For the second straight year, former Cerritos College All-American swimmer Jenel Lopez was named the Cal State East Bay Female Athlete of the Year. The greatest sprinter in Pioneer swimming history, Lopez holds their school records in the 50-yard, 100-yard, and 200-yard freestyle. She led East Bay to a program-best second-place finish at the PCSC Championships and the school's first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Championships. Lopez was an honorable mention All-American for her finish in the 200-yard freestyle. She also anchored the 200-yard free-style relay team, which placed eighth in the nation.

When Lopez was swimming for Cerritos College from 2009-10, she helped set nine school records and was named the South Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year both seasons. Now a senior at Cal State East Bay, Lopez has continued to break school records. At the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Championships earlier in the year, Lopez led off the 800-yard freestyle relay with a top-10 200-yard split to help the Cal State East Bay swim team open the championships at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatic Center. Competing in the only swim events on the first night of the conference meet, Lopez helped the Pioneers set new program records in both the 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relays and saw several lifetime and season bests to kick off the four-day meet.

Lopez came out in the 800-yard freestyle relay final, her first race of the meet, posting a 25.48 through the first 50 yards, the best 50-yard split among the 80 competitors. She continued to push through the second 50 yards and final 100 yards of her leg, bringing the Pioneers to the first transition with a lead over both Alaska Fairbanks and UC San Diego. Lopez' time of 1:50.83 set a new lifetime best and a new program record, taking nearly three seconds off her record-setting time in the 200-yard freestyle from last year's championships.

In addition, the time falls well under the NCAA Championships "B" standard qualifying time and within seven-tenths of a second of the automatic qualifying standard of 1:50.21 for the 200-yard freestyle. Lopez now holds the ninth-best 200-yard freestyle time this season in Division II, which will likely earn her a trip to NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Ala., in March.

As a junior with Cal State East Bay, Lopez set the school record in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle and consistently ranked among the Top 30 in Division II in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle. She also anchored four record-breaking relay teams helped lead the team to 11 NCAA "B" cuts at the conference meet. Lopez was also named East Bay's Female Athlete of the Year.

While swimming for the Falcons, Lopez was a part of nine school records (six still active) and was an All-American in the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, as well as four relay teams. She placed fourth at the state championships in both individual races her sophomore year after earning All-American honors in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle as a freshman.