{"id":576970,"date":"2024-02-03T22:11:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T05:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=576970"},"modified":"2024-02-03T22:12:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T05:12:51","slug":"usc-women-beat-stanford-for-first-time-since-1996-cardinal-men-victorious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/usc-women-beat-stanford-for-first-time-since-1996-cardinal-men-victorious\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Women Beat Stanford For First Time Since 1996; Cardinal Men Victorious"},"content":{"rendered":"

USC Women Beat Stanford For First Time Since 1996; Cardinal Men Victorious<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Southern California women’s swim team is in the midst of its most impressive season in years. The Trojan women have yet to lose a dual meet, and one day after defeating Cal<\/a>, USC has now beaten Stanford as well, securing the win with a come-from-behind anchor leg on the final relay.<\/p>\n

Entering the 400 freestyle relay, USC led Stanford 144-138, but a Cardinal win plus a third-place finish by the “B” team would have been enough for Stanford to move ahead and secure the win. Indeed, Stanford had the lead through the first three legs of the event, with\u00a0Anna Shaw<\/strong> handing\u00a0Lillie Nordmann<\/strong> a lead of more than one second heading into the anchor split, but USC freshman Minna Abraham<\/strong> split 46.59 to pull ahead and give USC the win.<\/p>\n

For the Trojans, the 155-142 decision marked their first win over Stanford since 1996. The contest was also their final dual meet as conference rivals, with the Pac-12 poised to dissolve after this season as USC moves to the Big Ten and Stanford to the ACC.<\/p>\n

Abraham played a key role in the win even before her relay split, as she topped the 100 free in 47.90 and also took second in the 200 free and third in the 200 IM. Also starring for USC were\u00a0Caroline Famous<\/strong> and\u00a0Kaitlyn Dobler<\/strong>, with Famous winning the 100 backstroke (51.36) and tying for first with Stanford’s\u00a0Amy Tang<\/strong> in the 50 free (22.16) while Dobler, the 2022 NCAA champion in the 100 breaststroke, won her signature event in 58.63 before taking first in the 200 breast as well (2:08.70).<\/p>\n

Famous, Dobler,\u00a0Anicka Delgado<\/strong> and\u00a0Vasilissa Buinaia<\/strong> opened the meet with a wire-to-wire triumph in the 200 medley relay. In diving,\u00a0Nike Agunbiade<\/strong> won 1-meter (267.15) and 3-meter (299.90).<\/p>\n

Stanford’s\u00a0Aurora Roghair<\/strong> did her best to keep the Cardinal alive. She opened the meet by winning the 1000 free (9:35.29) and then coming back immediately to win the 200 free as well, overtaking Abraham on the final 50 to win in a swift time of 1:42.44, with Abraham second (1:42.88) and\u00a0Kayla Wilson<\/strong> third (1:42.91) as all three swimmers now rank in the top-six nationally in the event. Later on, Roghair pulled away to win the 500 free by two-and-a-half seconds in 4:39.70.<\/p>\n

Lucy Bell\u00a0<\/strong>of the Cardinal also had a big day, winning the 200 butterfly in 1:52.62 before topping the 100 fly in 51.76.\u00a0Natalie Mannion<\/strong> was the winner of the 200 back (1:53.51), and\u00a0Caroline Bricker<\/strong> held off Bell to win the 200 IM (1:56.35).<\/p>\n