Results (PDF)

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The No. 24 ranked Cal State East Bay swim team returned to competition for the first time in a month Saturday to kick off the New Year, and turned in a solid performance against strong competition in a four-team dual meet at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center.

The Pioneers were defeated head-to-head by No. 3 UCSD, as well as Division I squad CSU Bakersfield. They were victorious by a narrow margin over PCSC conference rival Loyola Marymount.

East Bay's lone event victory of the day was won by sophomore Peyton Wayment, who easily out-paced the field in the 500 Freestyle for a six-second victory with an NCAA "B" cut time of 5:02.66.

That race came near the end of the meet program, but there were several highlights for CSUEB throughout the afternoon. The dual started with the 200 Medley Relay, which saw the Pioneer foursome of Vivy Hua, Rebecca Bay, Victoria Zukeran, and Allie Klinger place fourth overall.

Wayment's first race of the day came next, the 1000 Freestyle. She notched a seventh place finish in 11:09.93, ahead of teammate Landry Walker in eighth. That was followed by the 200 Free, in which Serene Augustain was East Bay's top finisher. The sophomore placed fifth in 1:56.93, while teammate Maddie Hulse added a ninth place effort.

Tatum Roepke led the Pioneers in the 100 Backstroke, taking sixth in 1:01.23. She was followed by freshmen Alondra Ortiz and Paige Branson in ninth and tenth place, respectively. 

Senior Laurel Carpenter then paced the Pioneers in the 100 Breaststroke, earning seventh place just ahead of Bay and fellow rookie Ciera Nasso. That was followed by the 200 Butterfly, which saw Zukeran take fifth as East Bay's top finisher.

The next race, the 50 Freestyle, was extremely tight. Klinger touched the wall in fifth place in 24.90, but was just seven-tenths of a second behind the winner. Hua was close behind with an eighth place finish.

After a couple diving events, Klinger was back in the pool to lead the way for East Bay in the 100 Freestyle. She placed seventh in 55.28, just out-touching Augustain in eighth place and Abigail Mitchell in ninth by a narrow margin.

Senior Ryleigh Weight followed that with a stellar effort to take fourth in the 200 Backstroke, the highest individual finish by a Pioneer swimmer at that point in the meet. Her time of 2:15.08 was a second ahead of Ortiz's, which scored sixth place points. 

Just as they did in the 100 Breaststroke, Carpenter and Bay finished back-to-back in the 200 Breast as well. Carpenter's time of 2:34.90 was good for sixth place, while Bay took seventh.

The next race was the highlight of the day for the Pioneers, as Wayment notched an impressive individual win in the 500 Free. Augustain, who holds the school record in that event, earned eighth place points. 

Hua and Zukeran touched the wall a half-second apart from each other in the 100 Butterfly, placing fifth and sixth, respectively. Then after more diving, Zukeran paced the Pioneers in the 200 Individual Medley with a fifth place effort. Weight was just behind her in the 200 IM in sixth, followed by Carpenter in seventh.

The meet wrapped up with another fourth place relay showing for CSUEB, as the quartet of Klinger, Hua, Augustain, and Mitchell finished the 400 Free Relay in 3:42.41.

The Spring season is now back in full swing for the Pioneers as they prepare for next months's conference championship meet. Next up, the squad returns home to compete at Pioneer Pool for the next two weekends, starting with a dual against Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m.