Friday results

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Pioneer women's swim team finished the third day of competition at the PCSC virtually tied for 8th place with Concordia University (326-325.5). East Bay moved ahead of Chapman throughout the day, and is anticipating a very tight race in the final day of competition on February 19.

One of the many highlights for the Pioneers started again with captain Murphy Wimer. She re-broke her own record in the 200-yd. Freestyle, earning a silver medal in the event with a 1:53.69. She has now lowered the East Bay record almost three full seconds over the course of the weekend. Teammate Sara Bonino dominated the “B” Final by significantly improving on her preliminary time; she earned points for 9th place with a 1:57.13. Sophomore Jenni Perez scored the first points of her collegiate career with a 24th place finish in the event (2:04.17).

Freshman Lindsay Miller was 22nd in the 100-yd. Butterfly, also improving on her time from the morning prelims. Teammate Rachel Knowles stepped up in the 100-yd. Breaststroke to garner a 10th place finish, her highest of the meet so far.

East Bay had three swimmers make the evening finals in the 100-yd. Backstroke, starting with Vanessa Smith. She took an amazing five seconds off her lifetime best in the event to earn a spot in the “D” Final, and then took off another full second at night to earn 26th place overall. Christine Gee scored points in the event with a 21st place finish. The highest placing went to Tristan Kennedy-Donohue, a two-sport athlete (water polo) for East Bay, who went a 1:02.46, good for 14th place.

The final event of the evening was the 400-yd. Medley Relay, and the East Bay team narrowly missed another school record. Their excellent time of 4:03.35 was good for FIFTH place in the conference standings, equaling their performance from Wednesday night. The team consisted of Kennedy-Donohue (backstroke), Knowles (breaststroke), Wimer (butterfly), and Bonino (free).

Pioneer head coach Ben Loorz was pleased with the Pioneers' performance.

“The team continues to perform lifetime best swims that are proving to be very competitive in the conference. They also seem to be getting better as the meet goes on, a tribute to their hard training and preparation this year. It really is a good indicator that the team can have a smashing final day – we are looking forward to tomorrow morning.”