Results

LA MIRADA, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay swim team continued to impress at the 2013 Pacific Coast Swim Conference (PCSC) Championships, moving into second place with a handful of top-five on Friday at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center. The Pioneers saw both the A and B 400 medley relay teams break the school record and had 16 of their 18 prelim swimmers qualify for finals on day three, including seven who reached the A Final in their event. 

“Just good, solid, fast swimming today,” Head Coach Ben Loorz said. “Not as many fireworks as the last two nights, but everyone just got the job done.”

Among the highlights on Friday was Jenel Lopez' second individual hardware of the meet, as the senior took third in the 200 freestyle a day after setting a new program record in the 50 free and anchoring the 200 free relay to a national top-five time and runner-up finish. East Bay also placed three other 200 freestylers in the finals, including Karly Wasung and Rachel Shimizu, who both posted personal bests in the prelims to reach the A and B Finals, respectively. Hannah Cutts recovered from a slip in prelims to take several seconds off in the D Final of the 200 free.

The Cal State East Bay butterfly swimmers also proved themselves in the 100 fly on Friday, with all three reaching the finals. Brittany Rojo and Caitlin DeNise both reached the A Final after posting sub-58 second prelim times, a new personal best for Rojo. Meanwhile Erica Crain joined Rojo and DeNise in the scoring finals, reaching the B Final. In the evening session, DeNise and Rojo shaved time off their morning swims to claim fourth and sixth, while Crain gave the Pioneers three in the top 10 with her performance in the B Final.

The 400 medley relay capped the night for the Pioneers, who had already posted a pair of top-three finishes in the previous relays. In the first heat, the East Bay B squad broke the school record of 3:57.47 before the A squad came out minutes later and broke the newly established standard to steal back the record. In the end, the A squad finished fifth, while the B squad posted the sixth-best time in the event.

The Pioneers also saw all four of their 100 backstrokers reach the finals, led by Bethany Hoopman and Alyssa Tenney in the A Final. The pair came through for East Bay, claiming fourth and fifth, respectively, while Kameron Isaacs and Alyssa Littlefield reached the C and D Finals in the 100 back.

The East Bay breaststroke contingent also found success on day three, with all four reaching the finals in the 100. Rachel Knowles finished sixth in the A Final for East Bay, while both Makila Schuck and Courtney Schwiesow, who was swimming in her second event of the day, reached the B Final and claimed fifth and seventh place, respectively. Jasmine Stowers rounded out the field, reaching the D Final, where she finished fourth.

Schwiesow opened the day with the 400 IM, where she reached the B Final to score points for East Bay as its lone competitor in the event.

Cal State East Bay enters the final day of the 2013 PCSC Championships in second place. The Pioneers will open the day with morning prelims for the 1650 free, 200 breast, 100 free, 200 back and 200 fly beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The final session of the meet will feature the finals of those events as well as the 400 free relay.