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Chang breaks records at swim’s winter invite

Men finish first, women place fourth at meet hosted by La Verne.
Photo Courtesy of Biola Athletics
Photo Courtesy of Biola Athletics

Biola’s swim team headed to a three-day winter collegiate invite hosted by the University of La Verne from Friday through Sunday. The Eagles had an excellent three days led by freshman Nicole Chang, who broke several school records, as well as a great team effort by the men’s squad to win their side of the team competition.

CHANG FLIES OFF THE BLOCKS

On day one of the invite, Biola competed in several events, starting with the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay. The Eagles’ team of junior Emily Silzel, freshman Annie Bristow, freshman Kasidee Pascoe and senior Rebecca Brandt finished in fourth with a time of 1:38.70.

The men then competed in the same event, and the combination of junior Matthew Roe, freshman Clayton Owens, freshman Jonathan Villa and freshman Westin Dawe finished fourth with a notch of 1:30.52.

The Eagles found more success in both editions of the 400-yard medley relay. Chang started the women’s contest off with a bang, swimming a time of 57.67 to break the school record of 58.47 held by now-junior Rachael Stinchcomb for the fastest 100-yard backstroke. Silzel, junior Rachel Stinchcomb and Pascoe brought it home as Biola won the event with a time of 3:55.45.

The men took first in the event as well, with Owens, junior Raymond Kam, Villa and Dawe posting a time of 3:35.73 to earn the top spot.

Kam and Roe each earned a top-three finish in an individual event. Kam took second in the 200-yard individual medley at 1:59.03 while Roe showed off his sprinting chops with a 22.06, third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.

RECORD RE-BROKEN

Day two of the invite started with some more good relay results, as a squad comprised of Chang, Silzel, Stinchcomb and Pascoe notched a 1:48.09 time to take second in the women’s 200-yard medley. The Eagles also found the podium on the men’s side as Roe, Kam, Villa and Dawe swam into third at 1:39.25.

Chang then broke her own 100-yard backstroke record, this time in the event itself, swimming a time of 57.26 to take first place. Her spectacular performance almost distracted from another freshman phenom, as Katlyn Harper added to the Eagles’ wins with a 4:34.17 time in the women’s 400-yard individual medley.

Kam finally broke through with a win in the 100-yard breastroke, taking first with a 58.49 time. He added a second place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a 52.49 mark. Owens also took home two top-three finishes, with a second place mark in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.92 to go along with taking third in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:45.81.

TWO RECORDS, ONE DUB

Another freshman got in on the action on day three as Faith McAllister took third with a 1:01.81 time in the women’s 100-yard individual medley. But the day still belonged to Chang, who added her name to the record books a second time with a 2:05.90 finish in the women’s 200-yard backstroke finals, taking second in the event.

The other notable finish for the women came in the 200-yard butterfly, where Stinchcomb took second with a 2:07.07 time.

STRONG FINISH

Roe competed in his first 100-yard IM swim, and wowed with a first place finish after a speedy mark of 55.24. Owens took second place in the men’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:55.99.

Perhaps the biggest highlight from the men’s side came when Kam won the 200-yard breaststroke by over five seconds with a mark of 2:09.88. As the invite started to wind down, Roe, Owens, Villa and Dawe added another strong finish by coming in second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:17.64.

It was an extremely successful meet for both teams, as the men took first place honors with 1,388 points over the three-day invite. The women came in fourth with a total of 1,303 points, narrowly edged off the podium by rival Azusa Pacific University.

The Eagles now conclude the fall portion of their season and will have some time off before they host a meet at Lansing Pool against Concordia University Irvine on Jan. 12.

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Joel Ashor
Joel Ashor, Sports Editor
Joel Ashor is a junior broadcast journalism major with a love for sports, friends, and history. Joel is a Notre Dame football, Angels baseball, and Boston Celtics fan. [email protected] Growing up in the small city of Santa Maria, California as the youngest of four boys, I was always surrounded by things much earlier than normal, due to the fact that I experienced things through my much older brothers. One of the things I experienced was sports, and when I started watching and seeing what it looked like to be on a sports team, I fell in love. In my family, sports is not really an option, it just is something that we all do. Luckily my parents never had to force me or my brothers to play sports because we all had a passion for it. From a young age I immersed myself in the culture of sports, watching any sport that was on, growing a particular liking to college football. My uncle attended the University of Notre Dame, and my whole family are die-hard Irish fans. Naturally I became one as well, and I remember Saturday mornings with the family quite clearly. As I grew older I began to see and understand more about what it took to broadcast a live sports game, and I became quite intrigued by it. I decided I wanted to be involved with sports for the rest of my life and cover it in some form. One of the sports commentators I look up to greatly and have always liked is NBC sports reporter Bob Costas, who is a jack of all trades broadcaster and covers all sports from the Olympics to football and many more. I aspire to be a broadcast journalist someday, and the Chimes is an excellent way to hone my skills and continue to practice writing and talking about sports. I look forward to my growth while working with the Chimes in reporting accurately and quickly, and cannot wait to cover Biola sports.
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Austin Green, Managing Editor
Austin Green is a junior journalism major who was first among his friends to predict that LeBron James would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. When not focused on school or work, he enjoys watching sports, going to the beach or coffee shops, and hanging out with the guys on his dorm floor. [email protected] I laughed the first time I heard a former editor-in-chief use the line “once you join the Chimes, you never really leave.” Now in my third year here, it turns out the joke’s on me. After two years in the sports section, including last year as sports editor, I’m thrilled to be serving this year as managing editor to help build upon the legacy of such a great publication. My aspirations remain in sports journalism, but experience has deepened my love for dedicated local news reporting and its importance in communities. Much of my appreciation for that type of journalism came through working as a digital production intern for NBC Los Angeles last summer. There I helped cover stories such as the Trader Joe’s hostage crisis, the Cranston and Holy wildfires, and the Lakers’ overhaul of their iconic uniforms. I am so excited to help build this next chapter of the Chimes as we become a web-first publication with a deeper, dedicated focus on the communities in and around campus. I also contribute a print sports column, “Everything Eagles,” which provides a deeper look into Biola Athletics.
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