The fourth and final day of the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Men’s and Women’s Diving Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King Country Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. concluded the way they started. It was a year of broken records, program milestones and multi-award winners that culminated with CALIFORNIA winning its fourth Pac-12 Championship in program history and the third in the last four years.
The Bears dominated continued to roll on the last night of the event, using day four to seal the deal and secure the title with a total of 1,629.5 points. Stanford took second (1,401). USC (1,109) finished in third place, followed by ARIZONA (954.5), UCLA (951.5), UTAH (652), which finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, and ARIZONA STATE (610), WASHINGTON STATE (369.5) and OREGON STATE (286).
The night started off with the most grueling event of the meet, the 1,650-yard freestyle, which provided one of the noteworthy results of the night as California freshman Cierra Runge broke Janet Evan’s 25-year-old Pac-12 record after clocking in at 15:40.17. Oregon State’s Saman Harrison posted a 15:54.61 to take second while UCLA junior Katy Campbell took third with a time of 16:05.95.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Cal sophomore Missy Franklin held off teammates Elizabeth Pelton and Melanie Klaren as the Golden Bear trio finished 1-2-3 respectively. Franklin touched with a time of 1:49.94, followed by Pelton (1:50.27) and Klaren (1:52.55)
Next up was the 100-yard freestyle final and Stanford freshman Simone Manuel took first setting a Pac-12 record with a 46.70. Manuel’s teammate Lia Neal followed closely behind with a 47.16 and Cal’s Farida Osman took third at 47.96.
USC took first in the 200-yard breaststroke when Andrea Kropp propelled her way to a 2:08.51 finishing ahead of last year’s champion, Stanford’s Katie Olsen (2:09.36), and Stanford’s Sarah Haase (2:09.64).
By the time the 400-yard freestyle relay—the final event of the meet—rolled around, the Bears had the championship safely in their corner, but that didn’t stop the Cardinal from giving a great swim. The relay team of Lia Newal, Janet Hu, Ally Howe, and Simone Manuel finished first with a meet record 3:10.69. Cal (Kaylin Bing, Camille Cheng, Missy Franklin and Farida Osman) followed in second at 3:12.10 and USC (Katarzyna Wilk, Evan Swenson, Kendly Stewart and Chelsea Chenault) finished third at 3:14.24.
The men’s and women’s platform diving displayed the most spectacular dives of the weekend with some new and familiar names finding their way to the top of the podium. The men’s final featured some of the most decorated divers in Pac-12 history, including Olympic bronze medalist and this year’s one-meter and three-meter winner Kristian Ipsen (Stanford) and Arizona’s Raphael Quintero, the defending champion in the event. The day, and the week belonged to Ipsen who took first in the platform, completing his sweep of the men’s diving events. Ipsen scored a 434.05 followed by Quintero (403.50) and Colin Pollard (395.60).
The women’s platform final produced another multi-award winner at the meet as USC standout Haley Ishimatsu picked up her third-consecutive individual championship in the platform event. Ishimatsu won the platform by breaking a Pac-12 meet record to tally her fourth-career Pac-12 title with a score of 368.75, ahead of Stanford’s Lillian Hinrichs 324.30 and UCLA’s Annika Lenz (323.15).
At the conclusion of the night, the annual awards of Pac-12 Swimmer and Men’s and Women’s Divers of the Meet were awarded to three deserving recipients. Ipsen earned the Diver of the Meet award after three-podium finishes in three diving events this week, earning first in one-meter, first in the three-meter and first in the platform. Ishimatsu was named the women’s Diver of the Meet after qualifying for the finals in the one-meter and three-meter and winning the platform a. Swimmer of the Meet went to Runge, who an NCAA record in the 500 free, a Pac-12 record in the 1650 free and was apart of Cal’s American-record breaking relay team.
NCAA Championships are set for March 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C.
Arizona
The Pac-12 Championships for diving and women’s swimming concluded at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. Arizona finished fourth with a total score of 954.5 behind Cal (1,629.5), Stanford (1,401) and USC (1,109), respectively. The final day of the championships continued to bring numerous NCAA Championship cuts and overall success for the Wildcats.
The first event of the day was the 1650 free. Tjasa Oder finished fourth with a time of 16:08.64, earning a NCAA “B” cut. Claire Lockridge took 15th with 16:45.08 while Lauren Neidigh placed 22nd in 17:16.98.
Bonnie Brandon came in fifth in the 200 back with 1:53.95, earning another “B” cut. Cameron McHugh took fifth in the B final (1:57.51) and Jenna Bauer placed third in the C final (1:58.56), both earning “B” cuts. Both Arizona swimmers in the 100 free added NCAA “B” cuts as well. Taylor Schick finished sixth in the event with 48.72 while Paige Kremer took third in the C final in 49.77.
The Wildcats gained significant points from the 200 breast where Emma Schoettmer placed fifth with a time of 2:10.54. In the B final, Sara Borendame took first (2:12.75) followed by teammate Alexandra Martelle (2:13.24). Shannyn Hultin finished second in the C final with 2:14.75 while Lauren Stoeckle took sixth in 2:15.99, giving all of the swimmers “B” cuts.
In the 200 fly, Elizabeth Pepper finished eighth with a time of 1:58.54, earning a NCAA “B” cut. In the C final, Sam Getzen took fifth (2:02.28) and Neidigh placed eighth in 2:06.44. In the final event, the 400 free relay, the team of Schick, Brandon, Kremer and McHugh finished fourth with a time of 3:15.40, giving them Arizona’s only NCAA “A” cut of the day.
Meanwhile in diving, Sally Hackett placed sixth in the platform with a score of 247.90. Michal Bower took 11th with 221.60 and Karolyn Loftus finished 20th with 196.90. For the men, Rafael Quintero finished second with a final score of 403.50 behind Stanford’s Kristian Ipsen (434.05).
The Wildcats compete next at the men’s swimming Pac-12 Championships from Wed. Mar. 4th to Sat. Mar. 7th.
USC
Senior Haley Ishimatsu became the first Pac-12 woman to win the platform three straight years while senior Andrea Kropp won her first career conference title with a win in the 200y breast as USC closed the final night of the 2015 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships with fireworks on Saturday (Feb. 28) in Federal Way, Wash.
USC finished third with 1109 points while California claimed the team title with 1629.5 with Stanford second (1401). Arizona was fourth (954.5) and was followed by UCLA (951.5), Utah (652), Arizona State (610), Washington State (369.5) and Oregon State (286).
Ishimatsu, competing in her ninth Pac-12 final in as many tries, won her third straight platform crown with a dominating performance, taking first with 368.75. She improved throughout her five-dive set and capped it with an 86.40 on her final dive, which featured six 9.0s and an 8.5.
In addition to being the first Pac-12 woman to win the event three years in a row, she’s just the second to win it three times in a career.
“Haley had one of her best performances in her collegiate career and was over 130 points better than her preliminary effort,” said USC Head Diving Coach Hongping Li. “It was a wonderful moment to see Haley repeat her Pac-12 title.”
After the meet, Ishimatsu, a 2014 Pac-12 All-Academic first teamer and a CoSIDA 2014 Capital One Academic All-District 8 at-large pick, earned an equally impressive honor and was named the 2015 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Junior Sam Adams also competed in the platform title and took eighth with 245.00 while junior Natalie Kalibat was 10th (225.30).
Kropp made her third straight appearance in the Pac-12 200y breast final tonight and made her final conference race count, winning in 2:08.51, 0.85 ahead of Stanford senior Katie Olsen (2:09.36).
Kropp, who led over the final 150 yards, is USC’s first 200y breaststroke title winner since Rebecca Soni won the last of her three crowns in 2009. It is Troy’s sixth overall. Sophomore Blair Carnes finished 13th in the ‘B’ final (2:13.40).
Freshman Hannah Weiss, after finishing fourth in the 100y back final, nabbed the last spot in the 200y back A final in prelims and claimed eighth in the evening race in 1:56.18. Junior Kendyl Stewart, the 100y fly champ from Friday, just missed the A final and won the B final in 1:55.28. Junior Joanna Stenkvist was 11th overall (1:56.85).
Junior Kasia Wilk and sophomore Evan Swenson both reached their first Pac-12 100y free A final, taking fifth (48.26) and eighth (49.27), respectively. Wilk’s time was a PR while Swenson went a PR 48.45 in prelims.
Sophomore Maggie D’Innocenzo, a finalist in the 400y IM, led USC in the 200y fly, taking 10th with a PR 1:58.06. Junior Lucy Worrall also swam in the ‘B’ final, and was 13th (1:59.33).
USC closed the meet with a third-place finish in the 400y free with a season-best and NCAA ‘A’ cut 3:14.24 thanks to Wilk, Swenson, Stewart and sophomore Chelsea Chenault.
On men’s platform, junior Collin Pollard was third (396.60) and senior Jordan Gear was fourth (360.35). It was the third final appearance for both.
Stanford
The fourth and final day of the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Men’s and Women’s Diving Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King Country Aquatic Center concluded with the Stanford women’s swimming and diving team in second place.
It was a year of broken records, program milestones and multi-award winners that culminated with California winning its fourth Pac-12 Championship in program history and the third in the last four years. The Cardinal missed its third championship in the last four years as the Bears nipped Stanford to roll on the last events of the night, using day four to seal the deal and secure the title with a total of 1,629.5 points.
"This morning was an up and down four, bus tonight was fantastic," said Meehan. " Simone and Lia were electric in the 100 free, Lilly Hinrichs had a stellar performance on platform and we ended the session as best as possible."
Stanford took second (1,401). USC (1,109) finished in third place, followed by Arizona (954.5), UCLA (951.5), Utah (652), which finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, and Arizona State (610), Washington State (369.5) and Oregon State (286).
Simone Mauel took first in a Pac-12 record time of 46.70 in the 100-yard freestyle to highlight the day's events. Manuel and Lia Neal went 1-2 with Cal's Farida Osman at third in 47.96.
The Cardinal won the 400 free relay, the culminating event, in a meet record and school record time of 3:10.69.
Stanford moves on to the NCAA meet March 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C. The Cardinal is defending its second-place showing from 2014.
Stanford Men's Diving
Once again, Kristian Ipsen etched his name into the Stanford record books.
The All-American diver was first in the platform event Saturday at the Pac-12 Conference Men’s Diving Championships held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, his third title in as many days at the league meet.
Ipsen became the Cardinal’s fourth platform diving champion at the Pac-12 meet and only the second Stanford performer ever to sweep all three events at the showdown, joining that elite company with Matt Frawley (1988).
The title marked Ipsen’s sixth overall win at the Pac-12 meet but just the first off the platform.
Ipsen’s 434.05 in the finals was more than enough to finish on top of Arizona’s Rafael Quintero (403.50). Cardinal teammate Ted Miclau (360.35) was fifth in his platform debut at the meet and Bradley Christensen (302.60) claimed eighth in the finals.
In the prelims, Tarek Abdelghany (294.40) placed 13th.
Utah
Utah women’s swimming and diving finished sixth at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships with a total score of 652.
The Utes topped Arizona State (610), Washington State (369.5) and Oregon State (286). Coming away with the title was California with 1,629.5 points. Taking second was Stanford (1,401) followed by USC (1,109). Arizona took fourth (954.5) with UCLA in fifth (951.5).
Maddie Meisel recorded a season best and Utah’s second fastest mark all-time in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:31.41. She took seventh in the event. Also in the event was Kat Wickham taking 12th with a time of 16:42.42 followed by Selin Ozturk in 13th (16:42.88) and Maryssa McArthur in 14th (16:43.09). Maddie Velez touched in 21st with a time of 17:11.31 with Paolina Carnevale taking 25th (17:37.53).
In the “C” final for the 200 back, Amanda Barrett touched in second (18th overall) with a NCAA B-standard time of 1:54.99. Megan Kawaguchi took fifth (21st overall) in the event with a time of 2:00.21. In preliminaries, she had a time of 1:59.65.
Guiliana Gigliotti recorded a season best in preliminaries in the 100 free with a time of 48.88. In the “A” finals, she took seventh with a NCAA B standard-time of 49.10. In the “C” finals, Maddie Jamora touched fifth (21st overall) with a time of 50.23. In preliminaries, she touched in 20th recording a season best with a time of 50.07.
In the “A” final for the 200 breast, Stina Colleou took sixth recording a season best and NCAA B standard-time of 2:10.61. Brianna Francis took sixth (14th overall) in the “B” final with an NCAA B-standard time of 2:13.97, also a season best.
Petra Soininen touched in fourth (20th overall) in the “C” final for the 200 fly with a time of 2:00.84. She touched in 2:00.55 in preliminaries. Meanwhile, Melissa Paakh took sixth (22nd overall) in the “C” final with a time of 2:03.63 following her was Maddie Meisel in seventh (23rd overall) with a time of 2:04.21.
Team of Jamora, Dorien Butter, Rhianna Williams and Gigliotti teamed together to take seventh in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:19.25.
In women’s diving, Jasmine Matkovic took seventh on the platform event with a total score of 246.75. Amanda Casillas took 18th (203.05) with Lauren Hall taking 24th (169.90).
Jacob Crayne took 12th on the platform event with a total score of 298.90.
"I'm so happy for Jasmine making her first Pac-12 final in her last event as a senior," said Utah head diving coach Richard Marschner. "She has put in so much hard work, gone through so many tough times and injuries that it was a great feeling to see her have such a fantastic meet and perform on such a high level tonight. We aren't done yet and I'm excited to see her, Amanda, Lauren and Jake dive at NCAA regionals and beyond."
The men’s Pac-12 Championships begin Wednesday, March 4 at the Weyerhauser King Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Washington State
Senior Nicole Proulx set a school record in the 100 free, as the Washington State University swim team concluded its 2014-15 season, Saturday at the Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships. The Cougars set 39 season-best times in the four-day event, including 31 lifetime bests, two school records (100 free and 200 free relay), and 10 NCAA qualifying marks. Washington State finished the championships in eighth place with 369.5 points, ahead of Oregon State (286).
Senior Nicole Proulx closed her WSU career by breaking the school record in the 100 free with a lifetime best of 49.75 seconds. Proulx’s time shaved 0.06 off of the previous record held by former Olympian Rugile Mileisyte (51.81). The Anaheim, Calif., native took second (18th overall) in the ‘C’ final to earn the Cougars seven points.
In addition to Proulx, five Cougars set lifetime bests in the preliminary heats of the 100 free. Sophomore Haley Rose Love clocked a career-best time of 50.74 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in program history. Freshman Hannah Bruggman and senior Alison Mand added career bests of 50.76 and 50.84, respectively, the seventh- and eighth-fastest times in Cougar history.
In the 200 back, junior Loree Olson qualified for the ‘B’ final with a time of 1:58.67. The time is a season best for Olson and an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying mark. In the evening finals, Olson clocked a time of 1:58.90 to finish 15th overall and contribute 12 points to the WSU total. Fellow junior Shaya Schaedler just missed the cut for the evening session, with a time of 2:00.44. Freshmen Talisa Wibmer and Rachel Thompson set career-best marks in the preliminary heats with times of 2:03.45 and 2:03.70, respectively.
Washington State opened the evening session with a pair of lifetime bests in the 1650 free. Sophomore Kendra Griffin shaved over 16 seconds off of her previous personal best, clocking a time of 16:40.64. Griffin’s performance, the second fastest in WSU history, earned the Scottsdale, Ariz., native a ninth-place finish and 20 points for the Cougars. Fellow sophomore Emma Elhoff also recorded a lifetime best, touching the wall in 17:05.07, the ninth-fastest time in WSU history. Elhoff contributed seven points to Washington State’s point total.
After qualifying for the finals in the 200 fly, sophomore Kendra Griffin notched a 16th-place finish to earn WSU 11 points. Griffin qualified for the final with a prelim time of 2:00.16, a lifetime best and the third-fastest time in WSU history. Fellow sophomore Elise Locke qualified for the ‘C’ final, where she swam a career-best time of 1:59.61. The time is the second fastest in school history and gave Locke a first-place finish in the final (17th overall).
The Cougars qualified two swimmers for the evening session in the 200 breast. Junior Presley Wetterstrom clocked a prelim time of 2:14.42 to qualify for the ‘B’ final, where she shaved over one second off of her time to earn a third-place finish (11th overall). Wetterstrom’s NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time of 2:13.24 earned the Cougars 16 points. Junior Frederikke Hall qualified for the ‘C’ final with a career-best time of 2:15.17. In the evening session, Hall swam a lifetime best of 2:14.54, the fourth-fastest time in WSU history and an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time, to take first place (17th overall) in the ‘C’ final.
Washington State concluded the championships with an eighth-place finish in the 400 free relay. The Cougar quartet of Bruggman, Proulx, Mand, and Love set a season-best time of 3:22.04 and added 44 points to WSU’s total.
With the conclusion of the Pac-12 Championships, Washington State finished its 2014-15 season. The Cougars garnered a 6-3 dual-meet record in the season, winning six-straight duals to close the season, and earned three conference victories for the first time in program history.
