OKLAHOMA CITY --- Freshman Christine Tixier lifted the Biola swimming and diving national team to new heights Friday night with a first place finish and NAIA record in the 100 yard butterfly on the second day of the NAIA National Swimming and Diving Championships at Oklahoma City Community College Aquatic Center on Friday.

On the women's side, the Eagles qualified four individual athletes and two relays for Friday's night events, breaking six school records including an NAIA national record and boasting four top 8 finishes.

In the finals of the 100 butterfly, freshman Christine Tixier confirmed her dominance in what has become her best event this year. Finishing in 1st place with a time of 54.60, Tixier's mark was not only a new school record but also a new NAIA national record, breaking the mark set in 2008 by Vicky Sui of Simon Frasier by over three tenths of a second.

The freshman from Benton City, Washington is Biola's fourth all time All-American, 2nd National Champion, and 1st NAIA national record holder. Her time of 54.60 was almost a whole second faster than the nearest competitor. This incredible achievement is her second top four finish at the meet with her performance in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday still to come. Senior Brittney Rosania also scored points for the women's squad in the event with a time of 1:00.42.

In the 100 backstroke event, two Biolans continued to shine in their individual performances. Amber Kiel and Megan Nerud raced each other in the consolation finals heat to finish in 10th and 15th place respectively.

In the 200 freestyle relay, the Eagles' team of Rachael Sirjord, Nerud, Kiel, and Tixier began the morning with a sub 1:40 performance, qualifying for the evening finals. During the evening race, Tixier swam the lead-off leg in 24.31 seconds, almost two tenths of a second under a five-year school record. Likewise, in the 400 medley relay, the Biola women's team posted another seventh place preliminary swim. Rosania joined teammates Sirjord, Kiel, and Tixier to swim the butterfly leg of the relay, which finished in seventh place that night, Biola's fifth top eight finish on the day.

The men got off to a strong start Friday morning with Biola's fastest 200 freestyle relay to date. The team of Nick Steadman, Austin Sarna, Nathan Roe, and Chris Stutzman followed up their very quick finish in the 800 freestyle relay on Thursday night with a record-setting swim in the sprint relay, a time of 1:24.97, and a seventh place seed heading into Friday's finals. That night, the four teammates would lower that record even further with a fifth place finish.

Later, in the 400 medley relay, these same four men proved their versatility on the blocks, combining their strengths in the four individual strokes to record a time of 3:31.32, nearly four seconds under the Biola school record previously set at the 2010 national championships.

In the 200 free, junior Chris Stutzman defended his Biola school record with a time of 1:42.02 and a ninth place seed in the consolation finals, over a second faster than his time one year earlier. Teammate Nathan Roe was not far behind, swimming a time of 1:43.07 and seeding him 12th going into the evening. Friday night, both Stutzman and Roe dropped another second from their best morning swims, finishing in 1:41.70 and 1:42.77.

In the women's 3-meter diving competition, Biola's lone female diver, Melinda Smith, dove to sixth place with a score of 193.95.

Biola regroups after day two of the championships to prepare for the 200 stroke events, 100 and 1650 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relay on Saturday.

After two days of competition both the men's and women's teams have scored 154 points each. These scores bump the women up a spot into 7th place while the men maintain their 6th place standing from Thursday night.