LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola's swim team opened up 2009 with a busy weekend, hosting Grand Canyon University in a home dual meet on Friday, then taking on GCU, Chapman and Cal Baptist on Saturday in Riverside.

The Eagles walked away with three wins in their four dual matches, beating Grand Canyon twice and also defeating Chapman on Saturday. The lone defeat came to the two-time defending NAIA champions Cal Baptist. 

Friday's meet was a close contest on the men's side as Biola narrowly edged out Grand Canyon 90-89 while the women own by a more comfortable margin of 123-52.

On the men's side, sophomore Paul Mendoza won both his events, taking top honors in the 1650 Free and the 500 Free. His time of 17:48.65 in the 1650 qualified him for the NAIA National Championships in March, an event he placed second in last season.

Other individual winners included sophomore Brian Shepard in the 200 free and junior Ben Oviedo in the 200 fly. The Biola men also wrapped up a win in the 200 free relay.

For the women's team, freshman Alison Seek swept the distance events, winning the 1650 and 500 free with relative ease. Other individual winners included Emily Mosbacher in the 50 free, Sarah Warkentin in the 100 free and April Smith in the 200 breaststroke.

On Saturday, the men's team defeated Grand Canyon by a more comfortable 116-101 and also downed Chapman 124-106. However, they lost 175-75 to host Cal Baptist. The women's team also picked up wins against Grand Canyon (138-52) and Chapman (137-114), but lost to Cal Baptist (213-56). 

The Biola men's team received another strong performance from Mendoza, who won the 1000 free in a time of 10:10.21. Later in the day, he came back and won the 500 free with an impressive time of 4:57.07.

The men's team wrapped up the day with a strong win in the 200 free relay as Shepard, Jacob Frischknecht, Ryan Hanson, and Zach Perkins finished in 1:30.69.

For the women's team, Smith and Hannah Lawman went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke. Smith touched first in a time of 1:10.98 with Lawman just behind her with a time of 1:11.24. 

Biola has just one more meet this month, traveling to Fresno to take on Fresno Pacific University and Concordia University on Saturday (Jan. 17).