2019 Pac-12 Women’s Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2019 PAC-12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 27 – Saturday, March 2
• Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Stanford (2x) (results)
• Live results
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets

Day 3 finals of the Pac-12 Women’s Championships in Federal Way will kick off with the 400 IM, where Stanford’s Brooke Forde and Ella Eastin, the American Record holder, lead the way. After breaking the Pac-12 Championship Record this morning in the 100 fly in 49.90, USC’s Louise Hansson will go after it again in the final.

Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil, who broke the Pac-12 Record in the 50 free last night, headlines the 200 free after a lifetime best in prelims. Teammate Amy Bilquist is set to battle Stanford freshman Taylor Ruck, an Olympic medalist, in the 100 back. Arizona State breaststroke ace Silja Kansakoski is the fastest woman through prelims of the 100 breast, with UCLA freshman Claire Grover not far behind.

WOMEN’S 400 IM

• Pac-12 record: 3:54.60, Ella Eastin, 2018
• Championship record: 3:56.53, Katie Ledecky, 2018
• NCAA “A” Cut: 4:04.16

1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 3:57.75
2. SILVER: Brooke Forde, Stanford, 4:00.27
3. BRONZE: Sarah Darcel, Cal, 4:05.55

Ella Eastin, Brooke Forde, and Sarah Darcel took it out just a tenth apart, but Eastin started to pull ahead on the backstroke leg. She continued building her lead to win it in 3:57.75, marking the 7th fastest performance in history. That’s pretty close to what she did at Pac-12s last season. She was about half a second faster at the 2018 conference meet. Eastin now owns 4 of the 10 fastest swims ever, including the top time which she did at 2018 NCAAs.

Forde fell a touch behind teammate Allie Szekely and Cal’s Darcel after backstroke, but made a big push on the breast leg to secure 2nd place in 4:00.27 for a Stanford 1-2. That’s within a second of her lifetime best. Szekely remained ahead of Darcel through the breaststroke leg, but Darcel ran her down to take the last podium spot, 4:05.55 to 4:06.63.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY

• Pac-12 record: 49.80, Louise Hansson, 2018
• Championship record: 49.90, Louise Hansson, 2019
• NCAA “A” Cut: 51.03

1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 49.34
2. SILVER: Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 50.67
3. BRONZE: Isabel Ivey, Cal, 51.17

USC’s Louise Hansson stepped it up again tonight, posting the fastest time in history for a new NCAA Record. Hansson was out in 23.01, closing in a 26.33 to set the mark in 49.34. That surpassed U.S. Olympic medalist Kelsi Dahlia’s former NCAA Record of 49.43 set back in 2016. Hansson has now been below 50 seconds 5 times in her career and 3 times in this season alone.

Cal teammates Katie McLaughlin and Isabel Ivey raced for the silver. Ivey was out a tenth quicker, but McLaughlin took over on the final lap to notch 2nd place in 50.67. That clipped a couple of hundredths off her best time from prelims. Ivey, a freshman, picked up her 2nd individual medal of the meet in 51.17. She’s now dropped a second off her time throughout today. Just off the podium was Arizona’s Mackenzie Rumrill, who put up a 51.80 this morning but was a bit shy of that tonight in 52.10.

Both Ivey and McLaughlin are slated to swim in the 200 free final, which is the very next event here.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE

• Pac-12 record: 1:39.10, Missy Franklin, 2015
• Championship record: 1:40.37, Simone Manuel, 2017
• NCAA “A” Cut: 1:43.17

1. GOLD: Abbey Weitzeil, Cal, 1:41.97
2. SILVER: Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 1:43.04
3. BRONZE: Robin Neumann, Cal, 1:43.25

Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil has had a real breakthrough in this event at this meet, leading a podium sweep for the Bears. She had never broken 1:43 before this morning and hadn’t swum a best time in the event since 2016. She’s dropped nearly a second and a half from her best today, leading from start to finish with a 1:41.97. As of posting, live results are not displaying accurate splits for anyone in the field.

Teammate Katie McLaughlin used her back-end speed to win a close race for silver in 1:43.04. That was just 3 hundredths shy of her lifetime best and the fastest she’s been from a flat start in the event since 2015 per the USA Swimming database. Another Cal freestyler, Robin Neumann, held off Stanford’s Lauren Pitzer for the bronze, 1:43.25 to 1:43.50. Fresh off her 100 fly, Isabel Ivey took 8th for Cal in 1:46.03.

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST

• Pac-12 record: 58.02, Sarah Haase, 2018
• Championship record: 58.02, Sarah Haase, 2018
• NCAA “A” Cut: 58.79

1. GOLD: Silja Kansakoski, ASU, 59.12
2. SILVER: Riley Scott, USC, 59.37
3. BRONZE: Kirsten Vose, USC, 59.43

ASU’s Silja Kansakoski, the 2017 champ in this race, and USC’s Riley Scott, the 2018 champ in the event, battled it out for the title. Kansakoski swum her way back to the top of the podium in 59.12, using her closing speed to edge out Scott (59.37) and another Trojan, Kirsten Vose (59.43). Vose looks to be back on form after redshirting last season due to injury. This was a lifetime best for her and her first time beating her former best since 2015 (she tied it in 2017).

There was a lot of freshman talent in this event tonight, with UCLA’s Claire Grover just hundredths shy of the podium in 59.50. Stanford freshman Allie Raab took 5th in 59.60, while fellow Cardinal freshman Zoe Bartel nabbed 7th in 59.92. The B final saw Cal freshman Ema Rajic come from behind to clip sophomore teammate Ali Harrison, 59.68 to 59.79. That was a big drop for Rajic, taking almost a full second off her time, and her first swim under a minute in the event.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK

• Pac-12 record: 49.69, Ally Howe, 2017
• Championship record: 49.69, Ally Howe, 2017
• NCAA “A” Cut: 50.99

1. GOLD: Amy Bilquist, Cal, 50.46
2. SILVER: Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 50.52
3. BRONZE: Keaton Blovad, Cal, 51.34

It was a close one from start to finish as Cal’s Amy Bilquist and Stanford’s Taylor Ruck were separated by just a few hundredths for the closing 3 lengths. Bilquist came through with the faster finish, winning in 50.46 to Ruck’s 50.52. That was Bilquist’s first best time in 3 years, as it was previously set at 50.50 from her freshman season Pac-12s in 2016. She’s now just 4 hundredths shy of the all-time top 10 performers list in this race. Ruck dropped a full second from her former best.

There was another close Cal-Stanford race for the final podium spot between the Bears’ Keaton Blovad and Cardinal freshman Lucie Nordmann. Blovad was out a couple of tenths faster, and held off Nordmann’s charge on the final 25 for a lifetime best 51.34. Nordmann broke 52 for the first time, just a tenth short of the podium in 51.47.

WOMEN’S 3-METER DIVING

1. GOLD: Maria Polyakova, UCLA, 350.70
2. SILVER: Carolina Schulti, Stanford, 346.45
3. BRONZE: Delaney Schnell, Arizona, 335.10

UCLA’s Maria Polyakova grabbed her 2nd title in as many days. It was the same 3 women on the podium as last night’s 1-meter final, but this time Stanford’s Carolina Schulti took silver while Arizona’s Delaney Schnell earned bronze.

WOMEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY

• Pac-12 record: 3:25.09, Stanford, 2019
• Championship record: 3:25.15, Stanford, 2018
• NCAA “A” Cut: 3:32.20

1. GOLD: Cal, 3:26.41
2. SILVER: USC, 3:29.83
3. BRONZE: Stanford, 3:31.04

Cal is now 4-for-4 on relays this weekend as they dominated this race. Amy Bilquist led them off in 50.64, with Ema Rajic then splitting a 59.53 breast leg. Katie McLaughlin came close to splitting under 50 as she threw down a 50.14 fly leg in her 3rd swim of the night. Abbey Weitzeil sealed it with a 46.10 on the anchor.

100 fly champ Louise Hansson took on the backstroke leg this time around, splitting 50.74 for the Trojans as they took 2nd place. Stanford took 3rd, with Ella Eastin swimming a 51.26 backstroke leg. Those leadoff leg times would have been fast enough for Hansson or Eastin to have placed 3rd i nthe individual 100 backstroke tonight.

TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 3:

  1. Stanford University            1154.5   2. University of California- Berk  964.5
  3. University of Southern Calif      724   4. Arizona State University          644
  5. University of Arizona             576   6. University of California - LA     557
  7. Utah, University of               357   8. Washington State University       189
  9. Oregon State University           110