No. 5 Stanford Holds Commanding Lead After Second Day Of Pac-10’s

FEDERAL WAY, WA, February 25. STANFORD’s #5 ranked women hold a commanding lead at the conclusion of the second day of competition at the 2005 Pac-10 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships being held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, per Cardinal reports.

The defending champion Cardinal has scored 577 points through seven of 21 events over the first two days and holds a large 156-point lead over second-place Arizona.

"We had some great swims today in both the prelims this morning and then again tonight in the finals session," said Stanford head coach Richard Quick. "I'm really proud of where this team is right now after the first two days of this event and hope we can continue our momentum."

Stanford finished 1-2 in both the 200 IM and 50 free during Thursday's finals session. Caroline Bruce (1:58.40) and Kristen Caverly (1:59.63) did the honors in the 200 IM, while Lacey Boutwell (22.63) and Brooke Bishop (22.72) were the top two finishers in the 50 free with all four times earning NCAA "A" status.

Boutwell's title was her third 50 yard free Pac-10 crown in four seasons and her sixth conference title overall. Bruce was a Pac-10 winner for the second time in as many days after also competing on Stanford's winning 200 medley relay squad on Wednesday. Bishop's time ranks her tied for sixth on Stanford's all-time performer list in the event (Boutwell is fifth with a previous time of 22.60).

Stanford took two of the top three places in the 1-meter diving competition with Ashlee Rosenthal placing second (295.45) and Cassidy Krug (291.25) finishing third. USC's Blythe Hartley won the event with 318.90 points in the finals.

Elizabeth Durot was Stanford's top finisher in the 500 free with an NCAA "A" time of 4:41.78 that was 4.22 seconds better than her previous career-best and just .57 seconds behind Arizona's Emily Mason (4:41.21). Durot's mark also ranks her as the No. 4 all-time performer at Stanford in the event.

The Cardinal was second in the final event of the evening with a team of Bishop, Boutwell, Sarah Jones and Erica Liu recording a time of 1:31.18 in the 200 free relay. Arizona won the event in a Pac-10 Meet record time of 1:30.07 with Jenna Gresdal, Jessica Hayes, Marshi Smith and Courtney Cashion.

The four-day short-course yards meet continues Friday and Saturday with 14 events still be contested over the final two days of competition with prelims beginning each day at 11 am, PT, and finals starting at 6 pm, PT.

Friday's events include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter diving and 400 medley relay. Stanford has won 15 of the 18 Pac-10 Championships contested.

NOTES

• Caroline Bruce recorded a personal-best time of 1:58.15 in the prelims of the 200 IM on Thursday that ranks her as the No. 5 performer all-time at Stanford in the event and is the nation's third-best time this season

• The times recorded by Lacey Boutwell and Elizabeth Durot in the 50 free (22.63) and 500 free (4:41.78) on Thursday both rank sixth in the nation this year, while Kristen Caverly's 1:59.63 mark in the 200 IM is eighth

• Cassidy Krug recorded a personal-best 294.85 points for 1-meter diving championship format during Thursday's prelims

• With the four additional NCAA "A" times recorded by Stanford on Thursday (Caroline Bruce had already previously reached the standard in the 200 IM), the Cardinal now has seven NCAA "A" qualifying times this season

TEAM SCORES – AFTER DAY 2 OF 4 (7 OF 21 EVENTS)

1. Stanford 577, 2. Arizona 421, 3. UCLA 353.5, 4. California 348, 5. USC 332, 6. Arizona State 273.5, 7. Oregon State 212, 8. Washington 166, 9. Washington State 126

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