Cal Claims First Pac-10 Title

Talk about an encore performance to close out the Pac-10 Conference Women’s and Diving Championships.

USC senior Rebecca Soni, Stanford junior Elaine Breeden and the University of California’s entire team all stepped up.

Led by Soni’s flair, the meet was filled with a bevy of top times and capped by a breakthrough team title for California.

Soni, a USC senior, is staking her claim as the top breaststroker in the world. And, Breeden is making a case as the nation’s top swimmer in the butterfly.

Soni, an Olympic gold medal winner, took another step toward a bigger goal with a dominating winning performance – one that saw her shatter an American record – in the 200-yard breaststroke in Saturday night’s finals of the 23rd annual Pac-10 meet at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

The Trojans’ star swimmer stopped the timer in 2 minutes, 4.75 seconds and broke the old U.S. record by almost a full second to repeat in the event at the Pac-10 meet. Soni topped the former mark set by former Stanford standout Tara Kirk, who went 2:05.73 on March 3, 2006 in the U.S. Open. 

“It was a great meet and a little faster than I thought it would be,” said Soni, who was named Pac-10 Swimmer of the Meet. “I’m really surprised to be Swimmer of the Meet, considering the other amazing swims this week. It’s really an honor to be Swimmer of the Meet in my last Pac-10s.

“I’m excited about the future, but I’m also sad about leaving college swimming. But I’ll definitely be around and watching. I’m excited about our team.”

The Pac-10 meet featured some top-notch efforts, including four American records, seven NCAA marks, nine Pac-10 Conference bests and 10 Pac-10 meet standards broken.

Soni, who will go for her fourth consecutive NCAA title in the 200 breast March 19-21, won the 200 breast event by almost six seconds as she left the field in her wake. Checking in for a second-place tie were Cal’s Alexandra Ellis and Arizona’s Julie Stupp, both at 2:10.57.

Soni’s winning ways are becoming habit, but for California winning the Pac-10 team title was a first in school history and the first time since the Pac-10’s inaugural meet in 1987.

The Bears, led by senior Dana Vollmer’s two individual wins and effort on two victorious relays, won the last event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay to finish with 1,550 points.

Cal, ranked 11th coming into the meet, out-finished fourth-ranked Arizona (1,339) and second-ranked Stanford (1,317). Ninth-ranked USC, behind Soni factoring into three wins, was fourth at 915.

“I’m just really proud of the girls,” Cal coach Teri McKeever, who is in her 17th year. “It was a total team effort. Every diver, every swimmer scored. They’ve worked hard all year. We’ll celebrate, but then we’ve got to re-focus.

“Our job now is to find a way to be better in three weeks [for NCAAs]. That’s what we’ll try to do.”

McKeever credits the caliber of swimmers in the Pac-10 for bettering her team.

“It’s definitely a wonderful conference,” she said. “Arizona and Stanford have made us better. It’s been a fun battle.

“This is pretty special. The girls said [Pac-10 championship trophy] would look good in my office.”

Just minutes after Soni’s record performance, Breeden shattered the American mark in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:49.92. Breeden, who also set NCAA, Pac-10 Conference and Pac-10 meet marks, eclipsed the standard set by Mary Descenza on Jan. 16 of this year in Long Beach, Calif.

Breeden outdistanced runner-up Saori Haruguchi of Oregon State, the defending NCAA champion, by almost three seconds. Haruguchi checked in with a time of 1:52.81.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting best times this week,” said Breeden, who won her third 200 fly in a row at the Pac-10 meet. “We didn’t even taper this week and we were lifting. I wasn’t putting a lot of pressure on myself. I came in low key and I think that works best for me.

“I’m hoping for best times [at NCAAs], but in the past I’d had my best times at Pac-10s. I didn’t feel rested coming into this week, but I put up some best times.”

Saturday’s win gave Breeden two Pac-10 titles, following her Friday triumph in the 100 fly.

Vollmer collected her second individual win of the Pac-10 meet, capturing the 100-yard freestyle in a Pac-10 meet record time of 47.19 seconds on Saturday. Vollmer, who factored in four Pac-10 titles this week, held off sophomore teammate Hannah Wilson (47.89) and Stanford’s Julia Smit (47.98).

Lauren Boyle, a California junior, dominated in the 1,650-yard freestyle finals with a time of 15:56.93, more than 17 seconds faster than the runner-up, Petra Radovic of Washington.

Boyle, who was fifth in the NCAA meet in 2008, repeated as a Pac-10 champion in the event as a top seed.

Boyle was also part of two relay wins at the Pac-10 meet -- the 800 free relay on Wednesday and 400 free relay on Saturday.

The Bears’ 400 free relay, consisting of Vollmer, Erica Dagg, Madison Kennedy and Hannah Wilson, put up a time of 3:11.05 and established NCAA, Pac-10 Conference and Pac-10 meet records.

The NCAA mark bettered the old standard of 3:11.34 set by Arizona at the NCAA meet in 2008.

Washington junior Erin Campbell posted the third-fastest time in the country in the 200-yard backstroke with a 1:51.27, the top effort in the preliminaries.

Then, Campbell went on to win the Pac-10 finals with an NCAA-qualifying clocking of 1:51.33, denying defending champion Lauren Rogers a repeat. Campbell also turned back the top seed before the meet, Ana Agy of Arizona, who was second in 1:52.88 and going for her second title of the meet.

It was the Huskies’ lone champion of the Pac-10 meet.

Stanford junior Carmen Stellar won the women’s platform diving with a score of 257.55 points to edge UCLA’s Laura Winn (252.05).
    
Final Rankings
1. Univ of California Berkeley       1550  
2. University of Arizona             1339
3. Stanford University               1317  
4. University of Southern Calif       915
5. University of Washington           697  
6. Univ California Los Angeles        679
7. Arizona State University           564  
8. Oregon State University            412
9. Washington State University        341  

Cal Wins First Pac-10 Title in School History
The California Women’s Swimming and Diving Team earned its first ever Pac-10 Championship with 1550 total points at the King County Aquatics Center on Saturday night. The final day highlights also included an NCAA record; a relay title, two individual titles, three school records and two Pac-10 Conference Championship records. The 1550 points were the most for the Bears since the conference championship began in 1987, and the most points since Stanford recorded 1533 points at the 1999 conference championship.

Arizona, who finished second, had its streak of three consecutive conference titles snapped.

“It was an awesome weekend, and I’m really proud of the girls,” said head coach Teri McKeever. “We’re going to celebrate tonight and then take time to refocus and prepare for the NCAA Championships. What was so special was that every girl that was eligible scored points for us this week. It was a total team effort. In this conference you have to have the numbers and quality depth and that’s what makes it so special. Everyone found a way to contribute. There was also great parent support – it was a special weekend.”

In the last event of the evening, Cal’s foursome of Dana Vollmer, Erica Dagg, Madison Kennedy and Hannah Wilson sprinted to an NCAA, Pac-10 and school record time of 3:11.05 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, eclipsing the previous NCAA record time of 3:11.34 set by Arizona last season. The previous school record in the 400 free relay was 3:12.13 set in 2007.

Lauren Boyle broke her own school record in the 1650-yard freestyle and repeated as Pac-10 Champion with a time of 15:56.93 – an NCAA B consideration. Boyle’s season-best time in the 1650 entering the conference championship was 16:15.16 set at the Art Adamson Invitational back in November. Boyle and Sarah Anderson (1989) are the only two Cal swimmers to win a Pac-10 title in the 1650 since 1987.

Blake Hayter registered a fourth place showing in the 1650 with a season-best 16:18.84, eclipsing her previous best time of 16:41.03 also set at the Art Adamson Invitational.

Sara Isakovic helped the Bears gain 22 points with an eighth place finish in the 1650 with a time of 16:26.60. Mattea Perrotta also gained some points for the Bears with a personal-best and 15th place finish time of 16:37.23.

Vollmer, who had the performance of a lifetime at these conference championships, continued to set records with a Pac-10 conference championship meet record and first place time of 47.19 in the 100-yard freestyle. Vollmer was 0.19 seconds off of tying Natalie Coughlin’s school record 47 flat in 2003. This was Vollmer’s second conference title this week and her first in the 100 free. Emily Silver was the last Cal swimmer to win the 100 free in 2007. The 47.19 was not only a personal best, but an NCAA Automatic qualifying time.

Wilson finished right behind Vollmer in the 100 free with a personal-best time of 47.89, while Kennedy touched the wall in fourth with a lifetime-best time of 48.18. Dagg lowered her previous personal-best time of 48.81 with a sixth place finish a new personal mark of 48.42. Cal had three swimmers place in the top-8 in last year’s championship.

In the consolation final of the 100 free, Liv Jensen clocked a personal-best time of 48.68, almost a second lower than her previous best time of 49.35 registered in the morning prelims. Tara Thomas also swam in the consolation final and clocked a 49.09 and a personal-best 48.81 in the prelims.

Cal had two swimmers place in the championship final of the 200-yard backstroke – Mary Beck and Lauren Rogers. Beck placed fourth with a time of 1:54.71, after setting a Cal best and NCAA provisional mark of 1:54.36 in the morning preliminaries. Rogers came in fifth and garnered 25 points with a lifetime-best mark of 1:54.92 – still the third-best time on Cal’s all-time top 10 performance list.

In the consolation final of the 200 back, senior Emily Verdin clocked a personal-best time of 1:56.97, eclipsing her previous best time of 1:57.19 set in the morning prelims.

Swimming in the “C” final of the 200 back, Kelsey Hoff clocked a personal-best time of 1:59.72 in the morning prelims.

Alexandra Ellis also completed a highly successful conference championship with a school record and second place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:10.57, eclipsing the previous school record time of 2:11.34 set in 2000. Ellis finished 10th in last year’s conference championship.

Kirstyn Colonias also had a solid showing in the consolation final in the 200 breast with a personal-best mark of 2:16.05. Natalie LaRochelle swam a personal-best time of 2:17.54 as well in the 200 breast.

Amanda Sims had an efficient conference championship as well and swam a personal-best time of 1:54.20 – good enough for fourth place and an NCAA Automatic qualifying time.

Swimming in the consolation final, Sara Isakovic swam a Cal best 1:55.98 – an NCAA provisional mark as well as Shelley Harper, who swam a personal-best time of 1:58.48. Courtney Eronemo swam a lifetime best 2:00.13 in the morning prelims.

Cats finish runner-up for Pac-10 Title
Arizona placed second overall this weekend in the Women’s Pac-10 Championships held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center with 1339 overall team points. California took home its first Pac-10 title in women's swimming and diving with 1550 points.

After Lauren Boyle’s win in the 1650 freestyle, Cal’s lead became insurmountable and the Golden Bears had the title all but wrapped up. Joni Keith finished fifth for Arizona in the 1650 with a time of 16:21.98

Ana Agy posted an NCAA auto qualifying mark in the 200 backstroke with a second place finish of 1:52.88. Other Wildcats finishing among the top eight in the 200 back included Andrea Boritzke and Jenny Forster, both of whom set “B” cut times.

Senior Julie Stupp had a solid showing in the 200 breaststroke, finishing second overall as well with a time of 2:10.57. Annie Chandler won the consolation B final with a time of 2:13.13.

“I’ll be very honest, winning the Pac-10 is very nice, but that’s not what this meet is all about for us,” said head coach Frank Busch. “We want to race really well [this week] so we can be real good in a couple of weeks [at the NCAA championships]. I’m really happy with the way our kids are performing.”

In women’s diving action, Ainsley Oliver finished third with an overall score of 243.30 in the platform competition. Carmen Stellar of Stanford won the event with a score of 257.55.

To close the championships, the Arizona 400 freestyle relay team of Lara Jackson, Justine Schluntz, Anna Turner and Taylor Baughman finished third with a time of 3:15.91. Cal’s relay team broke Arizona’s NCAA record time from last season with a time of 3:11.05. 

Arizona will now head back to Tucson and begin its preparations to defend its NCAA national championship in College Station, Texas. The women’s championships run from March 19-21. The Arizona men will depart for Long Beach, Calif. early next week for the Men’s Pac-10 Championships. 

Stellar wins first career Pac-10 crown and Stanford’s first platform title since 2001
Stanford junior Elaine Breeden won her third consecutive Pacific-10 Conference championship in the 200 butterfly in record-setting fashion tonight, setting the American, U.S. Open and NCAA record with a time of 1:49.92.  Swimming this evening at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Breeden surpassed the year-old American and U.S. Open standard of 1:51.27 set by Mary DeScenza, while blowing by the NCAA mark of 1:51.91 achieved by Olympic Gold Medalist Natalie Coughlin of Cal in 2002.

Breeden’s record-setting effort and fifth career Pac-10 crown headlined Stanford’s final day of the 2009 Pac-10 Championships, as the Cardinal finished third with 1,317 points.  However, the Stanford women’s swimming and diving team put forth an outstanding effort, combining to set two American records, two U.S. Open standards, three NCAA marks and win five individual Pac-10 titles.  Cardinal swimmers also combined for nine NCAA “A” qualifying times and 36 “B” standards, while establishing eight school records and logging 24 total efforts that ranked in Stanford’s all-time top-10.

“Elaine’s effort today was outstanding,” said Stanford head coach Lea Maurer.  “We’ll put her right back to work, as this is definitely a swim we can build on for NCAAs.”

Discussing the Pac-10 Championships, Maurer commented “We are pretty happy with the way things turned out overall.  We struggled with some injuries this year, and we knew the writing was on the wall a bit in that we didn’t have as many healthy bodies.  Overall, we feel with the number of (NCAA) qualifiers we have, that we are in a good position to have a real good meet at the NCAAs.”

Carmen Stellar, another junior standout for Stanford, capped a sensational meet by winning the platform competition for her first ever Pac-10 title.  She tallied a score of 257.55, shattering her previous career best of 210.30 on the platform.  Tonight’s win came on the heels of a fourth-place finish on the 1-meter (289.90) and a second-place effort on the 3-meter (325.90).  Stellar becomes just the sixth Stanford diver to win a Pac-10 championship on the platform, while those six have combined to win nine titles.  The title marked the 26th individual Pac-10 championship all-time by a Stanford diver under head diving coach Dr. Rick Schavone.

“We are thrilled for Carmen, and she was very deserving of Diver of the Meet honors,” said Maurer.  “All of our divers were sensational during the entire meet.”

The eighth and final Stanford record fell in the meet’s last event – the 400 free relay.  The Cardinal “A” team of sophomore Kate Dwelley, freshman Sam Woodward, Breeden and junior Julia Smit touched the wall in 3:12.76 to shave a second off the previous mark set just a year ago.

Also on the final day of competition, Stanford received scoring efforts from junior Whitney Spence (third – “B” 16.15.55), freshman Angela Duckworth (ninth – “B” 16:27.52), freshman Jessica Rodriquez (12th - 16:33.38) and junior Caitlin Reynolds (17th – 16:48.18) in the 1,650 free; senior Laura Wadden (10th – “B” 1:54.71) and senior Andrea Axtell (16th – 2:00.46) in the 200 back; Smit (third – “B” 47.98), Woodward (7th – “B” 48.78), freshman Betsy Webb (12th – “B” 49.32), senior Madeline Rovira (22nd – 49.90) and junior Nilasha Ghosh (23rd – 50.09) in the 100 free; senior Caroline Bruce (fifth – “B” 2:11.39), sophomore Liz Smith (sixth – “B” 2:11.44) and freshman Jamie Bruce (12th – “B” 2:14.41) in the 200 breast; sophomore Kate Dwelley (seventh – “B” 1:57.35) and Wadden (12th – “B” 1:57.97) in the 200 fly; and senior Sarah Ohr (sixth – 226.80), sophomore Meg Hostage (12th – 193.00) and freshman Mary Beth Corbett (181.20) on the platform.

Soni Sets American Record in 200 Breaststroke on Way to Sixth Title at Pac-10 Championships
No. 11 USC women’s swimming and diving team finished fourth overall at the Pac-10 Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash., on Saturday (Feb. 28), with an American record-setting swim by USC senior and Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Soni in the 200 breaststroke.

Going into the night, Soni was the NCAA record-holder in the 200 breast with a time of 2:06.11.  She qualified for the Pac-10 final with a time of 2:08.79.  In the finals, Soni came through with a huge swim, shattering her current record by close to 2 seconds with a time of 2:04.75, which set a new American record, NCAA record, a Pac-10 record, a Women of Troy record and gave Soni her sixth Pac-10 title.  Soni broke the previous American record of 2:05.73, which had been held by Tara Kirk of Stanford since March 3, 2006.

Of her record-breaking day, Soni said, “I’m really excited about that swim.  The 200 is my favorite, it was so exciting to break that American record in my last Pac-10 Championships.  It is unbelievable.”

Also in the 200 breast, senior Katy Houston finished in 8th place with a time of 2:11.99.  Freshman Ella Kidron finished in 15th with a season-best time of 2:17.27.

Freshman Katinka Hosszu qualified for the 1650 free with a second seed, but chose not to swim the race in order to focus on the 200 fly final.  In that race she came up with a third place victory with a time of 1:54.01, which is a new season-best and improved upon her NCAA automatic time.  Also in the 200 fly, freshman Tanya Krisman just missed qualifying for the finals and was the top seed in the consolation finals, in which she finished 11th with a time of 1:57.70.

Sophomore Ellie Doran finished in tenth in the 1650 free with a time of 16:20.21 shattering her previous season high time of 16:31.78 by more than ten seconds.

Junior Dina Hegazy, who qualified for her first Pac-10 final in the 200 backstroke, placed third with a time of 1:53.63.  Her qualifying time of 1:53.27 was the third fastest time in 200y back Pac-10 prelims history and broke a USC school record of 1:54.42, previously held by Trojan NCAA champion Linday Benko, which was set in the 1997 NCAA Championships.

Senior Kristen Lahey qualified for the consolation final in the 200y back with a personal best and improved NCAA consideration time of 1:55.96.  She beat that record and improved her personal best and consideration time with a 1:53.63 swim that put her in ninth place overall.

Junior Whitney Stephenson finished in 29th place with a time of 2:01.08 in the 200y back.

In the 400y freestyle relay, the ‘A’ team of Lahey, Hegazy, Waller and Hosszu finished in sixth with a time of 3:20.75.

In 10-meter platform diving USC junior Alexis De Mond finished in fifth with 236.65 total points.  Freshman Tori Ishimatsu finished in seventh with a finals score of 223.00.

Overall the Women of Troy finished in fourth (915), with Cal taking the overall Pac-10 title with 1550 points, Arizona in second (1339) and Stanford in third (1317).

On the overall performance of the team, Soni said, “I’m so proud of the accomplishments our team has seen this meet and this season and I’m really excited to see what is ahead at NCAA’s.”

Two School Records Fall on Final Day of Pac-10 Championships
The Arizona State women’s swimming team saw two more school records during the final day of the 2009 Women’s Swimming Pac-10 Championships. The Pac-10 Diving Championships also reached its end. The ASU women placed seventh with 564 points.

Juniors Ashton Aubry and Jamie Martinez each broke a school record. Martinez, who actually broke the record during the preliminaries, clocked in a time of 1:55.78 to grasp the new ASU 200 back record. Martinez’ NCAA “B” standard time bested Caitlin Andrew’s 1:56.77 by nearly a full second.

Aubry had been inching closer and closer to the coveted 200 fly mark and finally reach the time. The Kansas native clocked in an NCAA consideration time of 1:56.37 to set the new ASU standard. The previous record, set by Sarah Baham, was a seven-year standing mark. The time was good enough for Aubry to finish sixth overall.

Freshman Jordyn Green improved on her 200 breast time. The freshman was the only Sun Devils to reach the championship final of two events. The Reno, Nev., native placed fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:11.30. The NCAA consideration mark moved her to third on ASU’s all-time list.

Jen Beckberger swam a 49.49 in the 100 free to place 15th overall. Brittany Jumer finished ninth on the platform with 213.35 points. The Sun Devils closed the meet out with an NCAA consideration time of 3:19.57 in the 400 free relay to place fifth overall. The team of Beckberger, Perazzo, Caldwell and Haron earned not only an NCAA consideration time but also put them at fourth on ASU’s all-time list.

WSU Swimmers Erase Records in 13 Events at Conference Championship
Sophomore Rugile Mileisyte, junior Michaela Ahlin, senior Elyse Peterson and senior Afton Pickett broke WSU records Saturday in the final day of the Pacific-10 Conference Championship in a weekend where WSU swimmers broke records in nine individual events and four relays. Throughout the championships WSU has also boasted three different top eight finalists and had 64 lifetime best swims. The Cougars finished ninth overall with 341 points.
 
Ahlin led the Cougars with 24 points coming from her sixth-place finish in the 200 fly. Ahlin had broke the record for the event earlier today in the prelim round (1:56.95) and then broke it again during finals competition with a time of 1:56.66 also earning her an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time. The time also puts Ahlin in the NCAA women’s top 30 for the event. Ahlin previously set the record at the 2008 Pac-10 Championships with a time of 1:59.23.
 
Peterson placed third in the ‘B’ final of the 200 breast with her record-breaking time of 2:13.14, her third NCAA ‘B’ consideration time in the championships. Peterson’s record bested the previous top time of 2:13.54 held by three-time NCAA All-American Erin Eldridge that had, until tonight, stood uncontested for the last decade.
 
Pickett broke the 200 back record twice today, first in the prelims with a time of 1:59.44 then with a final time of 1:57.12, an NCAA ‘B’ consideration cut that earned her a first-place finish in the ‘C’ final. Her finish also contributed nine points toward the team total. The previous record of 1:59.64 was held by Andree Anne LeRoy set in the fall of 2001.
 
Mileisyte broke yet another record this weekend with her fifth-place finish in the ‘C’ final with a time of 49.81. Three-time NCAA All-American Erin McCleave previously held the record with a time of 50.09.
 
All of the Cougar relay records are now held by current athletes as the 400 free relay team of Mileisyte, freshman Emma Neely, senior Jamie MacLeod and Ahlin took down the record set in 2001 by LeRoy, Melissa Hubley, Rachel Dong and Taryn Ternent (3:23.27). The team finished eighth with an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time of 3:21.29 defeating the team from Oregon State (3:22.92) and was less than a second behind the team from UCLA (3:21.04). The finish contributed 44 points to the Cougars’ total.
 
Five WSU swimmers swam lifetime bests today earning them positions on the all-time top 10 lists. Freshman Rachael Krager took the third spot in the 1650 free with a time of 16:53.43 and the fifth spot in the 200 fly with a time of 2:05.13. Senior Kristin Marceau climbed to the seventh position in the 1650 free with a time of 17:07.09. MacLeod and Neely took the seventh and eighth spots respectively in the 100 free with times of 50.96 and 51.00 while freshman Danielle Palumbo clenched the tenth spot in the 200 back with a time of 2:04.49.

The Cougars placed ninth overall with 341 points while No. 8 California won the conference title with 1550 points. No. 4 Arizona placed second with 1339 and No. 2 Stanford took third. At the 2008 Pac-10 Championships, the Cougars broke seven school records, less than half of the number of records the team broke this year.
 
“I think our team captured what Cougar pride is all about this weekend,” WSU Head Coach Erica Quam said, “passion, determination, hard work and confidence. These qualities helped us have the most amazing Pac-10 performance WSU has ever had. The seniors led the charge and I am very proud to have four seniors leaving with lifetime bests across the board at their final meets at the Pac-10 Championships. I think it says a lot about our program to have our seniors continuously better themselves throughout their careers and to end on that high note.”
 
Mileisyte and Ahlin will be swimming in the Pacific-10 Conference Invitational Sunday. Mileisyte will be competing in the 50 and 100 free while Ahlin will race in the 100 fly. Swimming begins at 11 a.m.