LA MIRADA, Calif. — As the Eagles and Sunbirds tangled at Lansing Pool a Biola women's swim & dive win was never in doubt, while on the men's side it was excruciatingly close throughout. 

A Jacob Haaksma surge and dominant Alejandro Marchesini anchor swim lifted the men to victory in the decisive final event of the day, the 400-freestyle relay. Three times now since 2020-21 Biola Aquatics has swept Fresno Pacific in a head-to-head meet held here at Lansing Pool.

"I was proud of everyone and how they performed today," said Haaksma. "In that last relay, I wanted to give it all we could, even if it was not enough. I think we all did a good job of giving it all we could."

It was a gutsy performance by coach Harding's bunch as the Eagles led on both sides all day long and won 18 of the 28 swimming events. Biola claimed a 189-48 win in the women's meet and 130-116 win on the men's side. The team scoring was helped out by diving as FPU did not enter any divers, which resulted in some extra scoring 26 extra men's points and 32 extra women's points.

"Each meet we try to build with our mentality to race and be competitive," said Head Coach Nate Harding. "We were focused on taking the opportunity to compete. We were less focused on who we were swimming against and more on supporting each other." 

That 400-freestyle relay turned out to be the pinnacle event of the day as Biola had to win that in order to secure a meet win. Fresno Pacific was in the lead for the first 280 or so yards, until a remarkable final 25 from Haaksma pulled Biola in front just before the anchor swimmers hopped in the pool. Marchesini extended that lead during the anchor swim to lock up the meet for BU as Biola recorded a 3:11.97 to finish about two seconds ahead of FPU's 'A' team at 3:14.02.

Biola's women also capitalized on the final event of the meet, finishing first, second and third all in front of the FPU 'A' team. Allison Yancey, Rachel Munch, Morgan Kampfer and Phoebe Munholland turned in a 3:39.16 to win the event. The women's team went 1-2 in both relays today, also dominating the opening 200-medley relay.

One of the more significant moments of the meet came in diving as second-year Eagle Lorelai Carney set a new record in the three-meter dive with a total tally of 255.85. Carney won both boards on the women's side while Caleb Pook turned in some consistent scores to win the men's side. He tallied 272.50 in each board.

The first individual swimming event of the day was the longest one as the teams once again swam the 1,000-freestyle. It went swimmingly for BU as the women went 1-2-3 with freshmen Tessa Halleen and Chloe Colvard going back-to-back at the top. Halleen's winning time was 11:08.37. One the men's side the Eagles got two of the top-3 positions to begin strong as they built their case for the meet win. Noah Hall won the event by 10 seconds with a 9:56.59 and Mike Maurer made a late charge to grab the third spot at 10:11.19.

The tone of the meet changed briefly as FPU picked up three event wins in a row in the 200-freestyle and women's 100-backstroke. One of the more impressive swims of the day was a dramatic come-from-behind win by FPU's Camila Alduenda in the 100-backstroke to steal a win from Savanna Taylor.

The strength of Biola's contingent of freshmen females was obvious, though, as Taylor, Emilee Elizondo and Angelina Ahmadi-Kashani finished back-to-back-to-back in second, third and fourth.

The men's 100-backstroke is when Biola turned the tide back in the BU favor. An event win for Marchesini (by nearly two seconds) and a late push into second place by Nathan Griffin helped give the BU men a bit more breathing room on the scoreboard. Marchesini's winning time was :51.94.

A few events later was one of the more interesting swims of the afternoon as Morgan Kampfer was the only swimmer from either team to be entered into the women's 200-butterfly. The 200s of stroke were a new addition to the meet lineup as they were not swam when these two teams swam in a tri-meet with TMU here last year.

Kampfer won the event, obviously, with a 2:09.70. She has not finished outside of the top spot in a 200-butterfly event since last November.

The women's returning swimmers made a splash in the 50-freestyle as Katie Ottman won and was followed directly by Meghan Tolman and Sidney MacGillivray. The women also went 1-2-3 in the 100-free. On the men's side though, FPU's not-so-secret weapon, Jan Bialecki, won the 50-free. He also claimed the 100-free and 100-butterfly titles this afternoon in an effort to spearhead his team to victory.

Perhaps the second most important result for the narrow men's win came in the 200-backstroke. FPU's Max Pecile and Nelson Maier started strong to hold second and third behind Marchesini, who would ultimately win the event. But, their strong start would quickly diminish as Biola's Jackson Black and Nathan Griffin tag-teamed for an overtake to sweep the podium for Biola. Those points would become critical late in the day.

A similar story took shape in the 500-freestyle as Rasmus Hanson took a narrow event win for FPU but Noah Hall, Sean Rho and Mike Maurer managed to steal a bevy of points with finishes second through fourth.

That finish, plus a Jacob Haaksma win in the 200-IM set the stage for the big finish for the BU men. 

"Everyone racing together in practice really motivates us for these meets," said Haaksma. "It motivates us to get after it, even when we are all tired."

On the women's side, Friedley managed to win the 200-IM with a 2:12.20, overtaking FPU's Charlotte Wilbers with a huge third 50 split advantage. The freshman Elizondo also nabbed an event win by going sub-:59 in the 100-butterfly. It was Elizondo's first collegiate event win.

The wins will sink in and help Biola to build some confidence as the team continues to build throughout this fall season toward the crown jewel event at the La Verne Winter Invite in November. Up next for BU is a tri-meet next week on the road against Occidental and Caltech.