IRVINE, Calif. – Over the next few weeks, we are celebrating the 20 most memorable moments in CUI Athletics from the 2019-20 school year.
 
We continue our Top 20 for '20 series with No. 18 on our list and a look back at the Code Yellow meet for the Concordia swimming and diving teams.  Back in February, the CUI Eagles spoiled Senior Day for Biola in a huge dual meet, scoring a ton of impressive victories.
 
The Concordia men's team won nine events, which propelled the Eagles past their rivals in La Mirada, 125-104. The Eagles posted key victories in come-from-behind fashion in the 200 free, 200 fly and 200 breaststroke that helped seal the deal.
 
"The men started slowly and then things turned after the fourth event," explained CUI head coach Bert Bergen. "By the time we got about halfway through, we moved ahead. We relaxed, stuck to our strategy and did what we were supposed to do and it was a lot of fun."
 
Kyle Benjamin sported three monster individual wins (200 free, 200 fly, 500 free) against three different swimmers from Biola in those events.  Thanks to an impressive body of work over the entire season, Benjamin reserved a spot at the NCAA DII National Championships for the second straight year and captured the PCSC Male Athlete of the Year Award. 
 
Senior Austin Barton won the 100 free and led a 1-2-3 Eagle sweep in the 50 free with Alberto Cortes and Tim Townsend.  The trio teamed with Max Wickens to close out the meet with a victory in the 4x50 free relay.  Wickens also won two diving events by posting season highs on both boards.  Finally, Skyler Hojnacki bested the PCSC defending champ in the 200 breast and moved past him with 25 yards to go to grab important points for CUI down the stretch.
 
The women's team stunned Biola at the start and won its first five events to make the host Eagles very uncomfortable.  
 
This April, Katelyn Thomas became the first member of the CUI women's swimming and diving team to be named a CSCAA All-American at the NCAA DII level.  In this Code Yellow dual meet against Biola, Thomas showcased her skills by winning the 50 free. She also teamed with Emily Kivisto, Sayeh Faridnia and Maddie Dodge to roll to victory in the women's 400 medlay relay.
 
Jamie Seddon made a move at the 550 and grabbed an upset victory in the 1000 free.  Dodge and Faith Sizel rallied to finish first and second, respectively, in the 200 while Mikalya Jean followed with a fourth-place finish.  CUI diver Kayla Newman also impressed the judges and won the 3m competition. Newman and teammate Kiki Bieger had strong overall outings on the day and finished second and third respectively on the 1m board as well.
 
Ultimately, it was a tale of two showdowns as Concordia jumped out to an early lead before Biola's depth helped the host team recover for a 130-104 victory on the women's side.
 
"We started out on fire, really surprised Biola out the gate and had a great showing," said CUI head coach Bert Bergen. "Biola just came out on top at the end. "
 
"When you take the emotion out of it and give them the tools and reinforce their confidence that they've trained for this, they're ready for this, God has protected them to do this," added Bergen, "it's such an enjoyable experience. It was such a fun day, they swam well, and we had a couple recruits that were there."
 
Be sure to be on the lookout for our next stories featuring our Top 20 for '20 memorable moments of CUI Athletics!

Check Out Our Entire Top 20 for '20 Series:

No. 20: Heaney's Late Goal Lifts Eagles over Blues

No. 19: Green Reaches 1,000 Points in PacWest Career

No 18: CUI Swimmers & Diver Make Statement Against Biola
 
No. 17: Coming Soon