Soka Lions Defeat Masters College In Dual Meet

ALISO VIEJO, CA — The Soka University Lions brought home the win, defeating the Mustangs of The Master's College 178-96 in their dual meet on Saturday morning at the Soka University pool, the university said.

Crowds were filled with the the Soka University Club Senate and Executive Council's sponsored Student Tailgate. More than 70 Soka students joined in the festivities, and cheered on the Lions to their home victory.

Kicking off the meet, the Lions recognized their lone senior Zoe Frye for her tremendous effort, and hard work over her last four seasons donning the Soka swim cap.

Frye opened her final meet in the Soka pool by posting a career best time in the 200 yard Freestyle race, touching in at 2:20.14, and earning a first place finish.Also highlighting the meet for the women's squad was Sachiko Hagiya's first place finishes in the 100 yard backstroke (1:06.60), and the 200 yard backstroke (2:26.32) events.

Muskan Agrawal also generated a solid swim in her 100 yard Backstroke event with a final time of 1:33.01.Clarissa Cheam earned a first place finish in the 100 yard Backstroke, where she also earned the NAIA Bonus Cut with a final time of 1:12.73.

In the 100 yard Freestyle race, Soka's Lisa Ransom swam her Soka best time of 1:03.82, shaving off over three seconds from her previous record to earn a third place overall finish in the event.For the men, Soka's Yoshki Wurtz finished first in the 200 yard Freestyle race with a time of 1:53.56, and Wyatt Balman placed second for his lifetime best time of 2:04.50.

Wurtz also generated a solid swim in the 100 yard Freestyle race touching in at 52.80.

"I can't thank The Master's University enough for helping us fill a hole in our schedule," said Head Coach Adam Crossen. "To have the Master's be able to compete for their first time in NAIA swimming in front of our home fans; the largest number of students that we have ever had in attendance at a home meet, was truly awesome. Aside from our great team results, I think this will be one of those meets that the coaches and the swimmers will always remember. It was a great conclusion to our meet season, and I really think we are ready to have a great PCSC Championship meet in a couple of weeks."

Soka University swimmers will compete next in the SPLASH! Aquatics center in La Mirada, CA, to compete in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championship meet starting on Wednesday, Feb.13, 2019.

Soka University Athletics release & photo.