LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Swim & Dive enters its second meet weekend of the 2019-20 season with a schedule change right off the bat. The Eagles were supposed to have their men swimming on Friday and Saturday at the Malibu Invitational, but poor air quality resulted in the cancelation of competition on Friday. Things are still scheduled to proceed on Saturday, with diving beginning at 8:30 a.m. and swimming events starting at 12 p.m.
 
THIS WEEK: Malibu Invitational - Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool (Malibu, Calif.) - Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8:30 a.m.
 
MULTIMEDIA: The event will be live streamed at https://livestream.com/watchstadium/Pepperdinewaves.
 
LOCATION: The meet is hosted at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, California. The home facility of Pepperdine. The address is 24255 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, CA 90263
 
MALIBU INVITATIONAL: Saturday Oct. 12 // Diving at 8:30 am // Swimming at 12 p.m.
The men's team competes this weekend at the Malibu Invitational. The women's team (except the divers) will stay back at home since they've got an extra meet on their schedule later in the year. The competition will look a bit different than originally planned due to Friday's cancelation. Head Coach Ryan Kauth spent the day Friday re-working his meet entries to get each swimmer in three individual events on Saturday. The Eagles are one of 10 teams participating in the meet this weekend (Texas Christian, California Baptist, Azusa Pacific, Dixie State, Biola, Cal Lutheran, Occidental, The Master's, Pepperdine and Westmont). This weekend marks Biola's first time competing at the Malibu Invite since the 2016-17 season.

MEET ENTRIES
 
MEET SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8:30 am:
1m and 3m diving

Saturday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m.:
200-medley relay
200-freestyle
200-butterfly
200-breaststroke  
50-freestyle
200-backstroke
500-freestyle
100-butterfly
100-freestyle
100-backstroke
100-breaststroke
200-IM
200-freestyle

ABOUT LAST WEEK: Biola Swim & Dive started its 2019-20 season out on the right foot, winning the combined team score title at last Friday's Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference Relay meet. The Eagles followed that up with a strong showing on Saturday's pentathlon meet with the women placing third of eight and the men third of six. Liza Parahnevich led the effort with four top-3 finishes on Saturday and finished second overall in the women's long medley pentathlon. She led a group of five Eagles to finish in the top-10 of that pentathlon and nine in the top-15 (out of 39 swimmers from seven schools). The Eagles' had 12 women finish ahead of Azusa Pacific's first finisher in that pentathlon. Raymond Kam led Biola's effort in the men's version of that same pentathlon. He placed fifth and newcomer Nathan Schwantes finished ninth to give BU two top-10 placers. Three others came inside the top-15 to show some depth on the guy's side also. Kolya Vos, Kellynn Hayes, Gabe Weber, Tanner Smith, Dylan Pon and Westin Dawe all finished top-10 in the long freestyle pentathlon. Making for a good showing in that as well. 

A NEW ERA: Biola Swim & Dive continues to rise to the occasion as new NCCAA Division II members, growing the program in unprecedented ways. This year the team hopes to reach new heights with a record-setting incoming class with over 20 new swimmers. Last year's big story was the success of the freshmen in Head Coach Ryan Kauth's first true incoming class. This was highlighted by Nicole Chang setting several new school records and Katelyn Harper swimming qualifying times and racking up postseason awards. In 2019-20 all eyes will watch that class progress to be sophomores and also keep and eye on what the brand new swimmers can accomplish. This weekend will be interesting as it shows how the teams stack up against the top PCSC competition.
 
IT'S GETTING REAL: The 2019 Biola Swim & Dive season has added significance in that it's the Eagles' first as full members in NCAA Division II. Back on July 12 the Biola campus received a call from the NCAA Division II Membership Committee notifying BU of its successful completion of the membership transition process. The change became official as of September 1 and now Biola is officially eligible for NCAA postseason play, national and regional rankings and official NCAA postseason honors for the first time. This means its the first time Biola Swim & Dive has been postseason eligible since the 2016-17 season, which was Biola's last year in the NAIA. The Eagles will have their sights set on reaching NCAA qualifying times for individuals and relay groups. See the NCAA DIvision II qualifying standards linked below.
 
NCAA DIVISION II QUALIFYING STANDARDS
 
BIOLA SCHOOL RECORDS
 
NEXT WEEK: No meets.