RESULTS: Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Complete Meet

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay swim team turned in an outstanding performance at East Los Angeles College on Monday in the final session of the 2016 Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) Championships, leaping another spot in the standings to finish in second place with 1096.5 points.

Although the Pioneers don't have a diving team and therefore cannot score diving points, this marks the third time in the last four seasons the Pioneers have placed second at the PCSC Championships. 

East Bay added over 300 points on Monday to leap-frog Pepperdine and secure runner-up honors. The No. 2 team in the nation, UC San Diego, claimed its eighth straight title, but the Pioneers managed to beat a pair of Division I team in Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, as well as Division II rivals Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific. 

The Pioneers entered the last day of action trailing Pepperdine by 31 points and hanging onto a slim lead over Loyola Marymount. The East Bay swimmers knew they had their work cut out for them to claim the runner-up spot. Senior Rachel Shimizu set the tone for Monday's final session in the opening event, the 1650 free, going head-to-head with LMU's top milers. At 1000 yards she trailed both, but then decided to go "lion-hunting."  She chased them down and pulled away with 200 yards to go, and the tidal wave was in motion. Shimizu earned All-Conference honors for her fifth-place finish in the event, and East Bay continued to pull away all evening long. 

Assisting Shimizu in the long distance 1650 was junior Kayleigh Davidson, who swam a personal best 17:57.82 to earn 10th place overall. Freshman Jande Monteon and senior Hannah Cutts were 16th and 17th, respectively.

The next event, the 200 backstroke, was East Bay's strongest of the weekend. Newcomer Ryleigh Weight extended her time drops from the morning prelims, swimming to a 10th-place finish. The "A" final was a showcase of East Bay swimmers, with transfer Morgan McClure pacing the Pioneers. She was fourth overall, just ahead of veteran Mariam Lowe (fifth), with her prelim time ranking No. 3 on CSUEB's all time list. Freshman Miranda McDonnell had her first "A" final appearance and finished eighth in the event. All three top-eight finishers captured All-PCSC honors as they helped the team make a big push in the point standings.

The 100 freestyle turned out to be an exceptionally strong event for the Pioneers this season. After hardly scoring a point in the this event during the 2014-15 campaign, the Pioneers showed great improvement at the sprint distance, garnering 87 points Monday evening. Madison Hauanio cemented her status as the Pioneers' highest point scorer of the weekend when she came in fifth place with an NCAA "B" cut of 51.44. The "B" final was rife with East Bay swimmers, as training partners Cassidy Humphrey, Littlefield, Vivy Hua, and Clarisse Aguilar were good for 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, respectively. All four were under the 53-second mark.

Sophomore Claire Beaty continued her re-writing of the East Bay breaststroke records by swimming 2:18.39 in the prelims of the 200 Breaststroke. This is the second time Beaty has broken the 200-yard record this year, having lowered it by over two-and-a-half seconds over the course of the season. In the finals she placed fifth overall, while senior Makila Schuck took eighth to earn her first All-Conference honor in this event.

Next was the 200 butterfly, in which freshman Courtney Nuttall and senior Arolyn Basham touched the wall right next to each other, earning 13th and 14th.  Tana Wilson, senior co-captain, scored 24th.

The final event of the championship was the 400 freestyle relay. East Bay's prior display of depth in the 100 freestyle predicted success in this event, and indeed the "A" relay earned third, while the "B" relay was actually right behind with the 4th-fastest time overall. The impressive team of McClure, Humphrey, Alyssa Littlefield, and Hauanio swam 3:27.34, an NCAA "B" cut and currently top 10 in the nation. The "B" relay is currently in the top 20.

The 400 free relay put the exclamation mark an exciting comeback over the course of the last three days of the meet, during which time East Bay displayed depth and tenacity as it steadfastly marched from sixth all the way to second place. Next up, the NCAA Division II Championships take place Mar. 9-12 in Indianapolis, Ind., with selections to be announced the week of Feb. 22.