Performances by several of Biola's swimmers at last week's Pacific Collegiate Swimming Championships earned them spots in the NAIA Championships, including freshman Paul Mendoza and April Smith who broke school records.
Mendoza set two Biola records in the 400IM (4:18.98) and in the mile (16:38.67). Meanwhile Smith broke the school record for the 100 breaststroke finishing in 1:08.67, one of her many personal bests set during the tournament.
The men’s team placed seventh out of nine teams, while the women finished tenth out of 14 schools in the event. Although Biola did not rank high in the competition, which featured NCAA teams from Divisions I and II, the competitors and Head Coach Ed Shepard agreed the team did well.
“Conference allowed our swimmers a great opportunity to see some very fast competition and swim at a high caliber meet,” Shepard said on the athletic web site. “After seeing how well the team performed last week, I think that they will swim extremely well at nationals.”
Overall, 18 Biola swimmers will be going to the nationals in San Antonio, including a few first-timers. Junior Jeremy Davidson qualified for the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:09.85 as did junior Allison Wright in the same event with 2:25.26. Senior Brittany Sharpe qualified in three events: the 200 free (2:01.78), the 500 free (5:34.41) and the mile (19:32.86). Other Biolans headed to San Antonio are senior Alison Patt and freshman Emily Mosbacher, who swim the butterfly, junior Brian Shepard swimming freestyle and butterfly, and senior Christina Piakak and junior Sarah Warkentin in freestyle.
Of Smith and Mendoza’s record setting, Coach Shepard said he believes they have high chances of success at nationals.
“They are ranked very high in their prospective events at nationals, and I think that they have a good chance of placing in the top three,” he said.
The Biola swim team also wants to have fun and become close as a team.
“A lot of us are going to be cutting our hair into crazy hairstyles next week as a prelude to the big meet,” said Oviedo. “We have really grown close to each other by spending so much time with each other in and out of the water.”
Davidson, while sharing Oviedo’s sentiments about team bonding, added that concentration is essential. “We have to stay focused on why we are there: to swim the best of our God-given ability,” he explained.
The National Championships will take place from Feb. 27 to March 1. For more information on the PCSC, visit www.pacificswimanddive.org.
