Morton wins O.E.C. swimmer of the year

Golden West's freshman swimmer, Jade Morton, has been named Orange Empire Conference's Co-Female Swimmer of the Year after claiming the conference titles in he 500 yard freestyle, 1650 yard freestyle and the 200 yard individual medley at the OEC Conference Championships at Fullerton College. Morton split the title with Orange Coast College's Kierstin Colesen.

Despite Morton's efforts and tremendous individual contribution of 60 points to the Rustlers total, Golden West lost the conference championship title to OCC by a large, 473-point margin and finished in third 310.5 points behind Riverside College.

Morton's times at the conference finals earned her a few spots in the GWC record books as well. Her times of 5:12.12 and 2:13.36 in the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM, respectively, are both the fifth fastest times in school history in those events. Her 17:57.66 in the 1650 freestyle is the second fastest time in GWC history behind only Micha Burden's 17:15.69, set in 2000.

The GWC men's swimming team finished similarly in the conference championships, behind both OCC and RC with the Pirates again claiming the conference title. While Luke Pebley of Golden West tallied a team-leading 44 points for the Rustlers, it couldn't compete with nine OCC swimmers that each earned at least 46 points.

The third place finishes represent the seventh straight year that neither the men's nor women's swimming teams won the conference championship. Both teams will participate in the state championships at Fullerton College from Thursday, April 28 to Saturday, April 30.