Live video | Live results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Cal State East Bay swim team claimed a 12th-place finish in the 800 free relay on the third day of NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. Competing in just one event on Friday, the Pioneers beat out a pair of teams and scored 10 points on the penultimate day of the event.

Despite never having competed in the 800 free relay together before, Jenel Lopez, Brittany Rojo, Caitlin DeNise and Erica Crain made the most of their chance to compete in the relay at NCAA Championships, posting a time of 7:43.29 and topping a pair of teams to score points in the team competition.

Only Lopez was a regular among the 800 free relay teams during the season for the Pioneers and, despite their primary designation as sprinters, the group beat out both St. Cloud State and PCSC competitor Simon Fraser in the race and finished under eight seconds off the school record. Tampa claimed the NCAA title in 7:24.70, followed by Wayne State and UC San Diego in second and third, respectively.

"Today's 800 Free Relay was actually pretty special," Head Coach Ben Loorz said. "As sprinters, what they did today was to step up with confidence and power through the most difficult relay event in the NCAA.This is not surprising, as this group of women has proven time and again this season that they will accept any challenge — they love the race. 

"Brittany, Caitlin and Erica split lifetime best efforts by 4-6 seconds each, and Jenel swam her third 1:51 in the space of 24 hours. They were rewarded with a little luck when some other teams disqualified, and the resultant 12th place is a huge accomplishment."

Although they only have four swimmers in contention at the championship meet, the Pioneers now sit in 20th place in the team standings with 41 points. Drury, Wayne State and UCSD sit in first, second and third, respectively, but just 40 points separate first and third going into the final day of the meet.

Saturday morning, Lopez will kick off the penultimate session of the championship meet in the sixth heat of the 100 freestyle prelims beginning at 8 a.m. PT. The East Bay contingent will close out prelims in the second heat of the 200 free relay. Should Lopez and the relay team make the finals, the team will wrap up its first NCAA Division II Championships appearance since 1992 in the evening session beginning at 2:30 p.m. PT.

Live video of the final day of NCAA Championships is available here and live results will be posted here.