Men’s swim won Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC) Championships with the final race of the meet, the men’s relay. Defeating the 2020 champs, UC Santa Cruz, the men’s team edged out the competition by less than two points margin for the total meet, winning 731 to 729.5.

Freshman swimmer Hunter May said, “The team had ups and downs like any other sports teams but in this last month the team has grown close. This conference win created a bond that I think will help us in the future.”

May placed amongst top competitors in his first year and said, “I placed second in the 200 IM with a 1:53.31. I placed fourth in the 400 IM with a 4:07.52. Lastly, I placed third in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:05.18.” May was grateful for his role on the team this year and added, “I especially want to thank Coach Bert Bergen for accepting me to this program. I would like to thank all my training partners that pushed me this season to be successful.”

Senior Alberto (Albe) Cortes shared, “My favorite memory throughout my career would be winning conference my freshman year and being able to do it again my final year of swimming was amazing. I would say this year was one of the most challenging years for this team, and in the end, we were able to pull through.”

Cortes was very happy with the individual results of his final season and praised the team for their work over the past few months. He said, “I got a national D2 cut in the 100 free and placed third at a conference with a time of 45:22. Also placed seventh in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 fly. My relay teams got second in four different relays against the dominant FPU team.”

Cortes added, “This team has grown tremendously throughout the season. Having mostly underclassmen on this team, the upperclassmen had a big responsibility to guide them with our strong team culture and performances we have created in the past years. Instilling these ideas was crucial and helped us grow as a swim team into the family we have always been in the past years.”

Additional stand-out performances were recognized by the team and coaches. Senior Kyle Benjamin will be competing at the NCAA Championships with a qualifying time at the PCSC meet. Freshman Ryan Burke won the PCSC women’s title for the 200 fly.

Coach Bert Bergen said, “I am exceptionally proud of the resilience of this team, their growth as men and women, their emerging faith and willingness to trust in Him for what they have been able to achieve.”

Competing in D1, the women’s swim team placed sixth out of fifteen teams at the meet. Cortes said, “Although the guys won conference this year, the women also did an amazing job at the conference. I am proud of the ladies' team as well. The women have a much harder conference than the men as they go against D1 schools.”

The men’s team won their second PCSC title in four years. As the senior class graduates, Bergen welcomes a new batch of underclassmen with the drive to succeed.

For more on the CUI Swim and Dive program, visit cuieagles.com.

Tags: Swim and Dive, Men's Athletics, coaching

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About Owen Milligan

Owen Milligan is Editor-in-Chief of the student-run Concordia Courier, campus newspaper for Concordia University Irvine. Owen is from Riverside, CA, currently completing a BA in Business Administration. Owen’s emphasis of study is in Finance and Business Data Analytics. He also completed a minor in Communication Studies.

In his current role, Owen oversees four coverage areas for the newspaper - campus life, sports, arts, and local and global news coverage. He also works closely with design editor, Ryann Beveridge. Owen and the Courier staff write and edit using AP Style. Owen’s role allows him to interact with community pillars, both students and faculty, in live interviews and communications with the newspaper readership upon publication.

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