ORANGE, Calif. — The Caltech men's and women's swim & dive teams competed against Chapman University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday in a high-level interconference tri-meet. The all-day affair served as the penultimate regular season meet for the Beavers, who will take on one more SCIAC opponent before turning towards the postseason.

Among several highlights from Saturday was the strong performance of sophomore Siddhartha Ojha (Lake Forest, Ill. Lake Forest), who scored the victory in the men's 1650-yard freestyle with a scorching time of 16 minutes, 49.62 seconds. The 20-year-old beat out six other swimmers; he finished ahead of the second-place athlete by nearly 18 full seconds.

With the result, Ojha puts himself seventh in the program's all-time performance record sheet. Additionally, his split of 10:04.29 at the 1000-yard marker in the race puts him seventh all-time in the Caltech 1000-yard freestyle rankings.

Another massive result came out of the women's 400-yard IM, where first-year Beatrice Cai (Princeton, N.J. / Princeton HS) scored a first-place performance in the head-to-head competition with Chapman. The newcomer edged out the fastest Panther by .05 seconds with a blazing time of 4:46.21, putting her name third all-time in program history for the event. The talented first-year also produced a quick time in the 200-yard butterfly, where she nearly topped her personal best with a result of 2:10.80.

In the men's 400-yard medley relay, the talented foursome of sophomore Simon Hu (Clarksville, Md. / River Hill), Evan Zhang (Great Falls, Va. / Thomas Jefferson), Marcel Liu (Natick, Mass. / Phillips Academy) and Leo Yang (Blacksburg, Va. / Blacksburg) combined for a quick time of 3:24.64, giving them second place overall and first place in the head-to-head matchup against Chapman. Earlier this season, the group of four Beavers notched the school record in the event.

Liu went on to nab first among 15 total swimmers in the 100-yard butterfly. The rookie put up a 50.05 second performance to earn the victory by .78 seconds.

Hu finished second overall and first against Chapman in the 200-yard freestyle, tapping the wall at 1:43.85. The sophomore finished ahead of 11 other competitors.

Zhang grabbed an individual head-to-head victory himself as he competed in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing second overall among all 12 swimmers and first against Pomona-Pitzer with a time of 56.91 seconds. The star just missed out on topping his personal best by .32 seconds.

The talent also collected a massive victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.60 to secure the win over all 16 other finishers.

Yang finished first in the head-to-head contest with the Panthers in the 500-yard freestyle, posting a time of 4:44.82 and beating seven swimmers. Earlier in the meet, the 21-year-old finished third in the 50-yard freestyle with a 21.10 second performance, tying his personal best and the program No. 5 all-time performance.

A Caltech relay group made up of all first-years — Allison Xin (Broomfield, Colo. / Stargate Charter), Grace Davis (Elkton, S.D. / Brookings), Cai and Emily Yu (Toronto, Can. / University of Toronto Schools) — produced a time of 4:07.22 in the women's 400-yard medley relay, putting them tenth all-time in program history for the event.

Davis took on the 100-yard breaststroke competition later in the meet, beating out Chapman and finishing ahead of 12 other swimmers.

Senior Andrew Pasco (Haddonfield, N.J. / Bishop Eustace Prep) beat out the Panthers in the men's 200-yard butterfly, swimming 1:52.31 to finish second overall in the 10-athlete race.

Pasco returned to the pool for the 400-yard IM — an event for which he currently holds the school record — where he swam 4:10.64 to again top Chapman. First-year Reid Nussbaum (Cohasset, Mass. / Cohasset) finished seconds later, wrapping up his race at 4:16.57 to put his name ninth in Caltech's 400 IM record list.

Sophomore Elizabeth Won (Hong Kong / Hong Kong International School) secured points for the women's team after swimming the 500-yard freestyle, picking up first in the head-to-head contest against Chapman with a time of 5:30.56.

First-year Zachary Pestrikov (Rye, N.Y. / Iona Preparatory) put himself tenth on the program's all-time top-10 sheet in a speedy men's 200-yard backstroke race; he clocked a time of 1:58.70.

Sophomore diver Jana Woo (Saratoga, Calif. / Monta Vista) won against both teams in the women's 1-meter dive with an impressive score of 268.50. In men's diving, sophomore diver Aaban Syed (Laurel, Md. / North County) also brought in points for the Beavers for earning first in the 3-meter competition against Pomona-Pitzer with a final score of 284.30.

In the men's 200-yard freestyle relay, Zhang, Yang, junior Sam Small (Ringwood, U.K. / Ringwood School) and senior Lucas Abounader (Austin, Tex. / Liberal Arts and Science Academy) recorded Caltech's No. 8 all-time rank in the event with a 1:24.36 performance.

Both programs will now focus on their final regular season meet of the season as they take on the University of La Verne Leopards on the road this Saturday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. Follow the action online at gocaltech.com/coverage and follow Caltech Swim & Dive on Instagram.

Follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.