Sunbird Swim & Dive Seniors Shine in Final Home Meet

The 2023-24 Sunbird Swim & Dive seniors put on a show in their final home and regular meet of the season in a dual against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers and the Master's University Mustangs. The Sunbirds started the meet off strong with a first and second place finish in the men's 200-yard medley relay, being led by senior Gerardo Gonzalez Ruiz, Konstantin Ilijic, senior Jan Bialecki, and Seth Rollins. The women captured third in the 200-yard meedley relay, with senior Camilla Alduenda leading the way with teammates Natalie Noble, Mia Buller, and Charlotte Wilbers. The first individual win of the meet came for Bialecki in close race in the 200-yard free as he held off the Master's Dylan Crane by .03 seconds. A one, two, three finish for the Sunbirds marked the 100-yard backstroke as Gonzalez Ruiz, Nelson Maier, and Martin Beitveit swept the podium all with strong individual times. Another podium sweep for the 'Birds came shortly after in the 100-yard breaststroke for IIlijic, Ezekiel Cardona, and Nico Barna. A pair of first place finishes for the Sunbirds happened in the men's 200-yard fly for James Robinson and in the 50-yard free for Rasmus Hanson. Gonzalez Ruiz earned his third first place finish of the day finshing just ahead of teammate Maximillian Pecile who came in second in the 200-yard backstroke. In the 200-yard breast, Cardona barely edged out teammate Barna by .05 seconds to take his first first place finish of the meet. The lone win for the women came from Wilbers who triumphed in the women's 500-yard free beating out CSUEB's Emilie Giannini by .40 seconds. Bialecki would tally his third win of the day in the 100-yard fly. The last one, two, three finish of the day came for the Sunbirds as Pecile, Robinson, and Gonzales Ruiz recorded times all within one second of each other. The Sunbirds ended the day with a first place finish in the 200-yard free relay with the team of Rollins, Illijic, Maier, and Hanson. It was an awesome final meet for our graduating Seniors" said head coach Brian Sharar. Now is the time of year where we have the most fun. In the next few weeks, the team will get some much deserved rest to come back and feel ready to pursue their goals at the PCSC meet and NCAA Championships. Up next for the Sunbirds is PCSC Championships on February 14-17 in Monterey Park. SUNBIRD SOCIALS Twitter - @fpusunbirds Instagram - @fpusunbirds Facebook - /FPUathletics #TeamFPU