SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Freshmen Paul Mendoza and April Smith each bettered their own school records and placed in the top eight of their respective events for Biola to highlight action from the second day of the 2008 NAIA Swimming Championships on Friday at the Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio.
Mendoza crushed his old school record in the 400 individual medley, knocking eight seconds off his previous best time to place fifth with a 4:13.89 in the morning swim. His evening time of 4:15.28 was good enough for seventh place overall. His previous best time of 4:21.36 came during the PCSC Championships two weeks ago.
Smith also broke the school record in the 100 breaststroke at the PCSC meet, then knocked nearly seven-tenths of a second off that with a 1:08.04. That was the third-fastest time in the prelims and she ended up placing seventh overall.
The women's 200 free relay also placed in the finals, taking sixth with a time of 1:41.34. During the prelims, the team of Sarah Warkentin, Allison Patt, Christina Piakak and Emily Mosbacher swam an impressive 1:40.69.
Piakak, a senior on the women's team, took 13th overall in the 100 fly with a 1:01.78 in the evening session. In the men's race, Ben Oviedo earned a shot in the championship final with a 51.68 during the morning session. He finished eighth overall with a 52.61.
Other noteable perfomances included Warkentin in the 200 freestyle, where she finished 13th overall with a 1:59.33.
Both of Biola's medley relay teams won the consolation final swim. The women's team of Lindy Shields, Smith, Piakak and Warkentin swam a 4:11.32 to take ninth overall. For the men it was Jeff Nelson, Oviedo, Brian Shepard and Perkins with a 3:42.16 to finish ninth by nearly five seconds.
The Eagle women finish day two in eighth place in the team standings with 116 points while the men are in 10th overall with 94 points. Cal Baptist has a sizeable lead on both sides heading into the final day of competition.
Saturday features the 200 of each stroke, the 100 free, the 1650 free and the 400 free relay.Fans can follow the action live through the NAIA website at http://naia.cstv.com/livestats/w-swim/08-champs/index.htm.
