At night’s end the scales tipped in CALIFORNIA’s favor, but day three of the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Men’s and Women’s Diving Championship at Weyerhaeuser King Country Aquatic Center brought a host of competitive events. USC and Stanford took their first trips to the winners podium after the Trojans’ Kendyl Stewart won the 100 fly and Cardinal swimmer Sarah Haase took the 100 breast. Golden Bears’ swimmers Celina Li and Rachel Boostma placed first in the 400 IM and the 100 Back respectively. From the diving well, Stanford’s Kristian Ipsen took first in the 3-meter and Arizona’s Samantha Pickens took first place in the women’s 1-meter.
The night began with a splash in the women’s 1-meter dive. Arizona’s Samantha Pickens finished first, putting up an impressive 351.55. Stanford’s Kassidy Cook followed in second (347.55), with ASU’s Hailey Casper taking third (336.05).
The swimming finals got underway with California’s senior Celina Li winning the time in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:06.09. Li’s California teammate Kelly Naze took second with a 4:08.38, and Stanford’s Tara Halsted finished third with a 4:12.75.
USC took its first win of the Championship when Kendyl Stewart flew into first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.10 closely followed by Cal’s Farida Osman, who finished just four hundreths of a second later at 51.14. Golden Bear and former Olympic medalist Rachel Boostma took third with a 51.79.
Record breakers collided in the 200 free, when Stanford freshman Simone Manuel, who broke Stanford’s school record in the 200 free this year faced off with Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin. Franklin took first, setting a Pac-12 record with a 1:41.09, while Manuel hit the wall six hundreths of a second later at 1:41.15. USC’s Chelsea Chenault followed in third with a 1:43.17
Before the men jumped from the 3-meter board, Cal’s Rachel Boostma returned to the pool and won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.84. Stanford’s Ally Howe took second with a 51.72 and California’s Melanie Klaren took third with a 51.90.
Kristian Ipsen took his second title in as many days, scoring a Pac-12 record 520.40 and winning the 3-meter after scoring a perfect 10 on his final dive. Ipsen had already broken his previous Pac-12 record in preliminaries and broke that record again in the final to collect another diving title for Stanford. Bradley Christensen finished in second (457.15) and Rafael Quintero finished in third with a 447.05.
The 400-yard medley relay served as the night-capper and proved to be a battle between the Championship’s first and second-place teams California and Stanford. Every leg of the race was tight between the Cardinal and Bears, but it was Stanford who nabbed the final event to edge out the Golden Bears and make up ground in the overall team scores. The Cardinal, made up of Ally Howe, Sarah Haase, Janet Hu, and Simone Manuel finished with a time of 3:29.56. California’s relay squad of Boostma, Garcia, Osman and Franklin earned a 3:30.21 while USC’s relay team (Weiss, Kropp, Stewart and Wilk) took third with a 3:33.74.
Following the events the team scores are as follows: California (1088.5), Stanford (954), USC (723), Arizona (642.5), UCLA (610.5), ARIZONA STATE (448), UTAH (421), WASHINGTON STATE (234.5) and OREGON STATE (213).
The fourth and final day kicks off at 11 a.m. P.T. with preliminaries and finals for the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly in addition to the prelims and semifinals for the men’s and women’s platform drives. Wrapping up the 2014 championships is the 400-free relay, after which the Pac-12 Champion will be crowned.
Arizona
The Pac-12 Championships continue as day three ends at Weyerhaeuser King Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington. Day three brought the Wildcats 11 NCAA “B” cuts and a Pac-12 individual title in women’s diving. Arizona is currently fourth overall with 642.5.
Starting the day off in the 400 IM, Arizona earned three NCAA “B” cuts. Shannyn Hultin placed seventh in the event with a time of 4:18.33. In the B final, Jenna Bauer finished first with 4:16.66 while Tjasa Oder took second in 4:17.95. Later, Elizabeth Pepper placed fourth in the C final of the 100 fly (54.18) while Katja Hajdinjak took seventh (54.24), both earning a “B” cut.
Bonnie Brandon kept her momentum going finishing first in the B final of the 200 free. With a time of 1:44.97, she added another “B” cut. Taylor Schick took third in the B final with 1:45.83, earning her own “B” cut.
The Wildcats gained significant points in the 100 breast as Emma Schoettmer finished fourth with a time of 1:00.40. Sara Borendame took second in the B final (1:01.38) and Lauren Stoeckle third (1:01.58). Alexandra Martelle placed seventh in the B final with 1:02.23, giving all of the Arizona swimmers in the event NCAA “B” cuts.
In the final event of the day, the team of Brandon, Schoettmer, Pepper and Schick took fifth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:36.39.
Samantha Pickens finished first in the 1-meter, winning a Pac-12 title with a final score of 351.55. Pickens also won a national title in the 1-meter at USA Diving Nationals this season. In the men’s 3-meter, Rafael Quintero placed third with 447.05 behind Stanford’s Kristian Ipsen (520.40) and Bradley Christensen (457.15).
Southern California
Junior Kendyl Stewart won her second career title in the 100y fly in school-record fashion with while six other Trojans competed in ‘A’ finals to highlight USC’s efforts on the third night of the 2015 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday (Feb. 27) in Federal Way, Wash.
USC remained in first after three of four days of racing while Cal remains in first and Stanford is in second.
Stewart won the 100y fly in 51.10, 0.04 ahead of Cal’s Farida Osman. Osman was 0.04 faster than Stewart in prelims, but couldn’t make up the 0.38 deficit she faced at the halfway mark of the final race.
Stewart first won the 100y fly Pac-12 title as a 2013 freshman, when her 51.32 broke Lindsey DePaul’s 2011 record time of 51.34. That 2011 DePaul swim, in fact, won Troy’s first ever conference crown in the event.
With the 51.10, Stewart broke her school record in the race for the second time in two weeks. She had just dropped it to 51.25 against UCLA on Feb. 13.
Junior Lucy Worrall was a two-time finalist in the 100y fly at the ACC Championships while swimming for Miami and returned to a conference final tonight, taking eighth in the event in 52.74, a season best.
Sophomore Chelsea Chenault repeated as a Pac-12 finalist in the 200y free and finished third for the second year in a row in 1:43.17, just 0.02 off of Katinka Hosszu’s 2012 school record and good for an NCAA A cut. Chenault’s time lowered her PR for the second time of the day after she first did it in prelims with a 1:43.68.
Sophomore Maggie D’Innocenzo, in her first career Pac-12 final, finished fourth in the 400y IM in 4:13.95. Like Chenault, her final time was her second PR of the day after she went 4:14.46 in prelims, finishing fifth in the morning swim.
Senior Andrea Kropp swam in her third straight 100y breast final and finished a career-best fifth in 1:00.55. USC didn’t have anybody in the ‘B’ final but sophomores Kelsey Kafka (1:02.38, B cut), Jamie Christy (1:03.09), Blair Carnes (1:03.32) and Riley Hayward (1:03.90) went 1-2-3-4 in the C final.
Freshman Hannah Weiss, from nearby Mercer Island, Wash., and swimming in her hometown pool, made her Pac-12 final debut with a fourth in the 100y back in 52.39. She finished fourth in prelims in 52.70.
Sophomore Sidney Cooke and Stewart swam in the ‘B’ final of the 100y back after finishing in 10th and 11th, respectively, in prelims. Stewart won the ‘B’ final in 53.67 while Cooke was third in the heat in 54.46. Sophomore Diana Chang was also in the ‘B’ final and was fifth (54.98).
Junior Joanna Stenkvist, after reaching the finals of the 500y free Thursday, swam in the ‘B’ final of the 200y free and took eighth (16th) in 1:47.05. She went 1:47.11 in prelims.
Senior Haley Ishimatsu competed in her eighth straight Pac-12 final and finished sixth on 1-meter with 53.75 points. Junior Sam Adams was 14th (268.20), sophomore Katherine Van Winkle was 17th (261.70) and junior Natalie Kalibat was 19th (257.10).
USC closed the evening session by taking third in the 400y medley relay as the quartet of Weiss, Kropp, Stewart and Wilk finished in 3:33.74.
Meanwhile, in the Pac-12 Men’s Diving Championships held concurrently with the women’s meet, the Trojans sent all four of its participants into the 3-meter A final as senior Jordan Gear, junior Deon Reid, junior Collin Pollard and freshman Dashiell Enos grabbed fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth in prelims.
In the final, Pollard took fifth for the second year in a row with 396.15 points while Enos was sixth with 368.60. Reid, who transferred from Duke this year, was seventh (359.40) and Gear was eighth (337.80) in his first career final in the event.
The championships conclude Saturday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
Stanford Men
Another day, another Pac-12 Conference diving title for senior All-American Kristian Ipsen. And another school record.
Almost 24 hours after winning the league’s 1-meter title, Ipsen’s fifth career Pac-12 crown came in the 3-meter event Friday evening at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Ipsen brought his career league title total to five, and bounced back from placing second in the 3-meter event at the 2014 league meet. He shattered his school-record 466.05 set in 2012 with 520.40 points.
Second place went to teammate Bradley Christensen, as the sophomore diver rallied for silver with a 457.15.
Arizona’s Rafael Quintero was third with 447.05.
Tarek Abdelghany narrowly missed the finals and placed ninth with 317.00 points. Ted Miclau (289.95) was 15th overall.
Stanford Women
Sarah Haase won the 100-yard breaststroke and the Stanford women’s swimming and diving team had seven individual sixth place or better showings Friday at the Pac-12 Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. California leads Stanford, 1,088.5-954, headed to the final day tomorrow.
Haase, a junior human biology major, clocked an A-cut and the No. 2 time in Stanford history by stopping the clock at 58.60. She outraced UCLA’s Allison Wine in second (59.75) and freshman teammate Heidi Poppe in third (1:00.15).
Only Tara Kirk has been faster in the 100 breaststroke wearing a Cardinal cap. Kirk swam a 58.41 in 2003.
Katie Olsen, the defending Pac-12 champion in the event, rounded out the Cardinal in the 100 breaststroke A final with sixth place (1:00.61).
Stanford also won the final event of the night, the 400-yard medley relay, to walk away from Day 3 with a pair of first-place finishes. Haase, Janet Hu, Ally Howe and Simone Manuel combined to beat Cal, 3:29.56-3:30.21. No other school was within three seconds of the Bay Area rivals.
In one of the most highly anticipated events of the weekend, Missy Franklin edged Manuel, a freshman, in the 200-yard freestyle. Manuel produced what would have been a Pac-12 record 1:41.15 if Franklin had not gone 1:41.09. The Sugar Land, Texas, native tried to come back on the Cal sophomore, beating her 25.25-25.67, in the final 25, but Franklin held off Manuel to take the conference record previously held by Dana Vollmer’s 1:41.53 in 2009.
Lia Neal was sixth in the 200 free at 1:43.88, an A-cut qualifying mark. Stanford also picked up points fromGrace Carlson in 14th (1:46.52) and Julia Anderson in 20th (1:47.83) in the event that had 21 student-athletes post NCAA standard times.
Tara Halsted got the night started by earning third in the 400-yard IM in 4:12.75. She had qualified for the A final with a personal best 4:12.11 during the morning session.
Hu and freshman classmate Lindsey Engel followed Halsted by claiming fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 100-yard butterfly. Hu was to the wall in 51.93, while Engel touched at 52.57. Hu’s time beat her 52.07 from the Art Adamson Invitational for seventh all-time in Stanford’s record book.
Utah
Heading into the final day of competition, the Utah women’s swimming and diving team sits in sixth place with 356 points at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships at the Weyerhaesuer King Aquatic Center.
California leads the competition with 997.5 points heading into the final day of competition. Stanford sits in second (799) followed by USC (617), UCLA (519.5) and Arizona in fifth (514.5). The Utes sit above ASU (352), Washington State (190.5) and Oregon State (171).
Brianna Francis recorded a NCAA B-standard time in the 400 IM finishing third in the “B” finals (11th overall) with a time of 4:18.82, which also set a both a season best time and is Utah’s second fastest mark all-time. She was 0.31 seconds off of Utah’s school record set by Amanda Barrett at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships. Barrett finished with a season best in the event by touching in sixth (14th overall) in the “B” final with a time of 4:21.75 and Kylie Boyce took eighth (16th overall) with a time of 4:28.48. In the “C” final for the event, Paolina Carnevale touched in sixth-place (23rd overall) with a time of 4:31.25 with Ashlyn Karosas following in seventh (24th overall) with a time of 4:3942.
In the 100 fly, Melissa Paakh touched in sixth (14th overall) in the “B” final with a time of 53.75, an NCAA B-standard time as well as her personal best time. Her time ranks as the sixth fastest time in school history. Petra Soininen recorded a season-best with a NCAA B standard-time of 54.20 in the event. She touched in sixth (22nd overall) in the “C” final.
Stina Colleou touched in eighth in the “A” finals for the 100 breast with her NCAA B-standard time and season best time of 1:01.31, while Maryssa McArthur took third (19th overall) in the “C” finals in the 200 free with a time of 1:47.81 which also serves as an NCAA-B standard time.
Megan Kawaguchi placed second (10th overall) in the “B” finals in the 100 back with a time of 54.02 which is an NCAA B-standard time, with Shayla Archer taking sixth (14th overall) in the event with a time of 55.18.
Washington State
The Washington State University swim team concluded the third day of competition at the 2015 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships in eighth place, Friday. The Cougars set 10 career-best marks, qualified seven swimmers for the evening’s finals session, and finished the day with 234.5 points, ahead of Oregon State (213).
“It was a good day today,” WSU Head Coach Tom Jager said. “The team swam well after we faced some adversity with the disqualification [in the 100 breast]. We responded by delivering great swims in the next event. We’re looking forward to finishing strong tomorrow.”
In the preliminary heats of the 100 fly, freshman Anna Brolin swam a career-best time of 54.29 seconds, only to best the mark in the ‘C’ final with a time of 54.18 seconds. The time is the fifth-fastest in program history and an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying mark. Brolin tied for fourth (20th overall) in the final, earning the Cougars 4.5 points.
Led by senior Alison Mand, the Cougars qualified three swimmers for the ‘C’ final in the 100 back. Mand clocked a prelim time of 55.55 seconds, followed by Hannah Bruggman with a career-best time of 55.80 seconds, and junior Shaya Schaedler in 56.79 seconds. In the finals, Mand notched a season-best time of 55.50 seconds, finishing second (18th overall) in the ‘C’ final. Bruggman set a career mark in the final with a time of 55.70 seconds to finish fifth (21st overall). Schaedler also broke her personal-best, clocking a time of 56.03 seconds to finish 23rd. The trio earned the Cougars 13 points. Bruggman and Schaedler’s times rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in WSU history.
The Cougars qualified two swimmers for the finals of the 400 IM. Junior Presley Wetterstrom clocked a time of 4:24.71 followed by junior Loree Olson with a time of 4:25.00. Wetterstrom went on to shave nearly one second off of her career mark, touching the wall in 4:23.39 to finish second (18th overall) in the ‘C’ final. The time is the eighth-fastest time in WSU history. Olson followed closely behind with a time of 4:23.75 in third (19th overall). The duo contributed 13 points to the WSU total.
Junior Frederikke Hall qualified for the ‘C’ final of the 100 breast with a qualifying time of 1:02.86, but suffered a false start in the final. Wetterstrom just missed the cut for the finals, clocking a prelim time of 1:04.00.
In the afternoon session, senior Nicole Proulx swam the fastest 200 free of her career, with a time of 1:49.69. The time ranks seventh on the WSU all-time list. Freshman Rachel Thompson finished 0.43 seconds back from Proulx in 1:50.12. Sophomores Elise Locke and Emma Elhoff both clocked their fastest times of the season, finishing in 1:51.00 and 1:55.62, respectively.
In the final event of the evening, WSU’s 400 medley relay team of Mand, Hall, Brolin, and Proulx touched the wall in 3:43.42 to secure an eighth-place finish and earn the Cougars 44 points.
