Team proudly holds up the 2022 California State Champions banner and trophy.

Men’s Swimming and Diving Win Sierra’s First Back-to-Back State Championships and Women Finish First in NorCal and Second in State

Sierra College Aquatics capped off an extremely successful season with a Men’s State Championship and Women’s State Runner-up. On their way to the State Championship, the Sierra College Men finished the regular season with their fifth straight Big 8 Conference title. The conference meet was highlighted by Jake Reuter winning three events and setting a conference record in the 200 Individual Medley, Tommy Collins winning his three events and setting a conference record in the 200 Butterfly, and Evan Terry’s three event wins while also setting a record in the 100 Backstroke. Performance of the Meet honors went to Andrew Espinosa who won the 100 Freestyle in the time of 45.34.

“These young men are an exceptional group,” said Chris Breitbart, Sierra College Men’s Swimming and Diving Head Coach. “They found a way to win races that seemed out of touch. This team is fearless when it comes to racing.”

Andrew Espinosa set the tone in the first final when he anchored the 200 Freestyle relay with a 19.9 relay split to pass Orange Coast for the first win of the meet. Jake Reuter followed suit, winning all three of his events at the state meet and being named CCCAA (California Community College Athletic Association) Co-State swimmer of the year. Individual event winners also included Andrew Espinosa (100 Freestyle and 200 Freestyle) and Evan Terry (100 Backstroke). Sierra also triumphed in both the 200 and 400 Medley Relays. 

The 2022 Sierra College Men’s Swimming and Diving State Champions:

  • Jake Reuter: All-American, 6x State Champion, CCCAA Swimmer of the year
  • Andrew Espinosa: All-American, 5x State Champion
  • Evan Terry: All-American, 4x State Champion
  • Caleb Tracy: All-American, 2x State Champion
  • Tommy Collins: All-American, State Champion
  • Aiden Thompson: All-American, State Champion
  • Jacob McCormick: All-American
  • Keven Sahs: All-American
  • Joshua Smet: All-American
  • Wyatt Sommers: All-American
  • John Torres: All-American
  • Trayton Heinzen: All-American
  • Charles Fleming: All-American
  • Christopher Gholso: All-Conference
  • Mathew Crouch: All-Conference
  • Joseph Holloway: All-Conference
  • Hayden Kapanen: All-Conference
  • Joseph Pardini: All-Conference
  • Zachary Hauptman: All-Conference
  • Jacob Pfanenstiel
  • Nathaniel Johnson
  • Johnathan Frink
  • Derek Daly
  • Ethan Dwork
  • Filip Crnogorac
  • Benjamin Wiborn

Sierra College Men’s Swimming and Diving is led by head coach Chris Breitbart and assistant coach Bruce Hastie. Scott Decker is the head coach of Sierra College Women’s Swimming and Diving, Kelsey Carrigan is the assistant coach, and Kari Elliott oversees the divers.

“These are the first back-to-back state championships in Sierra College history,” said Rachel Johnson, Sierra College Dean of Kinesiology and Director of Athletics. “Coach Breitbart did a fantastic job in keeping our student-athletes engaged and focused on the goal of winning it all.” 

Of the Women’s State Runner-up finish Johnson said, “I am extremely proud of our Women’s Swimming and Diving team. They battled through adversity for the entire 2021-22 season and school year, and this is the result of their hard work, and perseverance. Our Women finished 2nd place in the extremely competitive Big 8 Conference and topped that with a 2nd place finish at the 2022 State Swimming and Diving Championships, finishing 1st from Northern California. 

“For our program to accomplish this, it took a complete team effort from all our women athletes both at the Conference Meet and the State Championships. They continued a tradition of finishing in the Top 8 at the State Championships for the 19th straight year. Wolverine Pride has never been more on display than through the efforts of these young women this season.”  

The 2022 Sierra College Women’s Swimming and Diving State Runner-ups: 

  • Camryn Bussey: 100 Freestyle State Champion, CC All-American 
  • Kaleyah Calhoun: State Meet Participant 
  • Logan Cherry 
  • Sage Crews: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Ashley Darr 
  • Kristin Dugdale 
  • Arabella Fannin 
  • Sierra Gartrell: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Hope Grantham 
  • Sara Hadj-Bahramiyan: State Meet Participant  
  • Shay Hanson 
  • Allison Harrington: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Bella Katapodis: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Sarah Mudd 
  • Laurel Plewe: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Piper Rea: State Meet Participant, CC All-American 
  • Darienne Sandhu 
  • Kelly Swift 
  • Kimmy Tiss 
  • Nately Wareckiy-Cabreros 
  • Isabella Wilhelms: State Meet Participant, CC All-American

About Sierra College 

Sierra College District is rising to the needs of our community. Sierra College serves 3,200 square miles of Northern California with campuses in Roseville, Rocklin, Grass Valley, and Truckee. With approximately 125 degree and certificate programs, Sierra College is ranked first in Northern California (Sacramento north) for transfers to four-year universities, offers career/technical training, and classes for upgrading job skills. Sierra graduates can be found in businesses and industries throughout the region. More information is at www.sierracollege.edu  

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