Full Results

PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's swim & dive team earned a 194-99 victory over the University of Redlands on Saturday as the Beavers hosted a high-level interconference tri-meet at Braun and Alumni Pools.

Caltech defeated the Bulldogs while also competing against the squad from Cal Lutheran University.

The meet began at 10:30 a.m. on the 3-meter diving board where junior Jana Woo (Saratoga, Calif. / Monta Vista) took the victory in a six-athlete field after achieving a score of 288.35. Rookie Ava Balanon (Vacaville, Calif. / Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy) finished runner-up after a strong showing herself; she ended the event with a final score of 286.45.

The two Beavers switched finishing spots in the 1-meter dive as Balanon grabbed first among six athletes with an exceptional score of 312.05. Woo followed in the overall runner-up spot after earning a strong score of 288.60. 

For her 1-meter victory and narrow second-place showing on the 3-meter, Balanon was awarded SCIAC Diver of the Week honors.

Caltech saw a plethora of wins in the swimming events, beginning with the 200-yard medley relay where the Beavers' top group swam a 1:53.30 to nab the overall victory by .04 seconds. The squad — made up of sophomores Allison Xin (Broomfield, Colo. / Stargate Charter), Karen Zhou (Trophy Club, Tex. / Byron Nelson), Beatrice Cai (Princeton, N.J. / Princeton HS) and Emily Yu (Toronto, Can. / University of Toronto Schools) — beat out nine other relay groups en route to the win over both visiting schools. Caltech's second-fastest group finished in 1:58.36 to place third in the head-to-head battle with Redlands, as senior Natalie Lee (Westfield, N.J. / Union County Magnet) linked up with sophomores Grace Davis (Elkton, S.D. / Brookings) and Isabel Xu (East Setauket, N.Y. / Ward Melville) and first-year Grace Tuhanbonye (Austin, Texas / St. Andrew's Episcopal).

Yu picked up an individual victory in the 200-yard freestyle a few events later; the Beaver beat out the 10 competing athletes with a winning time of 2:00.34. The standout went on to place second versus both schools in the 200-yard backstroke (2:18.03).

In the 200-yard IM, rookie Elizabeth Ma (Burien, Wash. / Mount Rainier) grabbed first overall among nine finishers with a blazing time of 2:15.34. Zhou followed in second overall at 2:16.43.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Ma finished first in the head-to-head clash with Redlands and second overall after tapping the wall at 2:16.13. Zhou came through for second versus Redlands and third versus Cal Lutheran (2:19.15).

Ma also grabbed first in the 1000-yard freestyle matchup with Redlands; she was third overall (11:12.96). Junior Elizabeth Won (Hong Kong / Hong Kong International School) finished moments later at 11:16.02 to grab second in the Redlands scoring.

Won achieved a head-to-head victory against Redlands in the 500-yard freestyle after putting in a 5:32.52 performance; senior Paulina Naydenkov (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science) and first-year Ellie Wang (Houston / Philips Exeter Academy) followed in second (5:50.22) and third (5:52.32), respectively.

Cai earned first against Redlands in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.48) and second overall among 14 athletes; Lee earned third-place points against the Bulldogs after swimming 1:03.98. Cai also earned second place against Redlands and third versus Cal Lutheran in the 100 Free, with the sophomore tapping the wall at 56.59 seconds to beat out 10 competitors.

Zhou finished ahead of all Bulldogs in the 200-yard breaststroke and grabbed second overall after swimming 2:33.31. Sophomore Cherise Wong (Millbrae, Calif. / The Nueva School) followed at 2:41.82 for second against Redlands and third against the Regals.

The Beavers topped the Bulldogs in the 400 Free Relay as Yu, Xin, Naydenkov and Ma posted a 3:48.45 — good for second overall among eight relay groups.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Wong swam a 1:14.24 to pick up second place against both the Bulldogs and Regals. Davis finished soon after for third place in the duel with Cal Lutheran (1:16.74).

Xin secured second-place points in the 100-yard backstroke competition against both visiting schools with a time of 1:02.94; Cai earned third in the clash with Redlands after swimming a 1:03.01.

Tuhabonye's time of 26.73 in the 50-yard freestyle put her in front of seven other athletes and earned her third-place points in the matchup with Redlands.

Head coach Andrew Brabson and the Beavers will now focus on a Saturday, Jan. 11 dual meet as they visit Whittier College for road action. The meet begins at 10:30 a.m.

From there, Caltech will focus on another interconference tri-meet as the team takes on Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Chapman University in Claremont on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 10:30 a.m.

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