Posted: Jan 24, 2021

Eagles Clash With Lancers To Open Season

RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Biola Swim & Dive began its 2021 campaign on Saturday and it opened with a bang! The women's team earned the dual meet victory over NCAA Division I California Baptist by a final score of 169-130. The men's side gained momentum with a win in the final event of the day to hang in there as CBU took victory, 182-109.

"This was a dominant win for the women," said Head Coach Ryan Kauth. "The men held their own the whole way through, too. It was a great way to start."

The highest finish on the men's side was that exciting victory in the 200-freestyle relay in the final event of the day. Jake Michelsen, Jonas Huckabay, Patrick Waggoner and Tanner Smith went 1:25.91 to outpace CBU's top team by nearly two full seconds.

The men did not get any individual victories against the staunch CBU lineup, but there were plenty of great showings as BU reeled in eight individual runner-up finishes and took the second, third and fourth spots in four different events. It was an excellent showing against a CBU team that was No. 2 in NCAA Division II back in 2018.

"I wanted to see a tough group of men that didn't care who was swimming next to him.," said Kauth. "Didn't care what division they're swimming against. They know that they're capable and that's what we saw today."

James Gamette and Tanner Smith each recorded a pair of second-place showings. Gamette went :58.29 in the 100-breaststroke and 2:08.96 in the 200-breaststroke for his runner-ups. Biola went 2-3-4 in each of those events, really illustrating the depth of this 2021 men's team.

Smith's top-2 efforts came in the 100-backstroke (:53.14) and the 200-backstroke (1:56.63). Newcomer Jackson Black (1:57.51) finished on his tail in the 200-backstroke to earn a top-3 finish.

Gabe Weber, who shone brightly last year at the PCSC Championships, had a strong opening to the season with a second-place mark in the first individual event of the day, the 1,000-freestyle. Weber went 9:59.28 in the 1,000 and 4:55.33 in the 500-free to podium both events.

Matthew Trejo had a solid first swim meet of his collegiate career. He helped Smith, Gamette and Jonas Huckabay to a second-place finish in the 400-medley relay. That relay group broke the previous school record with a time of 3:25.87. Trejo also added a runner-up mark in the 500-free (4:48.53).

Jake Michelsen and Dylan Pon were the two other Eagles to record top-2 marks on this rainy Saturday. Michelsen went :21.96 to lead the effort as BU took 2-3-4 in the 50-free. Pon narrowly missed out on a win in the 100-butterfly with a :51.81. The winner from CBU was at :51.67.

Biola brought in 16 points on the diving boards with Ashley Vitale's 179.05 on the 1m board being the highest score of the day from a BU diver. On the men's side, Westin Dawe picked up a pair of second-place finishes.

"It was just fun to be a part of. It was one of the most proud moments that I have had as the head coach at Biola," said Kauth. "We did some really great stuff last year and the men's and women's team ended up getting third at conference, the highest placing ever. But what they did today hit different. Today was something that I looked at the team and I said, don't let this one go."

Biola gets right back after it next Saturday as they head north to Santa Barbara for a tri-meet against Westmont and Simpson.

"If this is any indication for what the future holds, I think that we have the toughest, most focused team in the conference, and maybe in the conversation for one of the toughest, most focused teams in the nation," said Kauth. "This group is this group is built different and we saw that today as they put that on display."