EAST LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The men's and women's swim teams turned in excellent performances in less-than-ideal conditions at the Collegiate Winter Invitational last weekend at East Los Angeles College (ELAC). With finals week starting the following Monday for a lot of schools (including Concordia), attendance was down and the distraction levels were high. Despite the challenges, the Eagles put up some great swims for their mid-season peak meet by finishing strong on the third day of the tournament
after a solid start the previous two days.
Kyle Benjamin led the way with five total wins including four individual ones, two of which set new team records and two were below the NCAA Division II "B" qualifying standards.
Katelyn Thomas won four total events and
Maddie Dodge and
Austin Barton won three each.
Thomas earned two "B" cuts (50 free, 100 back) in her individual wins and set a new school record in that 100 back. Dodge also broke the program record in the 200 IM and earned a "B" cut in the 200 free winning both of those. Barton, back from water polo for only a week was victorious in the 50 and 100 freestyles as well as a member of the 4x50 free relay.
42 Eagles competed in the 3-day event and the behind-the-scenes numbers tell a great story: of the 134 qualifying swims out of prelims, 114 were faster in finals (85%). EVERY single swimmer (who swam at least four events) had at least
two season-best swims/splits and 28 of the 42 swimmers recorded at least one personal best time. The CUI men swept the first three places in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the first two in the 500 freestyle and the women had eight of the top-14 finishers in the 100 freestyle.
Concordia won 18 of 40 events contested on the weekend, headlined by the thrilling men's 4x200 freestyle relay. Biola boasted the top four finishers in the 200 freestyle but the CUI quartet of
Kobe Gall,
Taylor Steffen,
Alberto Cortes and Benjamin was not to be denied, storming back from a body-length deficit with 50 yards to go to defeat Biola at the wall.
Benjamin's 400 IM and Thomas's 100 back currently rank No. 7 nationally in NCAA Division II. For his efforts, Benjamin was named PCSC Swimmer-of-the-Week for December 8, his second time receiving that honor this season. Senior
Max Wickens, competing in his first ever diving competition, won the men's 1-meter event as was named the PCSC Diver-of-the-Week. He was also on the 4x50 free relay that won earlier in the competition.
The team resumes training on December 30 as it begins the final push to the PCSC Conference Championships in February back at ELAC.
For the full CUI swimming and diving schedule, click here.
