LA MIRADA, Calif. --- For the first time this year Biola Swim & Dive hosted a meet at Lansing Pool on Friday. It was not just any meet either, as the Eagles hosted top rivals Azusa Pacific for the first half of a two-day dual meet. 

At the end of one-meter and three-meter diving and the nine swimming events on Friday Biola's women's team holds a firm grasp on the meet, up 114.5-89.5. 

"It's really hard to put today into words," said Head Coach Ryan Kauth. "Meeting my expectations is an understatement. The team blew this meet out of the water. They were prepared and ready and calm and relaxed. My expectations were not only met, but it was more than what a coach could possibly ask for."

This year the Eagles benefitted from having a pair of divers to help score in that portion of the meet. In the past, BU would go into swimming already down 30+ points.

Ashley Vitale and Chloe Hartman helped cut into that margin quite healthily with third-place and fourth-place finishes on both boards. Vitale had a 184.95 in the 3m and 224.60 in the 1m, while Hartman had a 174 in the 3m and 223.20 in the 1m. Both women recorded season-bests in the one-meter.

Azusa Pacific held the advantage by 17 points headed into the swimming and seemed off to a good start after the first relay. The Eagles finished first and second in the relay, but lost the points from the 'B' team after an unfortunate DQ.

The Cougars also got the event win in the 1,000-freestyle, with Biola hanging close with the second-,fourth- and sixth-place swimmers.

"We knew it was possible to be behind early," said Kauth. "We knew we needed to be prepared to move on. Our theme today was really like 'one race at a time. What are we doing next? Everybody do your job and swim well in your races.'"

After the first break the Eagles went on quite a roll, winning the next six events in a row to establish the large lead they would eventually end the day with. 

The high point of that run came in the 200-butterfly where Faith McAllister (2:14.44), Rachel Stinchcomb (2:15.20) and Anna Cohee (2:15.47) finished first, second and third. 

The 100-backstroke was another dominant event for the Eagles with Nicole Chang winning the race with a time of :59.71 and Kolya Vos placing second with a 1:01.33. Vos touched the wall :00.44 faster than the third-place swimmer from APU.

Liza Parahnevich, the reigning Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference NCAA Division II Swimmer of the Week, continued her phenomenal start to the season with wins in the 200-freestyle (1:56.79) and 400-IM (4:33.44).

"We knew this would be a fast meet. The long breaks built in gave us an opportunity to meet as a team, pick each other up and get an idea of where we were at," said Kauth. "It was a perfect storm for us. The team was patient, persistent and rocked the house today."

Vos was another to make a noticeable impact on this opening day. In addition to the second place in the backstroke, the freshman won the 50-freestyle with a :25.28. The 50-free was a highlight for BU with three Eagles in the top-4.

That's a huge high point for Biola considering sprint freestyle has long been a strong suit for the visiting Azusa Pacific squad.

Anna Haaksma accounted for another on of BU's wins during that six-event winning streak. She finished first by a nose in the women's 100-breaststroke, out-touching APU's Delanie Gearing 1:08.69 to 1:09.10. Celine Dong grabbed points for Biola with a third-place time of 1:10.13.

APU took the final relay on the afternoon (200 freestyle relay) to finish on an encouraging note. However, just like in the opening relay Biola's 'A' and 'B' teams managed top-3 swims, showing off the depth of Kauth's roster.

Throughout the day Biola was spurred along with support from the Biola community, creating a true home meet advantage. The men's swim & dive team came decked out with painted chests and exuberant cheers. Biola Women's Soccer took a break from their practice time to come catch a half-an-hour in the middle of the swimming slate. It was the team's annual Halloween practice, meaning they were all in full costume. Catch those images and action photos of swim & dive in a photo album on our Facebook page later tonight.

"We really wanted to build the atmosphere of this meet to be welcoming. We were wanting people to walk by and have to stop and see what's going on," said Kauth. "The support from women's soccer was awesome. They were able to see some of the most exciting races too. That's one of the best parts about being at Biola. The support that's built in. "

The meet concludes Saturday with nine more swimming events taking place at the home pool of Azusa Pacific (Slauson Pool). Competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and can be followed live via the Meet Mobile App.

If you didn't have a chance to join us at Lansing Pool, catch the meet broadcast on demand at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/biola/.

See the full Saturday event schedule below:
200-medley relay
1,650-freestyle
200-backstroke
200-breaststroke
100-freestyle
500-freestyle
100-butterfly
200-IM
400-freestyle relay

"One of the main things we talked about at the end of today was how there's a lot of scoring to be had on this second day," said Kauth. "APU is going to walk off this pool deck hungry and ready to go. We need to stay focused and understand that only one team can win this meet tomorrow. We're going to have a day two and we're going to be ready for it."