AZUSA, CALIF - It was a great day at the pool as Azusa Pacific swimming and diving earned the dual meet victory over rivals, Biola in what was a special senior day. The Cougars honored four seniors in Kyla Clopein, Hannah Frey, Tessie Scavone and Riley Smith for their contributions to the program since the first of them got to Azusa Pacific in 2018. 

It was a day highlighted by seven first place finishes, plenty of season-bests, and a hard fought victory by the Cougar swimmers. "It was a battle today in the pool! Credit to Biola, they are a very strong team." said head coach Tim Kyle. "It took all we had on the boards and in the pool for us to come out on top. To be able to celebrate our seniors accomplishments while being a Cougar made it truly special." 

In the second event of the day, Aleena Herrera turned in a time of 10:47.13 in the 1000 free and Scavone placed second in that event at 10:57.62. Herrera came up with her second first place finish of the day in the 400 individual medley coming in with a season-best of 4:34.34.

In the 200 free, Montana White came in with a time of 1:52.07 and Smith followed coming at 1:58.13 taking first and second place which were also their season-bests in that event. Madeline Schultz and Hannah Swailes also swam their best times of the season so far in the 50 free with a first place finishing time of 24.74 by Schultz and a time of 25.59 by Swailes. 

In the 200 butterfly, Amanda Anderson claimed first, finishing two seconds in front of the second place finisher at 51.83, and Marcelina Halawczak turned in her best time of the season in that event at 2:13.82.  In the following event, White turned in her second first place finish of the day in the 100 free with a time of 51.83 (season-best). Schultz claimed third in that event, also turning in her best time of the year thus far at 54.91. 

Amongst other events, in the 500 free, Herrera and Smith turned in competitive times of 5:15.48 for Herrera and 5:17.46 for Smith which earned them second and third place. Delanie Gearing, Madison Schneider and Anderson also turned in their best times so far on the season in the 200 breast with Gearing coming in at 2:27.52, Anderson at 2:27.62 and Schneider at 2:39.30. 

After a very competitive meet between the Cougars and Eagles, it came down to the last event of the day in the 400 free relay to determine the overall winner of the dual meet. It was Hannah Swailes, Schultz, Smith and White that brought it home for Azusa Pacific, claiming first place with a time of 3:33.48 in front of a very supportive home crowd. The final score of the meet was 128-115 in favor of the Cougars and to read how the Azusa Pacific divers made their contributions to the overall score from their meet Wednesday, click HERE. 

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will travel down to Aliso Viejo, Calif. on Nov. 12th for the Wyatt Balman Invitational. Stay tuned for meet information.