RESULTS

MALIBU, Calif. – Big contributions from both its divers and swimmers led California Baptist University to a dual win over Western Athletic Conference foe Air Force at Pepperdine on Saturday.

The Lancers pulled out the 171-129 victory over the Falcons, with clutch performances coming from all over the pool.

"There were so many good swims and so much good diving it's impossible to single out just one person or one event," Coach Rick Rowland said. "It was a great win today. After the first break we were down by three points and really rallied in the second half of the meet by sweeping a few events and taking first in the relays."

CBU won both relays on the day, with Jacob Leahy and Jerome Heidrich being on both victorious teams. They joined up with Scott Tolman and Justin Quiroga to win the 200-yard medley relay in one minute, 30.93 seconds. They ended the day with a win in the 200-free relay with Josh Walters and Colton Babcock (1:23.96).

The Lancers started to separate themselves in the diving events. Garret Chew opened the dual with a runner-up finish on the 1-meter board with 258.40 points, while Zane Freeman and Tyler Stevens took fifth and seventh. Those three only improved at 3-meter. Chew won it with 298.10 points, while Freeman took second with a 282 and Stevens fourth (239.45).

"This dual allowed us to finally compete against all of our WAC opponents this year," Dive Coach Jeff Couto said. "We are looking extremely competitive… Our divers really helped rally the swimmers in the back half of the meet."

"Diving going one and two really helped bolster our standing in the meet," Rowland said of the 3-meter board. "That helped us secure the lead. Diving and swimming were both really balanced today."

Backstroke was where the Lancers began to pull away for good. CBU swept first through fourth in the 200 back, with Robert Moseley leading the way in 1:50.72. Matthew Niculae (1:53.36), Matt Amano (1:54.80) and Brandon Schuster (1:56.16) filled in second through fourth.

Walters had one of the most notable individual performances of the meet today snagging first or second in every event swam. He placed first in the 50 free with a time of 20.68, just .31 off of his season best time. He was just out touched in the 100 butterfly (49.82) and the 100 back (50.46) for second-place finishes. Moseley (51.23), Leahy (51.41) and Niculae (53.11) placed third through fifth in the 100 back, as well.

Tolman and Schuster also showed off their consistency, with several strong finishes. Schuster won the 200 individual medley (1:52.61) right in front of Tolman (1:53.82) and also had a win in the 200 free (1:40.45). Tolman swept both breaststroke events, with times of 55.72 in the 100 and 1:59.64 in the 200.

Heidrich added to the Lancers' depth with a win in the 100 free (45.87) and runner-up swim in the 50 free (21.21).

Babcock and Tanner Shore added strong runner-up performances for CBU in the distance events. Babcock took second in the 1000 free (9:47.88) and Shore did so in the 500 free (4:39.88).

Not to be left out, freshman Thomas Pipkin swam the 500 free for the first time this season and placed fourth with a time of 4:44.40.

"It was a really great swim for him," Rowland said. "He was in a different heat so his place wasn't that good, but his time was really impressive."