Diver Stephanie Phipps posted a comeback win in the 3-meter event and Stanford retained its overall lead through day two of the 2013 Pac-12 Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday at the King County Aquatic Center.
Phipps was fourth with 290.90 points in the prelims and responded with a 345.20 in the finals to earn the title. The 2011 Pac-10 Diving Newcomer of the Year notched the 11th 3-meter crown in program history and first since 2008.
Phipps’ total was the highest of any winning Cardinal diver at the league meet in over a decade, as she edged Arizona’s Samantha Pickens who posted a 344.60 in the finals.
“It was definitely a strong performance by Stephanie in both the prelims and finals,” diving coach Rick Schavone said. “I believed all season that she was training well and making good improvements, but it was not showing in meets until today.”
Sloane Brazina (266.85) joined Phipps in the top 10 with the Cardinal also receiving points from Kelly Markle (256.25), Alexandra Clay (252.80), Lillian Hinrichs (252.55) and Jennifer Wylie (194.40).
With 491.5 team points, Stanford leads second-place USC (454.5) and Arizona (407.5) among the field.
“There were some very solid performances out of our team today,” Stanford head coach Greg Meehan said. “Our team did an amazing job and I was so happy for Stephanie to get the 3-meter win. Rick has the group peaking at the right time.
“From a swimming perspective, Alex Whitford really ignited our group today. As a whole, we need to be better tomorrow morning.”
USC’s Haley Anderson (4:38.79) won the 500 free with Allison Brown (4:42.96) securing sixth-place with an NCAA B-cut. Brown was one spot ahead of Andi Taylor (4:43.82) and the Cardinal also received points from Julia Anderson (4:46.05), Natalie Durant (4:47.92), Allison Arnold (4:48.41) and Mackenzie Stein (4:52.42).
Maya DiRado’s 1:55.44 in the 200 individual medley was enough to shelf an NCAA A-cut and fourth-place finish. Sarah Haase (1:59.57), Megan Fischer-Colbrie (1:59.63) and Kirstie Chen (2:00.97) took spots 12 through 14.
In the splash and dash, Maddy Schaefer (22.12) was out-touched by Arizona’s Margo Geer, who won the 50 free in 21.78. Andi Murez followed her 22.57 prelim performance with a 22.25 for fifth. Alex Whitford (22.54) was ninth overall to help boost the Cardinal.
Stanford posted another NCAA A-cut to wrap up the evening when Schaefer, Whitford, Julia Ama and Murez went 1:28.86 in the 200 free relay. The top four teams in the race were separated by less than one second, as Arizona touched in 1:27.93 for the win.
Friday’s prelims begin at 11 p.m. (PT) with the 400 individual medley, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 1-meter diving. The evening session will start at 6 p.m.
Freshman Elizabeth Pelton continued California's strong tradition in the 200-yard individual medley when she won the event on Thursday night - edging defending NCAA champion and senior teammate Caitlin Leverenz - at the Pac-12 Championships. The Golden Bears remained in fourth place with 396.5 points after seven events at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. Stanford is in first place with 491.5 points.
Pelton posted an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 1:54.29 to out touch Leverenz, who was just two hundredths of a second behind Pelton with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:54.31. In the B final, Cal notched two lifetime-bests, as freshman Kelly Naze took 10th with an NCAA B time of 1:57.90 and sophomore Caroline Piehl clocked an NCAA B time of 1:58.63.
Cal opened the night with two Bears reaching the A final of the 500-yard freestyle - fourth-place sophomore Catherine Breed (4:42.10, NCAA B) and fifth-place freshman Lauren Driscoll (4:42.12, NCAA B). Sophomore Melanie Klaren won the consolation final with lifetime-best and NCAA B time of 4:42.42.
In the 50 free, sophomore Kaylin Bing posted Cal's fastest time of the season with an NCAA B time of 22.22 to tie for third place.
Junior Kahley Rowell collected Cal's best finish in the three-meter springboard, finishing 15th with a score of 242.90.
The Bears capped the night by taking third place in the 200-free relay. The quartet of Bing, junior Cindy Tran, freshman Rachel Bootsma and Pelton swam an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 1:28.79.
"We had some nice swimming tonight," Cal head coach Teri McKeever said. "I was very proud of the women who swam the 500 free. Melanie had a lifetime best, and Catherine and Lauren showed some tough racing. Then we had lifetime bests from Caroline and Kelly in the 200 IM, and getting a 1-2 finish with Elizabeth and Caitlin was fun to see! We got our first Pac-12 title from Liz.
"Kaylin reached her first Pac-12 final - in the 50 free - and then to medal was huge. We're still experimenting with relays and looking for combinations. Bootsma's split was impressive. Low numbers in the diving hurt us in the team race, but the primary objective is getting more women to Indy for NCAAs, and we did that tonight. We have to be ready for a big morning tomorrow. Go Bears!"
On March 5, the Pac-12 Networks will broadcast a condensed version of the conference meet at 7:30 p.m. PT.
The four-day meet continues on Friday, March 1, and concludes on Saturday, March 2.
After an opening night victory in the 200 medley relay, the Arizona swimming and diving team followed that up with a pair of first place and a pair of second place finishes on day two of the Pac-12 Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center on Thursday.
The Cats opened the evening with second place finishes by Bonnie Brandon in the 500 free and by Samantha Pickens in the 3m diving competition. Arizona closed out the night with some excitement as Margo Geer claimed first place in the 50 free and the Wildcats claimed the 200 free relay title.
“The highlights tonight were Bonnie taking an Olympic silver medalist to the finish and coming in second as a freshman in the 500, Margo winning the 50, the 200 free relay team winning and the “B” team really stepping up too,” head coach Eric Hansen said. “For Samantha to miss winning the 3m by six tenths of a point shows what we are capable of in March. We are happy with the meet so far but we still have a lot of work left to do.”
The finals on Thursday got off to a good start for the Cats as Bonnie Brandon, who qualified first in the 500 freestyle prelims, took second place in the finals with a time of 4:38.93. Brandon came on strong in the last 50 yards but she finished just behind Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson of USC, who won the event in 4:38.79.
Meanwhile, in the diving competition, Stephanie Phipps of Stanford just edged out Samantha Pickens of Arizona in the 3m finals. Phipps finished with 345.20 points to narrowly defeat Pickens, who came in second with 344.60 points.
Arizona junior Margo Geer finished first in the 50 free prelims and she did not disappoint in the finals as she posted a winning time of 21.78 to claim Arizona’s first individual gold medal of the meet. Geer became the first Arizona swimmer to win the 50 free at Pac-12s since Lara Jackson claimed the title in both 2008 and 2009. Kait Flederbach finished in sixth with a time of 22.31, while Alana Pazevic (22.54), Megan Lafferty (22.66), Grace Finnegan (22.68) and Briana Wilford (22.70) also earned valuable points for the Cats in the event.
To conclude the night, the team of Geer, Flederbach, Megan Lafferty and Alana Pazevic took gold in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:27.93 to give the Wildcats their second relay victory in two nights. It was the first time the Wildcats won the 200 free relay at the Pac-12s since 2009, when they won the event for the fifth straight season. The time is currently the third fastest in the country. The Wildcats also got a strong effort from their “B” team with Wilford, Finnegan, Lauren Smart and Taylor Schick touching in 1:30.08 to win the “B” flight.
The Wildcats currently sit in third place in the team standings with 407.5 points. Stanford leads the way with 491.5 points followed by USC with 454.5 points. Cal (384.5) and UCLA (313) round out the top five.
USC senior Haley Anderson became the first woman in conference history to win the 500-yard freestyle three consecutive years while the No. 1 Trojans placed seven other swimmers and divers in ‘A’ finals to highlight the second night of the 2013 Women’s Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday (Feb. 28) at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
USC, after its first Pac-12 title, moved from third to second place with 454.5 points, within striking distance of first-place Stanford (491.5). Arizona is third (407.5) while defending conference champion Cal is fourth (384.5). UCLA is fifth (313) and is followed by ASU (308), Oregon State (158), Utah (117) and Washington State (54).
“We had a strong evening session after a bit of a subpar morning session today,” USC Coach Dave Salo said. “After a swimmer's-only meeting called by senior Jessie Schmitt, the team came to life tonight and had some great races. Diving had an outstanding night with a formidable yet very young squad. Sam Adams and Haley Ishimatsu did a great job on the boards.?”
Anderson entered the night tied with Jessica Foschi (2000-01) and Janet Evans (1990-91), who won the 500y in back-to-back years for Stanford. Anderson established the Pac-12 first with a wire-to-wire win in 4:38.79, holding off Arizona freshman Bonnie Brandon (4:38.93) over the final 25 yards. Brandon kept within about a half second for most of the race and charged late, but couldn’t beat Anderson to the wall.
USC has now won at least one conference title in 19 of the past 20 seasons.
Junior Lynette Lim finished second in the ‘B’ final (10th overall) in 4:43.62. Freshmen Jasmine Tosky (4:45.35) and Joanna Stenkvist (4:45.69) finished 1-2 in the ‘C’ final, 17th and 18th overall.
Juniors Stina Gardell (1:55.04) and Meghan Hawthorne (1:56.94) and sophomore Andrea Kropp (1:58.82) finished third, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 200y IM final. Cal freshman Elizabeth Pelton won the race in 1:54.29, upsetting her senior teammate Caitlin Leverenz (1:54.31), the defending NCAA champion in the event.
For Gardell, it was her third straight final in the race, all top 5 finishes while her time was a season-best and just off her P.R. Hawthorne raced in her second straight 200y IM final, taking fifth for the second time in a row. Kropp, a 2011-12 transfer from Princeton, tied for fourth in the 200y IM at the 2011 Ivy League Championships.
Senior Jordan Danny earned a spot in the ‘C’ final of the 200y IM for the second year in a row and finished 22nd overall in 2:02.15.
Junior Kasey Carlson finished a career-best tied for third in the 50y free with a 22.22 in tonight’s final while freshman Kasia Wilk made her debut in a Pac-12 final with a seventh-place finish in 22.49. Arizona’s Margo Geer won the race in 21.78 while Stanford sophomore Maddy Schaefer hung on for second in 22.12.
Senior Christel Simms tied her P.R. in the 50y free and set a season-best with a 22.81 to finish second in the ‘C’ final and 18th overall. Senior Kate Shumway took 20th in 23.07 while fellow senior Lindsay Parrish was 24th (23.30). It was Parrish’s fourth trip to the ‘C’ final of the event at the Pac-12s. Shumway was a ‘B’ finalist in 2010 and a ‘C’ finalist in 2011 while Simms was a ‘B’ finalist in 2010.
USC sophomore transfer Haley Ishimatsu, an ACC champion on platform in 2011, made her Trojan debut at the Pac-12s with a fourth place on 3-meter springboard (311.85). Freshman teammate Sam Adams also earned a trip to the 1-meter final (she was seventh in prelims), finishing eighth (283.55). Freshman Natalie Stahl was 16th (239.55), freshman Natalie Kalibat was 17th (238.20), sophomore Celia Pinczower was 22nd (201.95) and freshman Katherine Van Winkle was 24th (174.75). With scoring through 24 spots, the deep diving effort provided a big boost.
The Trojans finished Thursday night by breaking the school record in the 200y free relay, the group of Carlson, Tosky, freshman Kendyl Stewart and Wilk taking second in 1:28.50. Arizona won the race in 1:27.93. The old USC school record was 1:29.21 set earlier this season.
The meet continues Friday and Saturday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
