MALIBU, Calif. - This weekend featured the first opportunities for the Concordia University Irvine women's swimmers to compete at the Rodionoff Invitational.

The meet was hosted by Pepperdine University and featured CUI athletes swimming on both Friday and Saturday in multiple events.

Carissa Ward proved to be up for the challenge as she won the 200 yard backstroke with the fastest time among all NCAA DII competitors. The senior touched the wall with a time of 2 minutes and 10.54 seconds to top former teammate Noelle Landon of Westmont.

Ward also finished in second place in the 100 backstroke and in the 200 yard IM as well with a sparking time of 2:13:39. Meanwhile, her teammate Alexandra Grant was ninth in the same race. Ward competed in the 400 IM as well and placed fourth.

This two-day stretch also marked the first races for a handful of new Golden Eagles.

Freshman Maila Postek made her Concordia debut and rocketed to a win in the 100 yard butterfly. Her time of 59.59 seconds was the only time under one minute among the pool of DII swimmers.

Postek motored to second place in the 100 freestyle while fellow freshman CUI teammate Abby Evans finished eighth in both the 100 and 200 yard freestyles. A third CUI freshman, Evie Gruben, took ninth in the 200 yard freestyle and was just behind Evans in that race.

Another cool moment for the Concordia group came in the 400 yard free relay. The CUI quartet of Postek, Eden Buell, Evans and Ward turned in the best time among DII swimmers (3 minutes and 42.10 seconds) to top multiple quartets from Westmont and CSU Pueblo. 

Grace Garbalosa and Amber Inderkum also made their debuts this week for the Green and Gold and joined Gruben and Grant on the Concordia B team for the 400 yard free relay, among other events.

Postek, Evans, Inderkum and Buell also combined for a third place finish in the 200 yard free relay.

CLICK HERE for the full results from the Rodionoff Invitational

Overall, Concordia finished in third place among NCAA DII schools behind Westmont and CSU Pueblo.

Overall it was a solid starting point for all the Concordia swimmers with more competitions coming soon on the horizon.

Next up for the Golden Eagles is a scheduled date on Halloween at Soka University for the Wyatt Ballman Invitational. 

CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's swim and dive schedule