MONTEREY PARK, Calif. --- On the third day of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming & Diving Championships, the theme was the same for Biola Swim & Dive -- the Eagles are here and they're for real.

Biola got another individual event champion, saw two new school records set and had 27 total individual swims qualify for an 'A' or 'B' final. The teams sit third (men - 947 points) and fourth (women - 731 points) as the event moves into its final day.

On the women's side, Biola sits just 16 points behind Azusa Pacific headed into the final day of swims. This is significant as 10 Cornerstone Cup points are on the line after that final day, and tomorrow APU does not get the benefit of any diving events (an area of strength for the Cougars).

"It's going to be a hard-fought battle with APU," said Head Coach Ryan Kauth. "But I believe in this team. On the men's side, too, chasing Concordia. We have some fight in us. We're going to have to be as close to perfect as possible. I think we're capable. We can do it. We are motivated."

As the meet enters into the 100s and 200s of stroke, the schedule can begin to wear on some swimmers as they have to endure closely contested events, some even back-to-back. 

The Eagles who had to go in multiple events on Friday did so with grit, tenacity and a great sense of resilience.

"We had a lot of swimmer push through some tough double-event days today," said Kauth. "Anna Cohee had the 100-butterfly and 400-IM back-to-back. We also had Kolya Vos, Raymond Kam and Nicole Chang all with double-days."

Speaking of diving, that portion of the meet closed off on Friday with the men and women's three-meter board. Ashley Vitale finished seventh to score 23 points for the Eagles with a mark of 178.85.

Katelyn Harper was the top name on Friday as the sophomore finished atop the podium in the 400-IM. She went 4:25.10 to win the event by over two seconds and set a new school record by three seconds. The previous record was set by Lisa Tixier back in 2015.

"Katelyn Harper has been absolutely on a different level, mentally," said Kauth. "She is the definition of hard work. She grinds and wants it so bad and that's why she won in this 400-IM. You saw every piece of hard work pay off for her."

The 400-IM was a positive event for Biola all-around. Liza Parahnevich joined Harper on the podium with a 4:27.67 to finish third. Audrey Vermeulen also scored big points by placing fifth with a 4:33.23.

"This was definitely the race of the night," said Kauth. "I really wanted to see Liza come out and have a great race tonight, and she did just that. She's really carried us all year and to get on the podium meant everything."

Nathan Schwantes (6th - 4:12.29) and Caleb Stupin (9th - 4:27.27) were the top finishers on the men's side.

"We saw gutsy swims left and right from this team today," said Kauth.

The 100-butterfly was the first swimming event of the finals segment and it was Andrew Benson who made the big impact in that event. He went :50.61 to set a new season-best and finish second place. 

Raymond Kam placed right behind him with a :51.05 to put two Eagles on the podium yet again.

"Two of our top swimmers really stepped it up and did what they needed to do," said Kauth. "Two have two of the top guys in the butterfly and perform so well was really a testament to their four-year careers."

Biola got an injection of energy in the 200-freestyle on both sides as Kolya Vos came out and set a season-best by SIX seconds with a 1:52.84. That was good enough for second place and a massive 27 points for her team.

That wasn't the only spot Vos would score big points as she's already tallied 66 points for BU in her individual swims.

"You're going to see an incredible career out of Kolya Vos here at Biola," said Kauth. "She's somebody who is going to be owning this conference going forward because her confidence is just getting started."

On the men's side of the 200-free, three Eagles found their way into the top-6, led by Patrick Waggoner. Waggoner came just :00.04 shy of winning the event, but he placed second with a 1:41.45. He also re-broke his own 200-freestyle mark with his prelim swim of 1:40.79.

Jonas Huckabay (5th - 1:42.61) and Alex Ness (6th - 1:42.72) joined him in the top-6.

"Our men went out confident, came out fast and pushed," said Kauth. "All three guys looked so good in both speed and endurance."

Raymond Kam and Colin Reeve had some top-6 finishes of their own in the next meet on the schedule. Kam finished fourth in the 100-breaststroke with a :58.31 and Reeve went sixth with a 58.61. Both men set new season-bests on the day.

Tanner Smith got himself on another podium in the final individual swim of the evening - the 100-backstroke. Smith added about a half-second from his prelim time, but he still managed to finish third with a :52.83.

"We scratched Tanner out of the 200-free to put him in the 100-backstroke and, man, what a performance," said Kauth. "I told him I had all the confidence in the world in him and for him to get up on that podium was amazing. I am so thankful for him and for his performance."

The day came to a close with another exciting relay race. Tonight's last relay was the 400-medley relay. Both teams finished inside of the top-4, with the men's side finding a way to break a five-year-old school record. 

Smith, Waggoner, Kam and Benson went 3:26.59 to finish second overall and best the old record of 3:28.03, held by Chad LeJeune, Bretton Smith, Edward Campana and Charlie Nanfria.

The women's team worked a fourth-place finish as Parahnevich, Harper, Vos and Anna Haaksma combined for a 3:55.10. The team beat Azusa Pacific's 'A' team by three seconds and three places on the leader board, making a six-point difference.

"The noise was deafening in the swim stadium during those relays. It was incredible," said Kauth. "And I could not ask for any better swims."

Competition concludes Saturday at the East LA College Swim Stadium. Prelims are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. with finals at 5 p.m. There will be a ceremony honoring the senior swimmers at 4 p.m.

Follow the live results of the meet via the Meet Mobile App.

The full schedule of Saturday's events can be found below.

Saturday, Feb. 15
Prelims
9:30 a.m.   200 Backstroke
                  100 Freestyle
                  200 Breaststroke
                  200 Butterfly
                  400 Freestyle Relay
11:30 a.m. 1650 Freestyle Heats

Finals
4 p.m.     Senior Recognition
5 p.m.     1650 Freestyle Finals
               200 Backstroke Finals
               100 Freestyle Finals
               200 Breaststroke Finals
               200 Butterfly Finals
               400 Freestyle Relay