Biola swim and dive continued in their successful trend at the Rodionoff Invitational in Malibu, California on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 in Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, finishing first of three in the first day’s events and second of four in the second day’s events. 

The women’s team competed against Pepperdine University, Loyola University Marymount, The Master’s University and Cal Lutheran University, while the men’s team competed against Master’s and Cal Lutheran. After the second day of events, the Eagles achieved first place in womens’ events totaling 276 points, with the men’s team achieving second place at 264.5 points. 

DAY ONE: A LEADING START  

After the first day of the competition, the women’s team ended their events with 199 total points. In the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay, sophomore Katie Ottman, junior Liza Parahnevich, freshman Morgan Kampfer and junior Kolya Vos dominated the competition, placing first in the third event of the day. Parahnevich went on to take first place in the 200-yard individual medley, as well as the 200-yard backstroke. Vos also swam the fastest time across all divisions in the 100-freestyle. 

The men’s team also fared well in the first day of the competition, scoring 181 points. Redshirt sophomore Tanner Smith achieved an individual first place for the men’s team in the 100-yard freestyle. In the men’s 200-yard butterfly the Eagles took first and second place, with redshirt freshman Michael Maurer in the lead and redshirt sophomore Patrick Waggoner following close behind. 

DAY TWO: FINISHING WITH SUCCESS

Finishing the invitational, the Eagles’ women’s team snatched first place, while the men took second overall. Vos continued to outmatch her competition, achieving first place in the women’s 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.84. The Eagles also dominated the womens’ freestyle relay, finishing with the fastest time of 1:39.84. 

Smith continued in a winning trend in the second day’s events, achieving first place in the 100-freestyle with a time of 47.61. Maurer and freshman Jacob Haaksma were also top-finishers taking second place in the 200-butterfly and 200-breastroke. 

After a successful invitational, the Eagles will head to Santa Cruz, California to compete in the Bay Area Invite at University of California, Santa Cruz on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30. Stats from the invitational are available on the Biola Athletics website.