Friday Results

LA MIRADA, Calif. – Cal State East Bay fielded at least one swimmer in each of the championship finals on Friday at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) Championships. Alyssa Tenney and Madison Hauanio finished second and third in the 400-yard individual medley, as did Caitlin DeNise and Brittany Rojo in the 100-yard butterfly.

"We had a great preliminary session today, much better than yesterday. We started with a team meeting today, reminding each other to stay invested in the process rather than straining for a particular time or achievement. I think that refocusing really lent us a positive energy this morning, which translated into some very fast swimming," said Head Coach Ben Loorz

The opening individual swim event of the finals session was loaded with Pioneers in the middle of the Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatic Center. Tenney was the top seed, Hauanio second, and Rachel Knowles fourth following the morning prelims.

Tenney took over the lead following the breaststroke leg and 100 yards between her and the title. Fresno Pacific's Shelby Case trailed by nearly two seconds with 50 yards of freestyle left, and she out touched Tenney by .03 seconds on the final wall.

Tenney's mark of 4:32.03 is a school record and NCAA "B" cut time. Hauanio (4:34.72) joined Tenney on the podium with her third place finish. Knowles placed fifth and posted the fastest breaststroke leg of the race.

"All three athletes went lifetime-best performances at night. Alyssa's second place finish came down literally to the last stroke, and was one of the night's most exciting races," said Loorz. "Rachel dropped four seconds off her lifetime best in a single day and earned her highest-ever finish at PCSC's."

The Cal State East Bay relay teams have all been in contention for the title near the final wall. Friday night ended no different as the Pioneers and Alaska Fairbanks were separated by no more than one second at each 50-yard split during the 400-yard medley relay.

Lowe, Schwiesow, Rojo, and DeNise finished runner-up (3:46.93) by .11 seconds to the team from UAF (3:46.82) DeNise briefly gave the Pioneers the lead with 50 yards left before 2013 NCAA National Champion Bente Heller touched first at the final wall.

"Without a doubt the most exciting race of the night. On paper, this was East Bay's weakest relay, but the girls combined for something magical - a photo finish, for another silver relay medal, and a standout time," praised Loorz.

Another Pioneer was the top seed heading into the 100 fly finals as DeNise posted a NCAA Automatic National qualifying time of 54.78. In the finals she finished second to Margot Adams (54.62) of Alaska Fairbanks after posting a 55.21. Teammate Brittany Rojo swam a lifetime best in the finals (55.56) and was the fourth Pioneer over the first two Friday individual events to post a podium finish.

In total East Bay placed five individuals on the podium as Mariam Lowe took third in the 100 back (57.04). Lowe's time was a lifetime best, school record, and NCAA "B" cut. Teammate Kamaehu Alboro joined Lowe in the finals and took sixth overall (58.09).

Rachel Shimizu (200 free) and Courtney Schwiesow (100 breast) both qualified for championship finals and posted NCAA "B" cut qualifying times in the finals. Shimizu's 1:53.32 was within a tenth of a second of her prelims time and good enough for fourth place. Schwiesow's prelims time of 1:04.55 broke the previous school record by over two seconds and her time of 1:05.10 in the finals placed her eighth overall.

UC San Diego (1,101 points) is the clear favorite to win the women's team title. Cal State East Bay (777.5) and Alaska Fairbanks (696) round out the top three teams.

The final day of the PCSC Championships will get underway on Saturday, Feb. 15.