FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno Pacific women's swim and dive team competed against University of Alaska Fairbanks in the first home meet of the season at Bullard High School. The Sunbirds faced tough competition on the first day, capturing only one first place finish with 61 points overall, but bounced back on Saturday and boosted their score to 71 points.

"I will say the energy for the second day was great! Everyone had a long day on Friday and to come back earlier in the morning and have a great, positive and engaged energy was amazing to see," said first year head coach Ray Eggert. "The girls got up and swam amazingly on Saturday, which speaks to the impact their energy can have on the outcome. Had several great swim and several more improved swims from last weekend. The goal is to get better every day in practice, to translate it to the races; so far, we are moving in the right direction."

DAY 1 | 61-144
Despite the Sunbirds efforts, the Nanooks put up a tough fight on the first day of the dual meet. Charlotte Wilbers notched the sole first place finish for FPU in the 100 Backstroke after posting a time of 1:02.79. Wilbers' 2:16.68 time in the 200 Individual Medley led to another Top 3 finish for the Netherlands native. Lili Sramko had a brilliant performance in the 100 Butterfly, nearly passing Nanook competitor Schmiedel with a time of 1:02.85. Although the Nanooks overran several events, sophomore Tora Elise Lynes Nordli contributed a third place finish for the Sunbirds, posting a 26.72 in the 50 Free to close out the day.

DAY 2 | 71-126
The Blue and Orange rallied on day two and posted multiple first place finishes against University of Alaska Fairbanks. In the individual events, Wilbers added another first place finish to her belt in the 200 Free, beating out fellow Sunbird Hermione Roe by only a second. Senior Jillian Lambert set the record straight for the Sunbirds and notched two first-place finishes in the 50 Free (24.54) and the 100 Free (54.69). A notable performance in the 200 Medley Relay added several points to the board for FPU. Sramko, Roe, Nordli, and freshman Mia Manno splashed past their opponents in the relay, hitting 1:58.10 and taking a second-place finish.

Some truly standout performances came from Hermione Roe and Cara Moehle. Roe battled hard in multiple events, making the Top three in the 500 Free, the 200 Free, the 200 Individual Medley, and the 200 Breaststroke. In the water, Mohle was a force to reckon with capturing fourth in the mile with a time of 19:47.96 and breezing past the competition in the 200 Individual medley, the 500 Free and the 200 Free.

"It was awesome to have our first home meet and feel the support from everyone who came out," said assistant coach Rebeca Bribiesca Spears. "The team brought great energy, and we saw a lot of improvement from our last meet. We got some good wins, and there were strong swims across the board that showed we're moving in the right direction. Day two was especially good. Even after racing hard on day one, the team came back with even more energy and competed really well. It's exciting to see that kind of effort this early in the season, and it gives us a lot to build on as we keep working.

NEXT UP: The Sunbirds have another dual home meet against Cal State East Bay on Friday, Oct. 24th.

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