After a quality season debut at the Splash! Aquatics Center on Oct. 8, swimmers headed to the Malibu Invitational hosted by Pepperdine University on Oct. 15. Because there were no overall team scores at the invitational, individual scores proved the focus. The Eagles filled the tops of leaderboards in several different races throughout the day.

Tixler anad Silzel lead the way

Lisa Tixier, who earned Biola’s Athlete of the Week from Oct. 10-17, led in the sprints. The junior recorded a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, as well as fourth-place finishes in the 50-yard butterfly and freestyle. Tixier put up her best results of the day when she came second in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:00.22 out of a field of 59.

Emily Silzel also turned in a good showing, joining Tixier in the top 10 finishers of the 50-yard freestyle. Silzel finished ninth with a time of 25.46. The freshman also wound up 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke.

On the men’s side, three freshmen performed well in the sprints. Tom Franicevich earned 20th place in the 50-yard freestyle and 15th place in the 100-yard freestyle, with times of 22.85 seconds and 49.41 seconds, respectively. Matthew Roe’s best performances of the day came when he came in 10th in the 50-yard backstroke and 12th in the 100-yard backstroke. Meanwhile, Raymond Kam finished seventh in the 100-yard breastroke and 13th in the 50-yard breastroke.

The teams travel to Oakland, Calif. for a two-day event at Mills College on Oct. 21-22.