ORANGE, Calif. (Jan. 23, 2016) – The Caltech men's swimming and diving team decisively beat Chapman University and swam well enough to defeat the University of La Verne but for a clerical error, leaving the Beavers with a split in their final double-dual meet of the season on Saturday morning.
The Beavers started the meet with a dominant victory in the 400 Medley Relay, blowing out the rest of the heat by eight seconds as freshman Dylan Lu (Kingwood, Texas / Kingwood) staked the team to a five-second lead. Caltech's 'B' relay team picked up a crucial two points against ULV as the Beavers opened up a nine-point lead which held through the mile, with La Verne taking first place but the Beavers claiming second- through fourth-place points. The Leopards took the lead two events later in the 50 Free, flipping a 22-13 score line to 34-39 and extending the margin to a high of 10 after the 1-meter diving.
Caltech surged back into the lead after the break with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 Fly, led by freshman Henry Steiner (Petaluma, Calif. / Casa Grande) placing first and freshman David Berger Maneiro (Calabasas, Calif. / Viewpoint) edging out La Verne's top finisher by a mere .09. The Leopards tied things up with first and fourth place in the 100 Free but the Beavers regained pole position as Lu won the 200 Back and the distance trio of sophomore Avikar Periwal (Potomac, Md. / Montgomery Blair) and freshmen Eshan Govil (Redwood City, Calif. / Sacred Heart Prep) and David Gunby (Washington, D.C/. / Georgetown Day School) canceled out La Verne's first-place finish in the 500 Free to maintain the five-point margin.
With the 3-meter competition tying the score once again, freshman Adam Dai (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Do Pueblos) claimed a key victory in the 200 Breast but with senior Matthew Cedeno (Virginia Beach, Va. / Ocean Lakes) erroneously marked as an exhibition swimmer, La Verne's top finish in the 800 Free Relay was just enough for the Leopards to steal the meet by one point.
Head Coach Jack Leavitt and the Beavers host their final dual meet of the year against Occidental College on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.
