LA MIRADA, Calif. – After two weeks of hard training to start the 2016 portion of their schedule, the Azusa Pacific swim/dive squad competed in their second quad meet of the New Year.
In Saturday's meet hosted by Biola, the Cougars knocked off the host Eagles as well as Concordia (Calif.). Cal State East Bay swept the meet in their scoring against the three teams.
Complete Results (PDF)
"We've really pushed the team hard since returning from the Christmas break and I'm satisfied with were we are at with a few weeks left in the season," head coach Tim Kyle said. "I thought we had some good swims today and I'm pleased with how we performed. As the season gets closer to its pinnacle, we are improving."
Rosalee Mira Santa Ana posted a 10:18.82 to claim first place points for the Cougars in the 1000-yard freestyle. The sophomore went wire-to-wire in claiming the top spot by nearly 25 seconds over the second place competitor. Santa Ana's time lowered her season best mark as she increased her chances of qualifying for the NCAA Championship with the "B" cut time. Rounding out Santa Ana's meet, she placed third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:12.14)
Heidi Zuniga posted a solid finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:12.06 to place second in the four-lap race. The junior's time was 1.62 second behind Concordia's Baliee Blankemeier first place wall touch.
Elodie Poo Cheong had a solid 100-yard butterfly race by placing second in 1:00.21. In a tightly contested event, the freshman was .59 seconds ahead of the third place finisher and just .85 seconds behind the top spot.
Also recording a top-three finish on Saturday was Abigail Wiet. Her effort (1:02.53) in the 100-yard backstroke finished third in the 12-person race. During the 100-yard freestyle, Alyse Darnall touched the wall in 54.83 for a third-place finish.
Completing the day in the pool was the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Erica Knudsen, Wiet, Santa Ana and Darnall. The combination placed second with a time of 3:42.15.
Azusa Pacific will take the next two weeks away from the competition pool before traveling to Malibu for the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference time trials at Pepperdine.
