Results (PDF)

FRESNO, Calif. -- In the final dual meet of the 2018-19 regular season, the No. 24 ranked Cal State East Bay swim team was defeated narrowly by No. 18 Fresno Pacific this afternoon at Sunnyside Aquatic Center. The Sunbirds added some diving points and won the head-to-head matchup by a final score of 164.5-123.5.

The Pioneers won just three individual races, but their biggest strength is their scoring depth, and that was on display today. Of the 12 individual events, CSUEB had more scoring finishers than FPU in 10 of them. And there was only once race in which each of the top two finishers were Sunbirds.

The home team started the meet with a one-second victory on the 200 Medley Relay. That was followed by the 1650 Free, which saw sophomore Landry Walker earn a runner-up finish in 18:17.88.

The Pioneers then picked up their first victory in what may have been their most impressive event of the day. East Bay notched three of the top four finishers in the 200 Free, as Maddie Hulse finished strong to out-touch Serene Augustain for the win in 1:57.30. The latter settled for a runner-up finish.

Vivy Hua made it two straight wins for CSUEB with a dominant effort to take first place by nearly two full seconds in 59.57. Once again the Pioneers notched three of the top four finishers, as Miranda McDonnell placed second. 

Rebecca Bay was the top East Bay finisher in the 100 Breast, taking third. Then Victoria Zukeran paced the Pioneers with a runner-up showing in the 200 Fly, and event in which four of the top five swimmers were Pioneers.

Allie Klinger was out-sprinted by less than a tenth of a second in the 50 Free, touching the wall in 24.92 and settling for second. Klinger took third in the next event, the 100 Free, just behind Hua, who finished second. That was followed by the 100 Back, in which freshman Alondra Ortiz was the fastest Pioneer with a second-place effort. 

Bay reprised her third place finish in the second breaststroke event, completing 200 yards in 2:28.15. Augustain then notched a runner-up performance in the 500 Free, completing the distance event in 5:18.54.

East Bay earned another victory in the next event, as Zukeran narrowly out-touched FPU's Cara Le with a time of 58.38 to win the 100 Fly by just 0.1 seconds. Then after the second set of diving events, Ryleigh Weight picked up a second place finish in a tight 400 IM race, completing the medley in 4:28.32.

The Pioneers closed the afternoon on a high note, as the foursome of Hua, Klinger, Abigail Mitchell, and Augustain beat FPU in an incredible tight race for first place in the 400 Free Relay. Klinger was particularly impressive, posting a split of 53.51 that was the fastest of any swimmer in the event, as well as a full second faster than her 100 Free time earlier in the day.

These two teams now have a few weeks to prepare before they meet again in La Mirada for the 2018-19 Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships, where they will likely be considered the top two contenders to capture the conference crown.