Complete Results

LAS VEGAS – The Cal State East Bay swimming team made up a 23-point gap on the final day of the UNLV Winter Invitational to finish in fourth place and as the top Division II squad at the meet on Monday. The Pioneers relied on three top-10 finishes to pass Fresno Pacific in the team standings and set a new school record in the 400 freestyle relay. East Bay finished the three-day meet having broken seven school records, including a pair of records set over 20 years ago.

The Pioneers' top relay team headed into the final race of the meet, the 400 free relay, with the team tied in the standings with conference rival Fresno Pacific. The team of Caitlin DeNise, Alyssa Tenney, Karly Wasung and Jenel Lopez finished in 3:32.13 to set a new school record by two seconds and take fourth. The group beat out the Sunbirds by three-tenths of a second to not only beat them in the race but also to claim a two-point advantage over FPU in the final team standings. In addition, the finish also ranks among the top 25  400 free relay times in NCAA Division II this season.

For the second straight day, Lopez reached an A Final, this time in the 100 freestyle. Lopez was the only non-Division I competitor to reach the A Final where she finished sixth with a time of 52.61. DeNise joined Lopez in the finals, finishing 14th overall with a season best time of 53.39, while Wasung placed third in the C Final to take 19th overall.

Rachel Knowles made it two A Final appearances for the Pioneers on Monday, reaching the 200 breaststroke A Final after setting a new season best by five seconds in the prelims. Knowles shaved another seven-tenths off her prelim time to take eighth overall in the final. Both Courtney Schwiesow and Rachel Shimizu joined Knowles in the finals, with Schwiesow placing first in the C Final to finish 17th overall after taking three seconds off her prelim time. Shimizu finished 24th overall.

After taking four seconds off her season best in the prelims of the 100 back to reach the B Final, Tenney came within three-tenths of a second of breaking the school record in the finals. Tenney finished third in the B Final and 11th overall with a time of 2:07.56. Meanwhile, Bethany Hoopman, who also improved on her season best by four seconds in the prelims, finished fifth in the C Final to place 21st overall.

Shimizu opened the day with a fifth-place showing in the 1650 freestyle, finishing behind four Division I swimmers. Hannah Cutts and Jenni Perez joined Shimizu in the 1650, placing 20th and 21st, respectively.

With the last major invitational meet before PCSC Championships behind them, the Pioneers will look to finish the season strong in their final five dual meets. Among those five meets, four are against conference opponents and will serve as important tests as the team prepares for championships in February.

Cal State East Bay will take a break for the holidays before returning to action with a double dual meet with UC San Diego and Grand Canyon in La Jolla on Jan. 5.