LA MIRADA, Calif. — Biola Swim & Dive closed out its regular season on Friday with one of the signature events on the Biola Athletics annual calendar - a home dual meet at Lansing Pool.

Coach Nate Harding and the squad transformed the Eagles' humble pool deck into a primetime venue flooded with red and black and crafted specifically to create an intimate and exhilarating environment to compete.

Before the meet began the Eagles had a chance to celebrate six departing seniors as they honored Celine Dong, Katelyn Harper, Kasidee Pascoe, Clayton Owens, James Gamette and Westin Dawe. 

The pre-meet festivities were followed by two rounds of diving with the men and women alternating chances on the one-meter and three-meter boards. Luke Bartruff recorded his best scores of the season on both boards to take second-place in each event. He went 175.15 in the one-meter and 150.60 in the three-meter.

Eliana Cote stole the show, and a whole bunch of points, while defending her home pool. The Eagles' sophomore took first place by a wide margin on both boards. She recorded a 208.35 on the one-meter and 204.30 on the three-meter.

That got Biola off to a strong start, but the depth of UC Santa Cruz would prove challenging as the night wore on. The visiting Banana Slugs would ultimately win both dual meets, taking the women's meet 162-99 and the men's 151-111.

The Slugs set the tone early on by winning both legs of the 400-medley relay. Their 'A' team was two seconds faster in the men's race and about six seconds faster on the women's side.

Gabe Weber would give the Eagles its first individual swimming triumph when he dominated the men's 1,000-freestyle with a 10:02.90. It was his fourth chance at the 1,000 this year and was second-fastest to just the La Verne Winter Invite, which Biola swims fully tapered.

One of the most thrilling finishes of the afternoon was in the men's 200-freestyle. Westin Dawe put on a show during his senior day, closing a gap in the final 25 yards to make UCSC's John Madden incredibly nervous. The Eagles' senior had his third-best 200 of the year with a 1:46.61 to finish second by less than a half-second.

Sofia Chavez-Varela also placed as runner-up in the women's 200-freestyle (1:59.21), giving BU a clean sweep of the silver in that event. Chavez-Varela would rack up another runner-up later in the meet during the 200-butterfly. 

Liza Parahnevich would not worry herself with second-place as the junior went :59.67 to claim the top spot in the 100-backstroke by nearly a full second. Parahnevich doubled her good fortune later on as she also won in the 200-backstroke. She went 2:07.99 in the closest battle of the night, out-swimming her opponent who finished a blink behind her at 2:08.01.

The siblings Haaksma put on a show for BU in the 100-breaststroke. Little brother Jacob Haaksma had a tight race with UCSC's Joe Guzman and ultimately placed second by 14-hundredths of a second with a :59.96. 

Just after that the older sibling, Anna Haaksma, found a way to win in the women's event. She went 1:08.44 to take the top spot in an event that featured three Eagles among the top-4 finishers.

Haaksma also tallied a win in a memorable women's 200-breaststroke. She carded a 2:30.50 to get the win, while senior Celine Dong came in second place with a strong first swim back at 2:33.85.

If you blinked you would've missed the 50-freestyle on this night as the swimmers were chopping through the water at Lansing Pool as the lights turned on and the sun went down. Jake Michelsen was on fire, logging a :22.13 to win by nearly a full half-second.

Biola's men dominated the top spot in the sprint freestyle events in this one as Ethan Crabb was No. 1 in the 100-freestyle with a :48.96. It's the first time this season that Biola took the top spots in both the 50-free and 100-free at a dual meet. 

The Eagles were not done yet, though. BU would finish strong by bringing in wins in the men's final two individual events of the night - the 200-IM and the 100-butterfly. Jacob Haaksma added to his brilliant freshman campaign by winning the IM by a mile with a 2:01.21. Last year's freshman sensation Matthew Trejo hoarded the victory in the 100-butterfly (:52.83).

The men's side of Michelsen, Trejo, Dawe and Haaksma obliterated the Banana Slugs in the 400-freestyle relay to finish up the regular season on a high note.

The teams are back in action Feb. 16-19 in St. George, Utah, when Dixie State hosts the 2022 Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference Championships.