Results

LA MIRADA, Calif. – Jenel Lopez led off the 800 free relay with a top-10 200 split to help the Cal State East Bay swim team open the 2013 Pacific Coast Swim Conference Championships with a bang on Wednesday night at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatic Center. Competing in the only swim events on the first night of the conference meet, the Pioneers set new program records in both the 800 free and 200 medley relays and saw several lifetime and season bests to kick off the four-day meet. 

Lopez came out swinging in the 800 free relay final, her first race of the meet, posting a 25.48 through the first 50, the best 50 split among the 80 competitors. She continued to push through the second 50 and final 100 of her leg, bringing the Pioneers to the first transition with a lead over both Alaska Fairbanks and UC San Diego. Lopez' time of 1:50.83 set a new lifetime best and a new program record, taking nearly three seconds off her record-setting time in the 200 free from last year's championships.

In addition, the time falls well under the NCAA Championships “B” standard qualifying time and within seven-tenths of a second of the automatic qualifying standard of 1:50.21 for the 200 freestyle. The senior now holds the ninth-best 200 free time this season in Division II, which will likely earn her a trip to NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Ala., in March.

Following Lopez' impressive leadoff leg, the rest of the 800 free relay team put forth an inspired performance. First, Rachel Shimizu put together a second leg that included a 26.96 first 50 and kept the Pioneers within striking range of both the Tritons and Nanooks. Hannah Cutts followed with a 200 lifetime best of 1:55.07, including an opening 50 in 25.86. Karly Wasung anchored the team with her third lifetime best in the 200 freestyle this season, posting a 1:53.02 to take more than two seconds off her previous best and hanging with Fairbanks' anchor and All-American Bente Heller, who holds top 15 times in both the 100 and 200 free this season, until the very end.

For their efforts, Lopez, Shimizu, Cutts and Wasung took third in a program record 7:35.57 to claim East Bay's first hardware of the meet. The squad blew away the old record from last season by nearly nine seconds and finished just half a second back of Fairbanks while posting the 11th-best time in Division II this season and grabbing an NCAA “B” cut.

“Jenel sets the standard for us as far as hard work and determination are concerned and that paid off tonight,” Head Coach Ben Loorz said. “Not only did she lead off with that great time but she also set the tone for the rest of the relay to put together an impressive performance. We're so proud of Jenel and the entire 800 relay team.”

In the only other event of the night, the Pioneers placed fifth in the 200 medley relay final, led by a lifetime best of 29.99 from breaststroker Rachel Knowles and Caitlin DeNise's 25.21 in the butterfly, the fourth-fastest fly split of the event. Alyssa Tenney and Kameron Isaacs combined with Knowles and DeNise to help the East Bay “A” squad shaved a hundredth of a second off the previous program record, finishing in 1:47.47 to top the standard set earlier this season.

In the B Final, the Pioneer “B” team of Bethany Hoopman, Makila Schuck, Brittany Rojo and Erica Crain also came through with an impressive performance. Again the breaststroke and butterfly shined, with Schuck posting a 30.06 and Rojo notching a 25.69 in the fly. In the leadoff spot, Hoopman was one of just seven backstrokers to post a sub-28 second time in the field of 29 teams, while Erica Crain anchored with a 23.85 50 free that was one of just seven sub-24 second anchor legs in the event. The group finished with the seventh-best time overall in the event, finishing second in the B Final with a 1:48.04.

The Pioneer “C” 200 medley relay team of Alyssa Littlefield, Courtney Schwiesow, Jasmine Stowers and Jenni Perez posted a time of 1:53.50, getting another great performance from the second leg, this time via Schwiesow, who went 30.37, while Perez, usually a distance freestyler, anchored the relay with a 25.79.

“All of our breaststrokers had a great night in the 200 medley relay,” Loorz said. “A sub-30 in the breaststroke is impressive and Rachel was able to do that tonight, while both Makila and Courtney were also around 30 seconds which is great. We also saw Erica, Caitlin and Brittany compete really well in the event and all three teams had positive performances.”

One of just three women's teams that does not compete in diving, Cal State East Bay currently sits in eighth place with 104 points after just three events have been scored, including three-meter diving. The Pioneers sit just four points back of Alaska Fairbanks and both teams are less than 50 points out of the top three despite their lack of diving points. UC San Diego currently sits in the lead with 192 points, while Pepperdine is second with 157 and Fresno Pacific rounds out the top three with 153 points.

“We're off to a great start,” Loorz said. “I'm hoping tonight was just a preview of what's to come over the next three days. Hopefully we really were just getting the ball rolling tonight.”

Cal State East Bay will open day two with prelims for the 500 free, 200 individual medley and 50 free in the morning session. The Pioneers will conclude the day with the finals for each of the morning events, as well as the 200 free relay. Day two of the 2013 PCSC Championships begins with prelims in the 500 free at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Check here for updated results throughout the meet.