MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – The Caltech men's swim & dive team wrapped up a successful season with the four-day Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships, setting new program records, reaching the podium multiple times, and claiming third place overall in the finale.
One of the biggest achievements of the meet came in the 800-yard freestyle relay championship, as the "A" team of
Leo Yang,
Chris Pukszta,
Simon Hu and
Naci Keskin raced to a 6:43.03 finish, good enough for second place and silver medals on the podium. The Caltech "B" team of
Siddhartha Ojha,
Andrew Pasco,
Lucas Abounader and
Jason Lin claimed third place in the consolation heat, finishing in 6:57.78 and earning 10 points in the standings.
Also making waves for the Beavers was the 200-yard free relay team of
Evan Zhang, Keskin, Yang and Abounader, who won the bronze with a time of 1:22.82, a new school record.
Sam Small, Ojha, Hu and Pukszta also claimed third in the consolation heat with a 1:25.04 finish.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Caltech gained 30 points in the standings by the fourth-place finish by the Keskin, Lin,
Pierre Zeineddin and Zhang quartet, touching the wall in 1:32.90. The Beavers also reached the podium with a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay, as Hu, Lin, Zeineddin and Pukszta finished in 3:24.10 about a half-second ahead of the Occidental "A" team.
Zeineddin won silver in the 200-yard butterfly with a 1:49.57 finish, sharing the heat with teammates Pasco and Ojha as the Beavers grabbed a total of 43 points in the event. Zeineddin also took fifth in the 100-yard fly final, improving on his preliminary time to finish in 49.70 seconds.
Brayden Noh was the sole Caltech diver on the men's side, picking up points for the Beavers with his 176.00 finals score on the one-meter board and a 162.00 in the three-meter event.
In the individual medley (IM) events, Pasco scored for Caltech with his 1:54.48 finish in the 200-yard championship heat. He also swam in the 400 IM championship, finishing in 4:05.71, just ahead of Yang at 4:06.53.
Nathan McAlister and
Jake Goldman competed in the consolation heat and took third and fourth place, respectively.
Zhang posted a 20.93 finish in the 50-yard freestyle championship heat, gaining 13 points for Caltech. Hu claimed the bronze in the 200 free final with a 1:39.78 finish, narrowly beating out teammate Keskin in fourth place at 1:39.85. Yang's endurance earned Caltech 14 points in the 1650-yard freestyle final with a 16:09.24 time.
Lin and Zhang scored for Caltech in the 100-yard breaststroke final, Lin touching in 57.02 seconds just before Zhang at 57.24. Lin also swam in the 200 final and picked up 12 points from a 2:06.11 time.
Caltech picked up more points in the backstroke events thanks to Pukszta's 52.08 time in the 100-yard championship and his 1:51.50 time in the 200. Hu won third place in the 200 with a 1:51.12 finish.
In the end, the Beavers finished in third place with 455 points, beating out Chapman, Redlands, Occidental, Cal Lutheran, Whittier and La Verne.
"I'm proud of the way that our team battled at SCIACs this season," Head Coach Andy Brabson said. "It certainly has not been an easy one and to be able to maintain last year's team standings along with some strong individual and relay performances is a testament to how well the team was able to come together."
The NCAA will announce the field for this year's National Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
