RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Returning from winter break, the Pacific swimming program travels to Southern California to start the new calendar year against California Baptist Saturday at noon at the Lancer Aquatics Center. 
 
The Tigers' men's team (3-0) and women's team (4-1) look to build upon strong first halves of the 2024-25 campaign, beginning with a road test against the Lancers.
 
"This meet will be a good point to see where we are at out of the winter break," head coach Katelyne Herrington said. "It will be a good understanding of where we are at over the past couple weeks, but we're excited to get the second half going. CBU has a good squad this year. They have a lot of seniors and a strong international group. It's going to be a tough meet for us, but I am hoping it will be close."
 
Following a positive performance from the fall, the men's squad has been credited as the fifth most improved team among the 143 Division I men's swim programs, according to SwimCloud.
 
Leading the way for the Tigers on the men's side has been a couple standouts in freshman Javier Lopez Guillen and senior Mitchell Hopper.
 
Guillen broke the Pacific men's 200 yard fly record at the UNLV Invitational with a time of 1:43.62 and has earned first place in the 100 yard and 200 yard fly in every competition this season.
 
Hopper has secured the top three in the 100 yard fly three times, including a first-place finish against Cal State East Bay and Fresno Pacific. The native of Happy Valley, Oregon also notched a first-place nod in the 200 yard free twice amidst his senior campaign.
 
Seniors Alexia Ferguson and Noemi Melendez have made their mark on the women's side, guiding the Tigers to its best first-half start of the season under Herrington's leadership.
 
Ferguson has finished in the top three twice in the 100 yard free, including a first-place finish in the home opener. Ferguson recently swam a personal best in the 100 yard free at the UNLV Invitational with a time of 51.74. 
 
Melendez has claimed first place twice this season, once in the 100 yard fly against Cal State East Bay and Fresno Pacific and another in the 200 yard fly against UC Santa Cruz and San Jose State.
 
The Tigers and Lancers meet for just the third time in the series history between the two programs. Saturday's meeting marks the second occurrence that Pacific makes the trip to Riverside.
 
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