Alumni Update: Former Skagit County sports star coaching Alabama women's swim team

Trevor Pyle, Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon, Wash.
·2 min read

Apr. 10—A former Skagit County high school sports star helped guide the University of Alabama women's swimming team to a historic postseason finish.

Rebecca Westfall, who was Rebecca Sturdy when she smashed state records as an Anacortes High School standout, is an assistant coach for the Crimson Tide, who placed fifth at the NCAA championships late last month.

The Crimson Tide's 266 team points were the most scored at the NCAA championships in school history. It was the team's first Top 25 finish since 2005 and its first Top 10 since 1994.

Westfall is an assistant under interim head coach Ozzie Quevedo. She joined the staff in 2019 after coaching previously at schools including Pittsburgh, Indiana State and UNC Asheville.

Westfall was an eight-time All-American and nine-time Big 12 Conference champion in her career at Texas A&M. The Aggies won a team title in 2007.

She was a four-time state champion at Anacortes, broke two state records and was named state Swimmer of the Year.

Absten stars at San Diego State

Former Burlington-Edison track and field standout Sara Absten helped San Diego State shine at home late last month.

Absten placed third in the long jump to help her team to a second-place finish at the Aztec Invitational.

Absten jumped 18 feet, 6 inches. Between her finish and the second-place finish of teammate Vanessa Spizewski (18-8), San Diego State earned 14 points in the event.

San Diego State scored 115.5 team points, behind only USC's 117.

Absten, a junior who competes in multiple events, placed seventh in the meet's heptathlon, competing in five of the seven events and claiming a fourth-place finish in the long jump (17-6 3/4) and a ninth-place finish in the javelin (70-11).

She won the Class 2A state title in the high jump in 2016 while competing for Burlington-Edison and later competed for IMG Academy in Florida.

— Reporter Trevor Pyle: 360-416-2156, tpyle@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @goskagit, Facebook.com/bytrevorpyle