LA MIRADA, Calif. — Sweeping the competition at the 2019 PCSC championships, the Eagles men's swim and dive team earned a first place finish out of six teams. Participants included UC Santa Cruz, Fresno Pacific, Biola, Soka, and Master's. Totaling 1474 points, Concordia secured the top spot over UC Santa Cruz by 19 points. Concordia women's swim and dive team finished in fifth place out of 12 teams present.
"Seeing the pure joy and happiness on their faces when the team was announced the champion is something I will never forget. They all came together as one to get that title," said CUI interim head coach Kayle Morris.
To add to the incredible win, Freshman powerhouse Kyle Benjamin earned mens swimmer of the meet honors. Benjamin swam for three first place finishes in the 400 yard Individual Medley, 500 yard Freestyle, and the 800 yard Freestyle relay with teammates Kobe Gall, Austin Barton, and Taylor Steffen.
Steffen and Barton each had a first place finish individually in the 1000 yard Freestyle and the 200 yard Freestyle, respectively.
On the women's side Katelyn Thomas finished in first place in the 100 yard Backstroke.
"Overall I thought the team could not have done a better job supporting each other and really coming through when we needed it. Everyone swam lights out and gave everything they had," senior Jonathan Schimming said. "Couldn't be happier with the result and couldn't be more proud of my boys for coming together and swimming hard when it matters the most."
Morris was named men's team coach of the meet following the men's team earning the title. "I am so honored to receive such an award, and owe people credit for helping to shape me into the coach I am. It makes it easy to coach with the team I have been blessed with," Morris said.
"She deserves every bit of it," Schimming said. "She took on a huge role and did it really well. She deserves this championship and coach of the meet"
"Everybody played a role in this and we could not have been more excited for the outcome," captain Maxwell Wickens said. "All the hard work payed off and we have a great coach to thank for it."
With 8 qualifying NCAA cuts, the team finds out Wednesday, Feb. 27 who will represent Concordia at Nationals for the first time in CUI's NCAA Div. II era.
