California vs. Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona, January 22. Caitlin Leverenz sparkled in her homecoming, winning four total events to power fourth-ranked California to a 165.5-134.5 dual-meet victory over No. 7 Arizona on Saturday at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The Golden Bears, who won nine of 16 events, improved their dual-meet record to 4-1 (2-0 in the Pac-10 Conference), while Arizona's record dropped to 6-3 (2-3 Pac-10).

This also marked the return of Katherine Raatz to Tucson. The junior previously swam for Arizona before transferring to Cal.

Cal opened the meet by capturing the 200-yard medley relay, as the quartet of freshman Cindy Tran, Leverenz, a sophomore, senior Amanda Sims and junior Liv Jensen posted an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:39.39 to edge the top Arizona relay (1:40.93, NCAA B).

Leverenz, a product of Sahuaro High School in Tucson, swept the breaststroke events, swimming an NCAA B time of 1:01.82 in the 100 and an NCAA B time of 2:12.46 in the 200. She later captured the 200 individual medley in an NCAA B time of 2:00.21.

Jensen, the 2010 NCAA champion in the 50 free, won both the 50 and 100 freestyles today. She swam an NCAA B time of 22.54 to take the 50 and an NCAA B time of 49.49 to win the 100.

Tran, one of Cal's many talented underclassmen, had a second straight strong day, winning the 100-yard backstroke (54.05, NCAA B) and taking second place in the 200 back (1:58.64, NCAA B). She was also part of Cal's sweep of the top three spots in the 100 butterfly, as Sims won (53.23, NCAA B), Tran finished second (54.73) and junior Colleen Fotsch took third (55.57).

Sims posted an NCAA B time (1:58.92) when she finished second in the 200 fly. Cal finished 2-3-4 in that race, as junior Sara Isakovic was third (1:59.64, NCAA B) and senior Katie Kastes placed fourth (2:02.11).
In diving, junior Molly Hayes collected Cal's top finishes in both events, taking second on the three-meter springboard with an NCAA Zone E qualifying score of 289.73 and finishing third on the one-meter board (263.63).

The Bears closed the meet by winning the 400 medley relay, as Cal senior Erica Dagg, senior Hannah Wilson, Isakovic and Jensen swam an NCAA B time of 3:19.62.

"There were definitely some bright points," Cal head coach Teri McKeever said, "including Liv Jensen's big relay splits and her two wins, particularly the 100 free, which was a close race. Caitlin Leverenz has proven to be very reliable, and that's really helpful. Freshman Nathalie Lindborg was much more solid today, which was nice. It's still definitely a learning process. Like I said yesterday, we hadn't raced in a while, and we're working through some that first week of school period. Collectively we were better. But we still have a lot of work to do. We're moving in the right direction."

For the second straight day, the Cal men competed alongside the Cal women, beating the Arizona men, 174.5-123.5. The Cal men and women combined to defeat host Arizona, 340-258.

"It's creates a lot of great energy and enthusiasm on the deck," McKeever said. "The guys had a great meet today. It's good for all of us to be there to support each other. It's fun to watch their performance."

Cal returns to Berkeley to host USC at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28, and UCLA at noon on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The No. 4-ranked California men's swimming and diving team – paced by sophomore standout Tom Shields victories in the 200 free, 100 fly and 200 fly – defeated No. 2-ranked Arizona, 174.5-123.5 Saturday (Jan. 22) at the Hillenbrand Aquatics Center in Tucson. The Golden Bears, who had fallen in dual meet competition to the Wildcats in each of the last four meetings, today captured nine of the meet's races, won both the 200 medley and the 400 free relays and finished 1-2 in seven events. Cal senior diver Thomas Henninger also won the one-meter diving competition.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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