Results (PDF)

HAYWARD, Calif. -- The No. 21 ranked Cal State East Bay swim team wrapped up its 2017-18 regular season on Saturday with its final home meet on a gorgeous sunny day at Pioneer Pool. The Pioneers fell to No. 11 Fresno Pacific in a dual between two of the top squads in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference by a final score of 185-77. 

The meet was preceded by an emotional "Senior Day" ceremony, during which East Bay celebrated the careers of its nine seniors -- Claire Beaty, Jensyn Breakfield, Elizabeth Cocker, Madison Faulkner, Kali Kearns, Morgan McClure, Shelby Parker, Cassidy Waters, and Yingfei Zhang -- who raced in Pioneer Pool for the final time this afternoon.

The Pioneers posted several impressive performances in their final competitive tune-up before next month's PCSC Championships, led by Morgan McClure's victory in the 100 Individual Medley. But the Sunbirds swam strong times throughout the afternoon to run away with the head-to-head win. FPU won 13 of the 14 events and had the top two finishers in eight of them.

The CSUEB "A" foursome of Miranda McDonnell, Beaty, Vivy Hua, and Serene Augustain opened the day with third place in the 400 Medley Relay. The Sunbirds had the top two finishers in the next event as well, with Payton Wayment leading the way for the Pioneers with third place in the 1000 Free in 10:49.76. 

McClure couldn't quite chase down FPU's Olga Melnikova in the 200 Free, taking second place by half a second in 1:53.46. Freshman Tatum Roepke followed that with a runner-up finish in the 100 Back, losing to Melnikova by less than four-tenths of a second in 1:00.47.

Beaty placed third to lead the Pioneers in the 100 Breast, losing to FPU's Daria Belova in what will be one of the more anticipated match-ups of the conference championship meet. 

East Bay had a solid showing in the next event, the 200 Fly, as Victoria Zukeran took second place in 2:10.03, followed by Faulkner in third in 2:13.59. Sunbirds Olga Tovstogan and Olivia Hynes then tied for first place with identical times in the 50 Free sprint, with the CSUEB trio of Hua (24.78), Allie Klinger (25.050, and Parker (25.35) finishing in the next three positions. 

McClure was barely out-touched by FPU's Samantha Woo in her next individual race, taking second place in the 100 Free in 52.80. McDonnell followed that with third place in the 200 Back to lead the Pioneers in 2:12.85, finishing just ahead of Ryleigh Weight in fourth and Roepke in fifth.

Beaty notched another third place finish in the 200 Breast, followed by Augustain pacing the Pioneers in third place in the 500 Free with a solid time of 5:18.33. Hua was the team's top swimmer in the 100 Fly with third place in 59.19. 

In the final individual event of the day, McClure finally picked up East Bay's first victory on her third try. The senior has still never lost a rare 100 IM race after beating Tovstogan to the wall in 59.05.

The Pioneers had a solid showing in the 200 Free Relay to finish the meet, as the quartet of Hua, Klinger, Parker, and McClure finishing just a second behind FPU in second place with a time of 1:38.87.

The team now has a little over two weeks before hopping a flight to SoCal for the 2017-18 PCSC Championships, held Feb. 14-17 at Splash! Regional Aquatic Center in La Mirada.