Pomona-Pitzer Colleges teammates Larry Yu and Ben Willett swept the Swimmer and Diver of the Year awards at the 2023 SCIAC Championships.
Yu earned All-SCIAC honors in all seven of his swims, including individual victories in the 500-yard Freestyle, 400 IM and 200 Breast in addition to victories as a member of the 400 and 800 Free Relays. He swam new meet records in the 400 IM and with the fastest split of the 800 Free Relay. He also finished runner-up on the 200 and 400 Medley Relays which still posted NCAA 'B' cuts and will expect to see his name on the list of NCAA qualifiers that will be released Wednesday.
Willett won the 3-meter diving competition, rallying from an early deficit to record a 529.40 to beat out a pair of other 500-plus scorers for the first time at the meet in more than a decade. He also placed second on the 1m board with an NCAA regionals-qualifying 458.25 and will attempt to place among the top six for a bid to the Championships.
A member of team champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Evan Deedy was recognized as the Newcomer of the Year after reaching the podium four times during the meet, including the individual 100 Breast title and both victorious Medley Relays. He also finished in third place in the 200 Breast and 12th in the 200 IM.
Caltech's Nathan McAlister received the Character Award, which is presented to a senior who best exemplifies success in the pool, in the classroom and with involvement in community and school service. McAlister is a team captain and former school record holder in the 400 IM who scored at SCIACs each year he competed. He has interned with Motionworks International and NNV Math Programs, helping to organize math competitions throughout Nevada. He conducted a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship with the Beverly McKeon Group, is a Peer Advocate, Dean's Tutor and Teaching Assistant for Applied Linear Algebra.
Coaching Staff of the Year honors went to Charlie Griffiths and CMS, which won a tightly contested championship against the Sagehens for the Stags' 13th team title in the last 15 years. Three swimmers were named All-SCIAC in at least five events while the team combined to record 21 NCAA 'B" cut times over the four-day meet.
Pomona-Pitzer registered 18 'B' cuts, followed by Chapman University with five and Caltech with four. The University of Redlands notched two while both California Lutheran University and Whittier College earned one apiece. CMS' 2022 Newcomer of the Year Nic Tekieli and Anderson Breazeale and Yu led all competitors in reaching the podium every time they swam, going a perfect 7-for-7 followed by fellow Sagehens Ted Hwang and Tag Curwen with six each. 2022 national champion Frank Applebaum made the cut in five events, with Pomona-Pitzer's Adrian Clement tying teammate Isaac Pan, Deedy and Simon Hu (Caltech) at four podiums apiece.
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 |
 |
 |
 |
Swimmer
of the Year |
Diver
of the Year |
Newcomer
of the Year |
Character
Award |
Coaching
Staff of the Year |
| Larry Yu |
Ben Willett |
Evan Deedy |
Nathan McAlister |
Charlie Griffiths |
| Pomona-Pitzer |
Pomona-Pitzer |
CMS |
Caltech |
CMS |
| Men's 50-Yard Freestyle |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Cole Kershner |
20.46 |
Chapman |
| 2. Nic Tekieli |
20.61 |
CMS |
| 3. Adrian Clement |
20.84 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
|
|
|
| Men's 100-Yard Freestyle |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Tag Curwen |
45.10 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Nic Tekieli |
45.32 |
CMS |
| 3. Ted Hwang |
45.58 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Freestyle |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Tag Curwen |
1:38.44 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Anderson Breazeale |
1:39.55 |
CMS |
| 3. Simon Hu |
1:39.78 |
Caltech |
|
|
|
| Men's 500-Yard Freestyle |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Larry Yu |
4:26.87 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Lucas Lang |
4:28.98 |
CMS |
| 3. Anderson Breazeale |
4:29.32 |
CMS |
|
|
|
| Men's 1650-Yard Freestyle |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Lucas Lang |
15:30.01 |
CMS |
| 2. Tom Jansen |
15:43.17 |
Redlands |
| 3. Cole Weiderman |
15:47.47 |
Cal Lutheran |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard IM |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Frank Applebaum |
1:48.74 |
CMS |
| 2. Isaac Pan |
1:50.30 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Ted Hwang |
1:50.83 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
|
|
|
| Men's 400-Yard IM |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Larry Yu |
3:53.15 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Henrik Barck |
3:59.99 |
CMS |
| 3. Nic Friedley |
4:00.16 |
Whittier |
|
|
|
| Men's 100-Yard Butterfly |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Frank Applebaum |
47.89 |
CMS |
| 2. Ted Hwang |
49.52 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Cassidy Liu |
49.63 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Butterfly |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Frank Applebaum |
1:47.26 |
CMS |
| 2. Pierre Zeineddin |
1:49.57 |
Caltech |
| 3. Gordon Kenny |
1:51.00 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
|
|
|
| Men's 100-Yard Breaststroke |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Evan Deedy |
55.80 |
CMS |
| 2. Isaac Pan |
56.26 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Lincoln Hall |
56.37 |
Cal Lutheran |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Larry Yu |
1:59.13 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Isaac Pan |
2:00.49 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Evan Deedy |
2:02.90 |
CMS |
|
|
|
| Men's 100-Yard Backstroke |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Nic Tekieli |
48.74 |
CMS |
| 2. Grant Stucky |
50.29 |
CMS |
| 3. Jeremy Tan |
50.31 |
CMS |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Backstroke |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Anderson Breazeale |
1:48.46 |
CMS |
| 2. Joe Dienstag |
1:50.23 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Simon Hu |
1:51.12 |
Caltech |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Medley Relay |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Anderson Breazeale, Evan Deedy, Weston Crewe, Nic Tekieli |
1:29.82 |
CMS |
| 2. Larry Yu, Dylan Hou, Ted Hwang, Adrian Clement |
1:30.32 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Carter Park, Nate Pittroff, Thomas Hoffman, Josh Biggs |
1:32.32 |
Occidental |
|
|
|
| Men's 400-Yard Medley Relay |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Nic Tekieli, Evan Deedy, Frank Applebaum, Anderson Breazeale |
3:17.81 |
CMS |
| 2. Larry Yu, Dylan Hou, Isaac Pan, Tag Curwen |
3:18.83 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Simon Hu, Jason Lin, Pierre Zeineddin, Chris Pukszta |
3:24.10 |
Caltech |
|
|
|
| Men's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Matteen Harandi, Tag Curwen, Ted Hwang, Adrian Clement |
1:21.99 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Jeremy Tan, Dylan Krueger, Theodore Johnson, Nic Tekieli |
1:22.13 |
CMS |
| 3. Evan Zhang, Naci Keskin, Leo Yang, Lucas Abounader |
1:22.82 |
Caltech |
|
|
|
| Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Tag Curwen, Larry Yu, Adrian Clement, Ted Hwang |
3:00.58 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Chris Pukszta, Naci Keskin, Evan Zhang, Lucas Abounader |
3:02.67 |
Caltech |
| 3. Anderson Breazeale, Theodore Johnson, Nic Tekieli, Henrik Barck |
3:05.53 |
CMS |
|
|
|
| Men's 800-Yard Freestyle Relay |
| Name |
Time |
Institution |
| 1. Tag Curwen, Anzo Degiulio, Adrian Clement, Larry Yu |
6:37.13 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Leo Yang, Chris Pukszta, Simon Hu, Naci Keskin |
6:43.03 |
Caltech |
| 3. Frank Applebaum, Theodore Johnson, Henrik Barck, Anderson Breazeale |
6:44.60 |
CMS |
|
|
|
| Men's 1-Meter Diving |
| Name |
Score |
Institution |
| 1. Jack Griffith |
492.70 |
CMS |
| 2. Ben Willett |
458.25 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 3. Reid Omilian |
457.45 |
Chapman |
|
|
|
| Men's 3-Meter Diving |
| Name |
Score |
Institution |
| 1. Ben Willett |
529.40 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2. Reid Omilian |
520.35 |
Chapman |
| 3. Cyrus Gaylord |
501.60 |
CMS |
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