STANFORD, California, February 15. IN front of a huge crowd at the Avery Aquatic Center, the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal sent their seniors out winners with a 167-133 victory over top-ranked California during Senior Day festivities.<\/p>\n
Stanford Press Release<\/b>
\nIt was an ideal atmosphere for Stanford on Saturday morning. With rival Cal in the building, the Cardinal\u2019s seniors won six individual events to lead Stanford to a 167-133 win in front of a large crowd during the team\u2019s final home dual.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tribute to the kind of people and the kind of competitors they are,\u201d said head coach Greg Meehan of the senior class.<\/p>\n
Seniors Felicia Lee and Maya DiRado each accounted for two of the individual wins, while classmates Andi Taylor and diver Stephanie Phipps picked up one apiece.<\/p>\n
Lee said afterwards, \u201cIt has been a great four years with my class and couldn\u2019t have ended up on a better note, but we still have more to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meehan echoed Lee\u2019s thinking towards the future, saying, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t pretty, in a lot of senses. I think both teams are struggling through some fatigue and are still working hard as we gear up towards the end of the season. But regardless it was great racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stanford\u2019s first win of the morning came in an exciting 200 medley relay which the Cardinal won by .09 seconds in 1:39.14. The energy from the near capacity crowd could be felt during the first race of the Pac-12 Networks broadcast and continued throughout.<\/p>\n
Maddy Schaefer barely touched ahead of Cal\u2019s Kaylin Bing to bring home the victory between a pair of first-place showings from the Bears\u2019 Missy Franklin.<\/p>\n
Franklin, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, won three events on the day, the 100, 200 and 1,000 freestyles, to help Cal keep pace. After Franklin\u2019s third win, Stanford had totaled five victories with Cal at four through nine races.<\/p>\n
After that, it was all Cardinal. Katie Olsen, who won both breaststroke races, started a streak of five straight Stanford wins by taking the 200 breast (2:11.23).<\/p>\n
Three consecutive Stanford seniors followed Olsen in the top spots, as Taylor (500 free, 4:49.06), Lee (100 fly, 52.74), and DiRado (200 IM, 1:57.62) propelled the Cardinal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe meet was really back-and-forth and it never really felt like we took control or they gave up,\u201d noted DiRado. \u201cTo look up and see that score is really rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phipps\u2019 claimed the three-meter competition around the same time the trio was putting together its run on the other side of the stands. She totaled a 323.25 after finishing second in the one-meter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe divers did well overall,\u201d said diving coach Dr. Rick Shavone. \u201cCal\u2019s diver Anne (Kastler) is an excellent diver \u2013 a national-level diver \u2013 so losing to her on one-meter was not a big surprise, but coming back on three-meter was very important going into the championship season. Stephanie will be facing her again at (the Pac-12 meet) and Zones, so believing she can beat her is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maddy Schaefer and Lia Neal also highlighted the front half of the meet with a 1-2 showing in the 50 free.<\/p>\n
Fans from Stanford and Cal raised nearly $2,000 for the Lucile Packard Children\u2019s Hospital Stanford during the meet. The organization accepted donations on the concourse during most of the action.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal, which finished 10-0 in dual meets, moves on to the championship portion of the season. Next up is the Pac-12 meet Feb. 26-March 1 in Federal Way, Wash.<\/p>\n
California Press Release<\/b>
\nMissy Franklin won three individual events and Anne Kastler set a school record on the 1-meter board, but No.4 Stanford pulled away from top-ranked Cal over the final five events to win their annual dual meet, 167-133, Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of close races, which I\u2019m really proud of, but unfortunately, we didn\u2019t end up on top of too many of them,\u201d head coach Teri McKeever said. \u201cA couple of those go the other way and I think it\u2019s a different outcome. As we move forward, we have to look at how we can be on the other end of some of those. I think the depth in our squad is showing up. Right now, we have to stay focused on our journey and be ready in 10 days for Pac-12\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conference championships run Feb. 26-March 1 in Federal Way, Wash., which presents a different format that McKeever believes will benefit the Bears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this team is a much better championship team than it is a dual-meet team,\u201d McKeever said. \u201cA lot of our strengths are in the same area, which doesn\u2019t always help you in a dual-meet situation. Right now, we need to take one day at a time, get a lot of rest, stay healthy and get ready to go when we head to Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bears got off to a strong start in the first swimming event when Franklin pulled away from Stanford\u2019s Andie Taylor to claim the 1000 free in 9:53.81 to Taylor\u2019s 9:58.02. The Bears\u2019 Catherine Breed and Melanie Klaren were third and fourth in 10:06.18 and 10:07.79, respectively.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal then edged the Bears by a mere .07 seconds in the 200 medley relay with the Cal foursome of Cindy Tran, Yvette Kong, Farida Osman and Kaylin Bing finishing second in 1:39.23.<\/p>\n
The 200 free followed, and Franklin came back to claim the event in 1:45.46, ahead of runner-up Lia Neal of Stanford (1:47.52). Entering the race, Franklin ranked No. 1 in the country in the event with Neil third. Caroline Piehl (1:48.13) and Rachael Acker (1:48.70) gave the Bears valuable points by finishing 3-4.<\/p>\n
Felicia Lee of Stanford held off a late charge from Cal\u2019s Elizabeth Pelton to just out-touch her in the 100 back, 53.02 to 53.04. The Cardinal then went 1-2 in the 100 breast, led by Katie Olsen\u2019s 1:00.56. Kong was Cal\u2019s top finisher in third in 1:02.59.<\/p>\n
In another close race, Stanford\u2019s Maya DiRado edged Cal\u2019s Celina Li in the 200 fly, 1:57.85 to 1:58.10. As a result, the Cardinal took the lead in the team standings for the first time by a score of 58-54.<\/p>\n
The 50 free saw Stanford\u2019s Maddy Schaefer and Neal claim the first two places with Bing in third (22.99) for Cal before the diving break.<\/p>\n
Kastler, the reigning Pac-12 Diver of the Month, established a school-record score of 297.30 on her way to victory the 1-meter board. She later claimed second on the 3-meter board with 299.40 points.<\/p>\n
Back in the pool, Franklin prevailed in her third individual event with a win in a tight 100 free in 48.99. Stanford\u2019s Neal (49.11) and Schaefer (49.16) were next, and Acker was fourth in 50.21 for the Bears.<\/p>\n
Pelton gave Cal back-to-back wins with a dominating victory in the 200 back as she touched the wall in 1:55.35 for a nearly three-second margin over Stanford\u2019s Annemarie Thayer. The result pushed the Bears back into the lead, 96-92.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal, though, won the remaining races and retook the advantage in the team race by three points with a 1-2 showing in the 200 breast. Cal\u2019s Celina Li was third in 2:15.47 by a mere .04 seconds. Stanford also placed first and second in the 500 free to move further in front.<\/p>\n
Lee took control of the 100 fly, reaching the wall in 52.74, with Cal\u2019s Sophia Batchelor second (54.29) and Tran third (54.62). DiRado added another Stanford win in the 200 IM in 1:57.62. Cal\u2019s Li (1:57.96) and Pelton (1:59.74) had the next two spots. Finally, Stanford closed out the meet with a time of 3:18.06 in the 400 free relay, as Cal\u2019s Acker, Rachel Bootsma, Bing and Franklin were timed in 3:19.28.<\/p>\n
The meet was televised live by the Pac-12 Networks and is scheduled to be replayed Sunday at 6 p.m. and Monday at 10:30 a.m. PT.<\/p>\n