Day 1 Results  |  Day 2 Results

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. -- Cal State East Bay junior Morgan McClure captured the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) individual championship in the 200 IM on Thursday to highlight CSUEB's performance in the second day of the PCSC Championship meet at East Los Angeles College.

The Pioneers have a total of 330.5 points at the midpoint of the four-day event, putting them in fifth place just behind Division I squad Pepperdine. However, the Pioneers have had to forego diving points each of the past two days, and they'll have an opportunity to vault up the leaderboard over the next two.

McClure broke the school record in the 200 IM during Thursday morning's prelims. She broke it yet again in the championship final, touching the wall in 2:02.26 narrowly ahead of Fresno Pacific's Daria Belova. McClure's time is an NCAA "B" and currently ranks as the eighth-fastest in the nation this season.

"Morgan continues to rise to the challenge," said head coach Shane Pelton. "Winning any event in our conference is an extremely impressive feat. But it's not just the winning -- I'm constantly impressed with the racing confidence that she brings to this program and how it inspires the rest of our athletes."

The Pioneers also had four swimmers qualify for the "B" final in the 200 IM, with Claire Beaty placing 11th (2:08.06), Rita Gomez taking 13th (2:09.70), Victoria Zukeran finishing 15th (2:12.19), and Laurel Carpenter touching the wall in 16th (2:14.00). 

Prior to that, the first event of the day was the 500 Free, and although East Bay didn't qualify anyone for the championship final, the Pioneers had several impressive performances. Kayleigh Davidson, Ryleigh Weight, and Kali Kearns all swam lifetime bests in the evening finals. Davidson took 18th place with a time of 5:07.86, Eight took 19th in 5:09.01, and Kearns placed 23rd in 5:15.85.

The 200 IM was followed by the shortest race of the meet, the 50 Free. Sophomore Vivy Hua finally eclipsed the 24-second mark in both the prelims and finals. She just qualified for the championship final with an eighth place finish in prelims. Then in the evening, Hua swam a lifetime best 23.89 to finish in a tie for fourth place in the conference. She also notched an NCAA "B" cut.

"Vivy has really stepped up for this program," Pelton praised. "We needed a top sprinter and she has grown into that role. She gets better every time she touches the water, and breaking that 24-second barrier in the 50 free is only the start."

In yet another remarkable feat, junior Elizabeth Cocker was the last place finisher in the last finals heat of the 50 Free. The main reason for this is she didn't swim a 50 Free. Instead she swam a 50 Butterfly and touched the wall in 26.68. If it's confirmed, this would stand as the United States record by a deaf swimmer in the 50 Fly.

Thursday's festivities closed with the 200 Free Relay, and the Pioneers turned in a strong effort to notch third place points. The foursome of Madison Hauanio, Hua, Shelby Parker, and McClure finished in 1:34.97, which is currently the 11th-fastest time in the nation.

"Overall I was proud of our women for bouncing back tonight after just an average prelims session," Pelton summarized. "Conference championship meets can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. After the prelims, we were able to sit down, put some things in perspective, and come back energized and confident that we would perform during the evening -- and that's exactly what we did."

The action picks up on Friday for the third day of PCSC Championships. The Pioneers will race in five events -- the 400 Medley Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 Backstroke -- with prelims in the mornings and finals in the evening starting at 4:30 p.m.