ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Fresno Pacific came to Nationals ready to uphold their No. 1 ranking on both the men and women’s side. The Sunbirds won five events including two NAIA National records, where the women dominated winning four out of five events.
The finals began with a bang as both the men and women broke the national records in their respective 200 medley relays. This was the first relay victory for the women in school history and the second victory and second relay national record for the men in school history.
The women returned at the end of the night to also take the 800 freestyle relay by over five seconds.
Individually,
Stacy Carter and
Cheyenne Coffman also took first in the 200 individual medley and the 50 freestyle, respectively.
The men finished the first night with only one victory, but came together well as a team and outperformed every other team with their depth. The Sunbird men had four swimmers in the top-eight in the 500 freestyle led by
Steven Piggott and
Dan Wilson finishing second and third, respectively. The Sunbird men also had three sprinters in the top-eight of the 50 freestyle led by
Carl Weigley’s fourth place finish, and scored three more swimmers in the consolation finals.
The men also rose to the top of the standing with their two divers scoring points on both the one-meter and three-meter boards.
Dan Crosby finished fifth and fourth on the one-meter and three-meter, respectively, while
Zach Niles finished eighth and seventh, respectively.
The men lead with 257.5 points with Lindenwood in second with 194 points and Cal Baptist in third with 183 points. The women are currently tied with Savannah College of Art and Design with 154 points while Cal Baptist and Azusa Pacific trail closely with 150 and 146 points, respectively.
The Sunbirds continue competition tomorrow, Friday, March 5 with finals beginning at 6 p.m. CST.