Athletes of the Week Jan. 5 - 11, 2025
Female Swimmer of the Week
Kylie Beaudet, Junior, CSU East Bay
Kylie is coming off an incredible week of racing for the Pioneers. Kylie started off the week in San Diego, earning a hard-fought 3rd-place finish in the 400 IM (4:33.15) and 4th place in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.36) against San Diego State. This was just the start as she won the 200 IM on Friday against San Jose State (2:08.57) and placed 3rd in the 200 Breaststroke (2:22.87). She capped off the week with some career swims as she won the 400 IM with a new lifetime best and NCAA Top 15 time of 4:23.80, which would qualify for the NCAA Championship in years past. She also won the 200 breaststroke with a conference lead time of 2:19.63 and went a personal best in the 200 Free of 1:54.98.
Male Swimmer of the Week
Rasmus Hanson, Sophomore, Fresno Pacific University
Rasmus started up where he left off this past fall in recording outstanding swims in his 1st meet since the Laverne Winter Invite. In a dual meet vs. conference rival UC Santa Cruz, Rasmus won both the 200 free (1:40.35) and 100 free (:45.68) and led off the winning 400 free relay in (:45.85). Rasmus is currently 1st in the PCSC in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, while ranking 5th, 14th and 11th respectively in all of NCAA Division II.
This is Rasmus' second Male Swimmer of the Week honor of the season.
Female Freshman of the Week
Alexia “Lexi” Fajardo, CSU East Bay
Lexi Fajardo had a career week for herself and for the Pioneers this past week. Cal State East Bay raced three times against San Diego State, Colorado College, San Jose State, and UC Santa Cruz. On Tuesday, Lexi placed fourth in the 100 Fly with a time of 56.84. She followed that up with winning the 100 Fly on Saturday with a faster time of 56.58. She raced the 200 Fly on both Friday and Saturday picking up a 2nd place finish (2:05.25) behind her teammate Tehani Kong, who broke the school record (2:02.06). On Saturday, She won the 200 Fly with a new lifetime best of 2:04.81, which ranks 2nd in the PCSC. She also added another win on
Saturday, with a new lifetime best in the 100 Freestyle, 52.76. Lastly, she had a career-best 24.91 50 Fly split.
This is Lexi's 2nd Female Freshman of the Week Honor of the season.
Male Freshman of the Week
Asher Kates, UC Santa Cruz
Asher had a great backstroke triple on Saturday vs. FPU. He opened up the day with a split of 24.46 in the 50 back, leading off the Slugs' A 200 medley relay, which took first. He followed that up with a win in the 100 back in a time of 51.49. He also finished the backstroke triple with a win in the 200 back in a lifetime best of 1:52.70. That time stands as the third fastest in the PCSC this season.
This is Asher's third Athletes of the Week honors of the season.
Female Diver of the Week
Briseis Valenzuela, Freshman, UC Santa Cruz
Briseis had a good weekend of diving. She took 5th place at the meet vs. Cal Poly with a score of 180.90 on the 1m and 5th on the 3m with a score of 203.33. She won both boards at the home meet, with a score of 236.40 on 1m and 201.15 on 3m.
This is Briseis' second Female Diver of the Week honor of the season.
Male Diver of the Week
Charles “Charlie” Shortt, Freshman, UC Santa Cruz
Charlie had a very good weekend on the boards. He took third on the 1m at Cal Poly with a score of 163.80 and third on the 3m with a score of 178.20. At the home meet, Charlie won the 1m at the home meet with a score of 176.93 and the 3m with a score of 180.75, which is his season best.
This is Charlie's third Male Diver of the Week honor of the season.
