Pac-12 Conference Women’s Swimming Champs, Day Two Prelims: Brooke Forde Paces 500 Free; Cal Looking Strong

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Pac-12 Conference Women’s Swimming Championships, Day Two Prelims: Brooke Forde Paces 500 Free

Day Two Prelims, Houston Texas

The second day of the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships opened with individual action a night after California swept the 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay. Coach Teri McKeever’s squad won both of those relays in convincing fashion and is well-positioned to capture the team title.

Here is a look at how the preliminaries unfolded on Day Two:

Team Ups, Mids, Downs

  1. Stanford – 9, 3, 4
  2. Cal – 8, 2, 4
  3. USC – 4, 3, 1
  4. UCLA – 2, 6, 5
  5. Washington State – 1, 1, 2
  6. Arizona – 0, 6, 4
  7. Utah – 0, 3, 4

500 Freestyle

A pair of seniors led the way in qualifying as Stanford’s Brooke Forde and Cal’s Robin Neumann occupied the top-two positions, with Forde, the 2019 NCAA champion in the event, earning the No. 1 seed in 4:39.86. Neumann was just behind with a performance of 4:39.92, both women had strong swims as part of the 800 free relay on opening night.  Cal’s Ayla Spitz covered her 20 laps in 4:40.28 to qualifying third for the final.

How dominant were Cal and Stanford in this event? The Northern California rivals claimed all eight positions for the final, with Stanford’s Morgan Tankersley (4:42.38) and Cal’s Rachel Klinker (4:43.86) grabbing fourth and fifth. The field was rounded out by Cal’s Sarah Dimeco (4:44.63) and the Stanford duo of Isabel Gormley (4:45.65) and Lauren Pitzer (4:46.41).

 Event 5  Women 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 4:24.06  3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
       PAC-12: M 4:24.06  2017      Katie Ledecky, Stanford
 PAC-12 Champ: P 4:25.15  2017      Katie Ledecky, Stanford
                 4:35.76  A Standard
                 4:47.20  B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Forde, Brooke    SR STAN              4:39.58    4:39.86 B      
             26.23        54.25 (28.02)
        1:22.52 (28.27)     1:50.78 (28.26)
        2:18.98 (28.20)     2:47.32 (28.34)
        3:15.59 (28.27)     3:43.76 (28.17)
        4:12.04 (28.28)     4:39.86 (27.82)
  2 Neumann, Robin   SR CAL               4:40.02    4:39.92 B      
             25.59        53.47 (27.88)
        1:21.68 (28.21)     1:50.17 (28.49)
        2:18.06 (27.89)     2:46.18 (28.12)
        3:14.84 (28.66)     3:43.37 (28.53)
        4:12.04 (28.67)     4:39.92 (27.88)
  3 Spitz, Ayla      SO CAL               4:39.86    4:40.28 B      
             25.80        53.55 (27.75)
        1:21.49 (27.94)     1:49.81 (28.32)
        2:18.32 (28.51)     2:46.78 (28.46)
        3:15.20 (28.42)     3:43.83 (28.63)
        4:12.20 (28.37)     4:40.28 (28.08)
  4 Tankersley, Mor  JR STAN              4:41.58    4:42.38 B      
             26.63        55.10 (28.47)
        1:23.77 (28.67)     1:52.40 (28.63)
        2:21.00 (28.60)     2:49.36 (28.36)
        3:17.82 (28.46)     3:46.18 (28.36)
        4:14.58 (28.40)     4:42.38 (27.80)
  5 Klinker, Rachel  SO CAL               4:44.90    4:43.86 B      
             26.13        53.95 (27.82)
        1:22.37 (28.42)     1:50.70 (28.33)
        2:19.35 (28.65)     2:48.03 (28.68)
        3:16.81 (28.78)     3:45.71 (28.90)
        4:15.05 (29.34)     4:43.86 (28.81)
  6 Dimeco, Sarah    SO CAL               4:44.87    4:44.63 B      
             25.72        53.75 (28.03)
        1:22.11 (28.36)     1:50.78 (28.67)
        2:19.64 (28.86)     2:48.59 (28.95)
        3:17.52 (28.93)     3:46.69 (29.17)
        4:15.82 (29.13)     4:44.63 (28.81)
  7 Gormley, Isabel  FR STAN              4:49.71    4:45.65 B      
             26.45        54.69 (28.24)
        1:23.35 (28.66)     1:52.36 (29.01)
        2:21.36 (29.00)     2:50.28 (28.92)
        3:19.09 (28.81)     3:47.95 (28.86)
        4:16.95 (29.00)     4:45.65 (28.70)
  8 Pitzer, Lauren   SR STAN              4:48.70    4:46.41 B      
             26.55        55.43 (28.88)
        1:24.67 (29.24)     1:53.57 (28.90)
        2:22.45 (28.88)     2:51.69 (29.24)
        3:20.61 (28.92)     3:49.24 (28.63)
        4:17.97 (28.73)     4:46.41 (28.44)

200 Individual Medley

Cal’s Alicia Wilson got the job done to secure Lane Four for the final, as she led qualifying in the 200 individual medley in 1:55.97, with Southern California’s Isabelle Odgers following with a mark of 1:56.53. Wilson anchored the Bears’ victorious 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night while Odgers has been producing strong performances for the Trojans throughout the season.

Isabelle Stadden of Cal was third-quickest in the morning, her 1:57.99 ahead of the 1:58.70 of Stanford’s Zoe Bartel, who is seeded fourth for the final. Stanford teammates Hannah Kukurugya and Janelle Rudolph tied for fifth in the prelims at 1:58.71 while the field for the evening final was completed by USC’s Hallie Kinsey (1:59.00) and UCLA’s Delaney Smith (1:59.29).

 Event 6  Women 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:50.67  3/15/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
       PAC-12: M 1:50.67  2018      Ella Eastin, Stanford
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:52.26  2012      Katinka Kosszu, USC
                 1:53.66  A Standard
                 1:59.94  B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Wilson, Alicia   JR CAL               1:53.58    1:55.97 B      
             24.45        52.99 (28.54)
        1:27.47 (34.48)     1:55.97 (28.50)
  2 Odgers, Isabell  JR USC               1:57.08    1:56.53 B      
             24.61        54.48 (29.87)
        1:27.90 (33.42)     1:56.53 (28.63)
  3 Stadden, Isabel  FR CAL               1:59.62    1:57.99 B      
             25.33        53.71 (28.38)
        1:30.10 (36.39)     1:57.99 (27.89)
  4 Bartel, Zoe      JR STAN              1:58.07    1:58.70 B      
             26.20        56.11 (29.91)
        1:29.69 (33.58)     1:58.70 (29.01)
  5 Kukurugya, Hann  SR STAN              1:58.90    1:58.71 B      
             25.95        56.30 (30.35)
        1:30.84 (34.54)     1:58.71 (27.87)
  5 Rudolph, Janell  FR STAN              2:01.16    1:58.71 B      
             26.58        55.74 (29.16)
        1:30.99 (35.25)     1:58.71 (27.72)
  7 Kinsey, Hallie   JR USC               2:01.03    1:59.00 B      
             24.82        54.85 (30.03)
        1:30.48 (35.63)     1:59.00 (28.52)
  8 Smith, Delaney   JR UCLA              1:58.63    1:59.29 B      
             26.39        55.71 (29.32)
        1:30.39 (34.68)     1:59.29 (28.90)

50 Freestyle

The Cal momentum continued in the 50 freestyle as the Bears went one-two in qualifying behind Eloise Reilly (22.09) and Elise Garcia (22.11). Washington State’s Chloe Larson gave her squad something to cheer about as she nailed down the third seed for the night with a 22.16 outing, which was a tenth quicker than the 22.26 of Stanford’s Anya Goeders.

Stanford also advanced Amalie Fackenthal (22.29) to the final while USC breaststroke standout Kaitlyn Dobler worked her way into the championship heat on the strength of a 22.31 mark. Also racing in the final will be UCLA’s Claire Grover (22.41) and USC’s Anicka Delgado (22.43.)

 Event 7  Women 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 20.90  12/5/2019 Abbey Weitzeil, CAL
       PAC-12: M 20.90  2019      Abbey Weitzeil, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 21.03  2020      Abbey Weitzeil, CAL
                 21.66  A Standard
                 22.76  B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Riley, Eloise    SO CAL                 22.22      22.09 B      
             10.85        22.09 (11.24)
  2 Garcia, Elise    JR CAL                 22.33      22.11 B      
             10.84        22.11 (11.27)
  3 Larson, Chloe    SR WSU                 22.59      22.16 B      
             10.81        22.16 (11.35)
  4 Goeders, Anya    JR STAN                22.41      22.26 B      
             10.74        22.26 (11.52)
  5 Fackenthal, Ama  JR STAN                23.04      22.29 B      
             10.80        22.29 (11.49)
  6 Dobler, Kaitlyn  FR USC                 22.66      22.31 B      
             10.92        22.31 (11.39)
  7 Grover, Claire   JR UCLA                22.33      22.41 B      
             10.70        22.41 (11.71)
  8 Delgado, Anicka  FR USC                 22.60      22.43 B      
             10.95        22.43 (11.48)
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