Saturday Results

LA MIRADA, Calif. – Cal State East Bay senior Caitlin DeNise earned her second Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) Championship individual title on Saturday winning the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 50.94 seconds. The Pioneers finished second in the final meet standings behind UC San Diego amongst the 11-team field.

"This was an outstanding meet for East Bay Swimming. We began this season with a goal of earning over 1,000 points at the Conference Championship. To be able to finish today with 1,116.5 points is a great accomplishment.  With a small team and no diving representation, East Bay swimmers really rose to the occasion," praised East Bay Head Coach Ben Loorz following the conclusion of Saturday's competition.

On Thursday, DeNise became the first swimmer in East Bay history to earn a PCSC individual title doing so in the 200 individual medley. On Saturday she outclassed the field in the 100 free as the only swimmer to break 51 seconds. DeNise's prelim swim of 50.80 seconds was her fastest time and well under the NCAA "B" cut qualifying time.

DeNise was the PCSC Female Swimmer of the Meet based on the point total she amassed throughout the conference championship meet. Loorz was named the Women's Coach of the Meet as the Pioneers finished runner-up for the second straight year.

Eight different Pioneers qualified for the championship finals with Rachel Shimizu and Hannah Cutts starting the final day of competition in the 1,650 free. As they did in the 1,000 on Wednesday, Shimizu finished fourth (17:41.62) and Cutts was not far behind in fifth (17:45.18).

It was the first of three sets of Pioneer teammates that qualified for "A" finals including Mariam Lowe, Alyssa Tenney, and Madison Hauanio in the 200 back. Lowe took fourth finishing in a school record and NCAA "B" cut time of 2:04.14, just .04 seconds from a podium finish. Tenney took sixth (2:06.71) and Hauanio eighth (2:08.15), while teammate Kamaehu Alboro won the "B" final (2:06.43) in the prior heat.

Senior Rachel Knowles snuck into the championship final of the 200 breast after finishing eighth in the prelims by .03 seconds. She joined teammate Courtney Schwiesow who qualified for her first two PCSC Championship finals in the 100 breast and 200 breast this season.

Schwiesow finished seventh overall and broke Knowles' school record in a time of 2:22.53. Knowles closed out her collegiate career with an eighth place finish and improved by a second over her time from the PCSC finals a year ago, touching the wall in 2:24.31.

Brittany Rojo was the second fastest qualifier in the 200 fly after posting a school record time of 2:05.59 in the morning prelims. She came back in the finals finishing fifth overall in a time of 2:07.93.

All five East Bay relay teams earned runner-up finishes following the final event of the competition. Hauanio, Tenney, Rojo, and DeNise clocked in at 3:26.79 in the 400 free relay placing well under the NCAA "B" cut time. DeNise clocked the fastest relay split of the event anchoring the squad in 50.42 seconds over the final 100 yards.

UC San Diego won the women's team competition with 1,564 points. Cal State East Bay (1,116.5) and Alaska Fairbanks (929) round out the top three teams.

"The PCSC as a whole sent a loud message to (Division II), that many of the major players reside here on the West Coast. East Bay Swimming is proud to help lead the burgeoning swimming movement in the PCSC," said Loorz.

Cal State East Bay swimmers will compete at the NCAA Division II National Championships starting on March 12 in Geneva, Ohio.

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