OAKLAND, Calif. --- There was no slowing Biola swimmers on Saturday morning despite a seven-hour bus ride up to the 2014 Bay Are Invitational hosted by Mills College. The Eagles got second place finishes by the men and women's contingents in four and six team fields, respectively.
 
Event wins by Edward Campana, Matthew Flodin, two women's relays, Angela Kirschner, Christine Tixier and Lisa Tixier aided the fantastic team finish. In addition to the five event winners, Biola got three new national team members.
 
"We had a really good meet again. I was really impressed to see both our teams score so high and place second," said Head Coach Eddie Shepard. "I let the team sign up for whatever events they wanted to swim and they swam so well we ended up finishing a lot better than I expected."
 
Lisa Tixier was the highlight of the meet as she won the three individual events she entered. Tixier placed first in the 100-freestyle (:54.35), the 200-breaststroke (2:28.83) and the 400-Individual Medley (4:37.17).
 
"One of my favorite performances was on the women's side in the 400-IM," said Shepard. "We had two different sets of sisters competing against each other. Both sets of sisters were neck-and-neck and it was really exciting to see their sibling rivalries in the pool."
 
Lisa and Christine Tixier went one and two in the event, with Samantha Dammann and Sophia Damman finishing seventh and eight, respectively.
 
Campana had a coming-out party on the men's side, swimming first-place marks in the 100-freestyle (:48.63) and 100-backstroke (:54.67). He also added a second-place finish in a fast 50-freestyle race (:22.58). Ivan Garin of UC Santa Cruz finished first in that 50-freestyle; the Banana Slugs placed first in the men's team scores, fourth in the women's and first overall.
 
Shepard's NCAA Division I transfer, Campana, also led Biola to a first-place finish in the 200-freestyle relay.
 
"Edward really came through for us today with his two first and a second," said Shepard. "As a transfer, he brings a lot of experience and knowledge to our team, and he has really inspired the other guys in the program."
 
Flodin, Kenny Alcosiba, Chad LeJeune, Charles Nanfria, Cort Sharp and Scott West are all among the guys inspired by Campana. Each of them recorded at least one top-three finishes on the day.
 
Biola had strong individual performances, but it also celebrated great team cooperation with three relay event wins in the meet. Two women's relays took first place, and the aforementioned men's relay also touched first.

The two second-place team finishes push Biola to three total second-place team finishes in 2014. It did not finish as high as second-place all year in 2013-14. Kirschner, the Dammann twins, Tixier sisters and Abby Blake each earned new national cuts.
 
"I could not be happier with how they looked this weekend," said Shepard. "We feel very blessed by the great group of athletes God has brought together here, and we are so excited about the potential we have this year."
 
Biola heads back down from the bay area tomorrow and gets back in the pool for a dual meet with Azusa Pacific on Nov. 1.