Saddleback College hosted the OEC Championship Conference April 16-18 and Fullerton College recorded some of their best times.

The conference held six sessions, two per day for three days with one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. After two and a half long days, Hornet swimmers finished strong.

“I got a 0:53 and I shocked myself,” said Gabbi Garcia, after finishing the 100 yard freestyle. “I had to call my mom like, ‘Mom! Guess what!'”

Garcia cut one second from her time in the championship heat and took second overall with a 0:53.97.

Joe Babbitt kept up the trend when he also took second overall in the 100 yard freestyle race, cutting one second in the final race with a 0:46.73.

In the men’s 200 yard breaststroke, Kyle Graves and Adrian Harary both conquered personal bests in their championship heat and cut 11 and 12 seconds from their race times, respectively. Graves finished with a 2:13.23 and Harary with a 2:15.97.

“We had a lot of good swims,” said Coach Pete Snyder. “I think 95 percent of our swimmers had some of their best times, even in the finals, so we have a lot to be proud of.”

The conference closed with the 400 yard freestyle relay. Beforehand several swimmers expressed feeling just a little exhausted as the sun started to go down on the final day of the championship conference.

The women’s 400 yard relay cut 14 seconds from their race time, finishing with a 3:52.77 and the men cut 10 seconds, finishing with 3:15.68.

Overall, Fullerton men placed fifth out of seven at the conference with 348 points, and Fullerton women placed sixth out of seven with 334.5 points.

Snyder said the race times from this conference will be sent to see where Fullerton College swimmers stand for the state championships and expressed confidence in both Babbitt and Garcia in attending.

The State Championships will be held April 30-May 2 at East Los Angeles College.

For a detailed list of race times and rankings from the OEC Championship Conference, visit oecsports.com.