STOCKTON, Calif. — No. 17 Cal State East Bay women's swimming turned in a confident, record-setting performance Saturday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center, sweeping a double dual meet against Pacific and No. 15 Simon Fraser.
The Pioneers defeated the host Tigers 134-128 and cruised past the Red Leafs 172-88, highlighted by early momentum, decisive point swings and a pair of school records in a strong late-season showing.
Cal State East Bay set the tone immediately as Lily Caraway, Rae Ann Dressel, Tehani Kong and Alexia Fajardo captured the 200-yard medley relay to open the meet, winning in 1:44.22.
Freshman Malana Kollath delivered one of the day's most notable swims in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Kollath placed second but broke a nearly six-year-old Pioneer record with a time of 10:13.61, eclipsing the previous mark set by Leah Robinson. In her first collegiate season, Kollath has already set two school records after also establishing the Pioneer best in the 500-yard freestyle in November.
Dressel added an individual victory by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:03.90.
A historic moment followed in the 200-yard backstroke. For just over a year, Kong held the school record at 2:02.06. On Saturday, the mark fell twice. Kong bettered her own record with a second-place finish of 2:01.28 but Fajardo claimed the event win and the new Pioneer record in 2:01.09. Both swims now rank eighth and ninth nationally, respectively.
One of the difference-making races in the tight dual with Pacific came in the 50-yard freestyle, where Amaya Rocheleau touched first in exactly 24.00 seconds to deliver valuable team points.
Kylie Beaudet continued the momentum for the Pioneers with a win in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:19.53. Beaudet also collected a victory in the 200-yard individual medley to finish with two wins on the day.
Kong picked up an individual win in the 100-yard butterfly, taking first in 55.21, followed by Fajardo in second at 55.87 to further boost East Bay's team total.
The meet concluded with the 200-yard freestyle relay. While Pacific earned the event win to close the gap in the team standings, Cal State East Bay's second-place finish by Rocheleau, Fajardo, Taylor Kolsch and Caraway secured enough points to seal the victory against the Tigers and complete the double dual sweep.
"I believe confidence is everything in this sport," Cal State East Bay head coach Shane Pelton said. "Our 2nd half of the season schedule hasn't set us up to see results right away, but we've been doing a lot of great things in training and waiting for the chance to really swim fast. Today was that opportunity, and we did exactly what I believed we were capable of."
Cal State East Bay wraps up the regular season Sunday at 11 a.m. with a double dual rematch against Pacific and Simon Fraser at Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center.
