Stanford Holds Slim Lead Ahead of Arizona After Night One of Pac-12s

FEDERAL WAY, Washington, February 27. THE first night of swimming at the Pacific-12 Women's Championships featured NCAA Automatic qualifying times galore in the two sets of relays. Meanwhile, Stanford took an early lead against second-place Arizona.

The top four squads in the 200-yard medley relay put on a show, all clearing the NCAA A cut standard. Arizona's Lauren Smart (24.58), Ellyn Baumgardner (27.17), Megan Lafferty (23.18) and Margo Geer (21.29) raced to the win in 1:36.22. USC's Joan Christel Simms (24.73), Kasey Carlson (27.10), Kendyl Stewart (22.72) and Katarzyna Wilk (21.86) placed second in 1:36.41. Stanford's Felicia Lee (24.21), Katie Olsen (27.48), Maddy Schaefer (23.39) and Andi Murez (21.46) wound up third in 1:36.54.

California's Cindy Tran (24.44), Caitlin Leverenz (26.88), Rachel Bootsma (23.03) and Rachael Acker (22.27) took fourth in 1:36.62. Notably, California's relay takeoffs were cutting it extremely close at .01, .29 and .00.

After an extended break that included a few time trials, Stanford's Felicia Lee (1:44.96), Maya Dirado (1:43.66), Julia Anderson (1:45.34) and Andi Murez (1:43.16) turned in a winning time of 6:57.12, while California's Catherine Breed (1:45.55), Caroline Piehl (1:44.78), Melanie Klaren (1:45.46) and Elizabeth Pelton (1:43.16) took second in 6:58.95 as the two sub-7:00 times this evening. USC's Jasmine Tosky (1:45.23), Lynette Lim (1:45.40), Haley Anderson (1:44.82) and Stina Gardell (1:45.83) earned third in 7:01.28.

The top six of the seven scoring relays bettered the NCAA A cut as Arizona (7:04.51), Arizona State (7:05.16) and UCLA (7:07.61) all beat the NCAA A cut. Oregon State took seventh in 7:25.66. Notably, California's B squad of Camille Cheng, Lauren Driscoll, Kelly Naze and Alicia Grima also put up an NCAA A cut with an exhibitioned 7:07.45.

Additionally, Washington State went the first night without scoring as both of its relays were disqualified with early takeoffs.

Team Scores
Stanford 118
Arizona 116
Southern California 110
California 108
Arizona State 100
UCLA 96
Oregon State 90
Utah 46

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use