MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – On Friday, the first day of the 2023 La Verne Winter Invitational took place at East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium. No. 24 Cal State East Bay women's swimming won four of the five scheduled women's swimming events on Friday. The first of the four wins was a Pioneer record setting performance in the 200 yard freestyle relay.
 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Leading off the women's swimming finals events was the 200 yard freestyle relay, which was won by the CSUEB team of Brooklyn Dressel, Delaney Carlson, Olivia Parham and Tehani Kong, who in addition to the win, set a new Pioneer record for the event of one minute, 32.86 seconds. The relay team broke a record previously set last March at the NCAA Division II Championships.
• The first of Friday's individual events for the finals in the evening was the 500 yard freestyle. Miya French placed 11^th overall, but reached an NCAA 'B' Standard with a time of 5:04.74.
• The first individual win for the Pioneers was in the 200 yard individual medley, as Kylie Beaudet won the event in 2:05.33, which met a 2024 NCAA Division II 'B' standard.
• Also placing first for a 'B' standard was Dressel in the 50 yard freestyle, placing first in 23.33 seconds.
• Not only did Dressel achieve a 'B' standard in the 50 freestyle, but also reaching the mark was Carlson (23.46) and Kong (23.49).  
• The Pioneers finished Friday's action strong with a first place finish in the 400 yard medley relay, as the team of Hannah Sharp, Carlson, Kong and Dressel placed first in the event in 3:47.90, which outperformed any Pioneer time for the event last season.

QUOTES

Cal State East Bay head coach Shane Pelton following Friday's first day at the La Verne Winter Invite:
"It was an unbelievable first day of competition today. I actually can't recall a midseason meet start better for our program. The energy and excitement is contagious and we are really feeding off each other.
 
"The relays were absolutely electric. From start to finish, all four women in both relays did their jobs and swam great. Tehani was put in a big spot to anchor the 200 free relay and boy did she step up. Fastest split in the history of the program (22.40). Absolutely incredible. She also followed that up with a monster 54.20 100 fly split, which set up Brooklyn to do what she does and swim an incredible freestyle anchor leg and bring home the win."
 

UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY

Day two of the La Verne Winter Invitational starts Saturday at 9 a.m. from ELAC Swim Stadium with several preliminary heats for events. The finals for all of Saturday's swimming events start at 5 p.m.