Results

HAYWARD, Calif. – Grabbing top finishes in nearly every race of the meet, the Cal State East Bay swimming team kicked off the 2012-13 campaign with a 135-98 victory over Mills College on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Pool. The Pioneers had the top time in 13 of the 14 races at the meet, including impressive early performances from newcomers Caitlin DeNise and Hannah Cutts and returners Jenel Lopez, Rachel Knowles and Alyssa Tenney.

"The East Bay women had several outstanding performances in this season 'opener,' Head Coach Ben Loorz said. "For the returners, Jenel Lopez had a commanding 200-yd. freestyle. Rachel Knowles in the breaststroke, Alyssa Tenney in the backstroke, and Jenni Perez in the distance freestyle events all clocked times significantly better than their early-season times a year ago, which is very encouraging."

 Cal State East Bay opened the meet with a one-two finish in the 200 medley relay. The first-place team of Tenney, newcomer Makila Schuck, DeNise and Lopez, posted a time of 1:53.31 to earn an eight-second victory and 11 points for the Pioneers. East Bay's second-place team of Bethany Hoopman, Knowles, Jasmine Stowers and Jenni Perez finished in 2:01.87, while Mills took third nearly 25 seconds later.

DeNise made her individual debut in the 50 free, where she posted a 24.69 to just beat Lopez and claim her first of three individual victories on the day. The Modesto Junior College transfer made the most of her opening meet with a four-tenths of a second win over Tenney in the 100 free and a victory in the 200 IM with a time of 2:17.7, to go along with the victory in the 200 medley relay.

In the 200 free, Lopez took the victory but was forced to hold off Cutts, who had an impressive race and finished just four-tenths of a second later in 1:58.46. Cutts added to her successful day with the top time in the 500 free, securing a third-place finish in the 100 free, again finishing less than a second behind the winner, and anchoring the winning 400 free relay team that also included Lopez, Tenney and Shuck.

Tenney and Hoopman battled it out in the 100 back, with Tenney taking the race in a time of 1:02.37. Hoopman finished less than two seconds behind her, while Mills' Jessica Lix made a race out of it, touching the wall in 1:08.69. In the 200 back, Hoopman picked up a four-second win over freshman Rachel Shimizu with a time of 2:21.06.

Newcomer Courtney Schwiesow claimed a narrow win over Schuck and Knowles in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:11.19, just three-tenths ahead of Schuck and eight-tenths ahead of Knowles. Schwiesow was not as fortunate in the 200 breast, which Knowles won by more than four seconds. 

In the first individual race of the meet, Shimizu posted her first win in the Red and Black, leading from start to finish in the 1000 yard freestyle to post a time of 11:06.61. Mills' Emily Gott topped Shimizu by four seconds in the in the 200 butterfly to claim the Cyclones lone race victory.

"I was impressed by the squad that Mills brought today - they are much larger and more talented than a year ago, and they displayed great energy," Loorz said. "It is always a pleasure to host them."

Overall, the Pioneers saw their newcomers claim seven victories in the individual races, including DeNise's team-leading three on the day. East Bay also took both relays and posted one-two finishes in 12 of the 14 races at the meet.

"For the new team members, Rachel Shimizu had a promising swim in the 1000 freestyle," Loorz said. "Caitlin DeNise was the headliner, winning both the 50 and 100 sprint freestyle events, as well as throwing down a somewhat hidden 50 butterfly split in the 200 medley relay that was as good as any we've ever had here at East Bay. She will be an instrumental relay contender for us this season. Freshman Hannah Cutts was probably the swimmer of the meet, with a huge win the in 500 freestyle."

Following a break from competition, Cal State East Bay returns to action at the Bay Area Invitational on Oct. 27 in Oakland.

"We have the Bay Area Invite at the end of this month, and I am very excited to see our swimmers stack up against several teams in a larger context," Loorz said.