Day 1 Results  |  Day 2 Results

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Cal State East Bay swim team went on the road to conference rival Alaska this past weekend and picked up impressive victories in dual meets on back-to-back days. 

The Pioneers, who entered the week ranked No. 24 nationally, topped the Nanooks 113-92 on Friday evening, then came back the following morning and won 115-90. East Bay has been victorious as a team in all four events so far in 2015-16.

"Alaska is always a first-rate competitor," said head coach Been Loorz. "It is a privilege to be able to travel up north and compete against one of our closest conference rivals; this is a trip that we don't take for granted."

Nov. 13 -- Cal State East Bay 113, Alaska 92

After Alaska opened Friday's meet with a victory in the 400 medley, the Pioneers picked up big wins in back-to-back races. They finished first, third, and fourth in the 1000 freestyle, led by Rachel Shimizu in 10:32.89. Shimizu then came right back in the 200 freestyle and won that event in 1:54.76, pacing the team to yet another 1-3-4 finish.

"The Friday night meet is always a bit tougher for us, partly because of the lengthy travel on the day before, but also because the event lineup favored Alaska a little bit," said Loorz. "We were still able to pull ahead early with a heroic double by Rachel Shimizu to win back-to-back events with only a few minutes rest in between. I think this move surprised the other team, and Rachel's ability to pull this off might surprise anyone who hasn't been watching her train lately. But we knew she could do it -- it was a calculated risk that paid off. The meet was still a close battle after that, but we held the upper hand."

Alaska's Martha Hood (24.61) out-touched Alyssa Littlefield (24.95) in the 50 freestyle, but the Pioneers still earned second and third place points thanks to her and third-place swimmer Vivy Hua (25.36).

It was a similar script in the next race, the 100 individual medley, as the Nanooks notched the first-place points. However, Madison Hauanio, Rita Gomez, and Makila Schuck took second, third, and fourth for the Pioneers. Hood also took first place for Alaska in the 200 butterfly, but Cassidy Humphrey was right on her heels with a second place time of 1:00.40.

Hauanio captured a victory in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.98, leading an East Bay trio that finished 1-3-4. Miriam Lowe then led the squad with a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:00.68.

Shimizu picked up her third win of the evening in the 500 freestyle (5:09.56), out-pacing second-place teammate Hannah Cutts by two seconds. After the Pioneers went 3-4-5 in the 100 backstroke, led by Schuck in 1:08.08, they closed out the dual with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay. Littlefield, Cutts, Hua, and Hauanio finished in 1:38.43 to earn first place points and secure the Friday victory.

Nov. 14 -- Cal State East Bay 115, Alaska 90

The Pioneers were back in the pool about 12 hours later and took care of business again. Alaska opened the event with a win in the 200 medley relay, but Shimizu quickly got East Bay on the scoreboard in the second race. The senior dominated the field in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:56.94. Cutts took third place and freshman Ryleigh Weight took fourth for the Pioneers.

CSUEB also went 1-3-4 in the 200 freestyle, with Hauanio leading the way in 1:55.73. Meanwhile, the 50 freestyle results mirrored Friday's, with Littlefield and Hua finished second and third to Hood.

Another freshman stepped up for East Bay in the 400 individual medley as the Pioneers finished 1-2-3. Rita Gomez claimed top honors, touching the wall in 4:50.83.

"Freshmen comprised nearly half of our travel squad for this meet, so it was encouraging to see them already playing a major role in our success," Loorz added. "Rita had a gutsy win in the 400 IM, and Ryleigh stepped up with some great distance swims, which is not normally in her pantheon of events.  Several others played key roles in our success, swimming to second and third place finishes."

The Pioneers went 2-3-4 in the 200 butterfly, with senior Arolyn Basham leading the way in 2:15.52. In the next race, Littlefield out-touched Alaska's Katie Stark to win the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.14.

Hauanio took second place for the Pioneers in the 200 backstroke, finishing in 2:08.92. Then, sophomore Claire Beaty was runner-up in the 200 breaststroke, edging out Schuck in third place with a time of 2:31.01. In between those two events, East Bay once again scored big points in a distance race, with Shimizu and Cutts finishing first and second in the 500 freestyle.

"Saturday was a much better meet for us in terms of it being a team effort,"Loorz said. "We had multiple event winners and also displayed great depth. Alyssa had a clutch 100 freestyle swim, shutting out their top two sprinters, and then a 1-2-3 finish by our 400 IM swimmers really slammed it home."

The Nanooks closed out the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay, but it wasn't enough to make up their deficit. The Pioneers ended up winning by nearly identical scores on back-to-back days.

"Our depth really helped us win this meet," Loorz noted. "One area where we need improvement, as this weekend clearly showed, is our relays. Alaska won three of the four. It is a testament to our tenacity and good coverage across all events that this didn't sink us, but if we are to compete well against Fresno Pacific and especially Cal Baptist in December, our relays need to be sharper."

The Pioneers now have nearly a month off from competition before co-hosting a Christmas Invitational at Santa Rosa Junior College on Dec. 17-19.