Coming off of their big midseason meet and Thanksgiving break, the Golden Eagles headed to Chapman for a quick 2-day meet with the Panthers and Biola Eagles.  Both opponents were resting and wearing technical suits and many of the results reflected this in many cases.  CUI swimmers did show some mettle as they posted some results and times that bode well for the back half of the season.

Returning from a 3-week layoff, Alex Leland ripped a season best 1:06.07 100 breaststroke which places her 3rd in the PCSC Conference rankings.  All other times posted in the conference top-10 were performed by swimmers rested and in tech suits!   She also swam to a PCSC top-20 time in her 50 free and was a key member of two 3rd place medley relays that recorded season best times.  Those relays included Aubrie Carver's solid backstroke leadoffs, Georgia Caraway's strong butterfly legs, and Alice Stainer's aggressive freestyle anchor legs.  

Jayden Hernandez was his normally solid self in his main events, winning the 100 butterfly and grabbing a 3rd in the 50 free.  He also posted the 15th fastest 100 back in the conference and was a part of four Golden Eagle relay efforts.

Freshman NCAA qualifier, Rachel Maki had tough double duty, taking on the 500 and 1650 freestyles.  She rose to the occasion winning both with the latter sneaking into the PCSC top-12.  

Senior Jon Sutherlin and freshman Mitchell Cullen went 1-2 in the men's 1650 free both with times within 30 seconds of their efforts at the midseason meet two weeks ago.  

Freshman Carissa Ward swam a very smart race to earn a win in the 200 backstroke and Aidan Keane rallied in the last 50 yards to post a solid 3rd place in the 400 IM.  Junior Joey Molettieri, in addition to a 4th place in the 1650, battled in the 200 free to grab hard fought bronze.   

"This is a tough meet for us" said head coach Bert Bergen. "Coming off the break and getting ready for finals.  We told the team to focus on their own races, to think about what they can control and to get their hand to the wall first.  A good group of them did just that and we were pleased with those efforts.  We're fighting through some illness and lingering injuries and to have those teammates here supporting the team is really encouraging.  Now, it's time for our Pledge Plunge, our Christmas Party, finals and family time.  We'll be back in 2024 ready to go!"

For the complete swim and dive schedule CLICK HERE