ST LOUIS, MO --- As he looks ahead to his freshman appearance at the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships, Mike Perry will represent the Concordia swim program in at least one important aspect: Promise.

Perry's role in the second year of the team's history looks very similar to the team itself, which is looking to improve upon a 2008 maiden voyage that landed the men's team in seventh place and the women's team in 10th.

Perry captured Concordia's only individual title at the Pacific Coast Swim Conference meet, with a time of 50.11 in the 100 fly March 20, and he will face much of the same competitors at the national meet.

Like Perry, Concordia as a whole showed plenty of promise at the PSCS's, as the men finished in sixth place, but second to defending champion California Baptist among NAIA squads.

The Eagles' women also finished second to the Lancers among NAIA schools at the PCSC's, in what Concordia hopes will be a gauge and a motivator for the upcoming national meet.

Concordia's showing at the PCSC's caps off a pre-nationals season that included a 4-2 record in dual meets for the men and a 6-1 dual mark for the women.

Along the way, Perry has demonstrated the athletic ability and competitive drive that head coach Ken Dory hopes will boost his young program, setting four individual school records and helping to notch two new school marks in relay events.

"Mike is the type of person that would rather work his way up to No. 1 than join a program that is already elite," Dory said. "We have nothing to brag about as a program here at Concordia, and I think he sees that as a challenge. He knows that it will be an enjoyable thing to be part of building a program from the ground up."

As a prep at Yucaipa High School, Perry helped set new state records in both the 200 and 400 free relays, where his squads turned in marks of 1:23.04 and 3:03.76, respectively, but it wasn't until his senior year that the Concordia swim program even existed.

But when Perry's father, Glen, who coached the younger Perry's high school team, heard that Concordia was adding a swim team, it was Dory's name that eventually came into play.

Dory's proven record as a 19-year head coach at Irvine High School, where led his team to 10 consecutive conference titles, helped overcome the unproven nature of a new program, and Perry enrolled at Concordia in Fall, 2008.

"I came to this school knowing that it was only a year old at the time, but I expected and hoped to do well," Perry, a business management major, said. "I liked the area and the campus at Concordia, and Ken was really accepting to me and was willing to accomadate all of my needs."

Dory, who was twiced named Coach of the Year by both The Orange County Register and The Los Angeles Times while serving at Irvine High, brings a total of 35 swimmers to Concordia's second national meet in school history.

The Eagles will look to out-perform the weekly NAIA weekly top-5 ratings, which ranks Concordia at No. 4 on the men's side, while the women did not receive a rating. More than anything, though, Dory and his squad will work toward building the status of the two-year old program.

"The fact that Mike came to Concordia sends a message that you can be an elite swimmer and perform for us, even though we're a young program," Dory said. "The way Mike has been swimming so far has backed up his reputation. Having athletes like Mike here helps us in building our program, just because he performs at the level that he does."

The national meet begins Wednesday (March 4) with diving on the men's and women's sides, but Concordia joins the action Thursday (March 5).

For more information on the 2009 NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships, click here.

Bethany Mead, Sports Information Student Assistant, contributed to this report