2019 Pac-12 Women’s Championships: Day 4 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
• Live video on Pac-12 Network for finals
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Day 4 Prelims Recap
• Saturday Finals Heat Sheet

The Stanford women continue to have a substantial lead over Cal in the team scores. The 200 back finalists reflect the extension of that lead with the top 4 all Cardinals, with Taylor Ruck leading the way.

On the flip side, the top 3 in the 100 free are all Cal Bears, with Abbey Weitzeil potentially looking to take down another record after taking the NCAA record in the 50 free on Thursday.

Also coming off an NCAA record is USC’s Louise Hansson, who swam the fastest 100 fly on Friday. Hansson comes in as the top seed in the 200 fly.

WOMEN’S 1650 FREE:

• Pac-12 Record: 15:03.31 2016, Katie Ledecky, 2016
• Championship Record: 15:40.17, 2015 Cierra Runge, 2015
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 16:12.64

1. Leah Stevens (Stanford)- 15:51.26
2. Cierra Runge (ASU)- 15:51.72
3. Morgan Tankersley (Stanford)- 15:59.98

Taking the mile title from the earlier heats was Stanford’s Leah Stevens, who took the win by half a second over Cierra Runge, who swam later. Stevens and Runge are #4 and #5 in the NCAA this year.

Taking third in the event was Morgan Tankersley, who just broke 16 minutes for #12 in the NCAA.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK:

• Pac-12 record: 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker, 2018
• Championship record: 1:48.27, Kathleen Baker, 2018
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 1:53.64

1. Ella Eastin (Stanford)- 1:48.53
2. Taylor Ruck (Stanford)- 1:48.67
3. Lucie Nordmann (Stanford)- 1:51.34

In a come-from-behind victory off the last underwater of the race, Ella Eastin secured her 3rd title of the meet in the 200 back over teammate Olympic bronze medalist Taylor Ruck. Eastin’s finishing time now ranks #10 all-time in the NCAA. For the 2019 season, Eastin and Ruck are #2 and #3 in the NCAA.

Taking third and fourth place for a Stanford 1-2-3-4 finish was freshman Lucie Nordmann and junior Erin Voss (1:51.43). Nordmann and Voss are also #6 and #8 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE:

• Pac-12 record: 45.56, Simone Manuel, 2017
• Championship record: 46.36, Simone Manuel, 2017
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 48.53

1. Abbey Weitzeil (Cal)- 46.35
2. Amy Bilquist (Cal)- 47.01
3. Robin Neumann (Cal)- 47.78

Cal followed up Stanford’s 200 back finishings with a 1-2-3 finish of their own in the 100 free. Abbey Weitzeil secured her sprint sweep with a new Pac-12 championship record of 46.35, which is now the top time in the NCAA this year.

Taking second and third place were teammates Amy Bilquist and Robin Neumann, who are now #5 and #16 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST:

• Pac-12 record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni, 2009
• Championship record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni, 2009
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 2:10.14

1. Grace Zhao (Stanford)- 2:07.07
2. Riley Scott (USC)- 2:07.78
3. Silja Kansakoski (ASU)- 2:08.01

Grace Zhao pulled away from the field for the Cardinals continued dominance with a 2:07.07, holding off USC’s Riley Scott‘s 32.94 final 50 split. Zhao’s time is now #5 in the NCAA while Scott is #11 in the NCAA.

Taking third place was Arizona State’s Silja Kansakoski, who also held off Stanford’s Allie Raab (2:08.11) and Zoe Bartel (2:08.93).

WOMEN’S 200 FLY:

• Pac-12 record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin, 2018
• Championship record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin, 2018
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 1:55.99

1. Louise Hansson (USC)- 1:50.68
2. Katie Drabot (Stanford)- 1:51.42
3. Madison Wright (USC)- 1:53.31

Louise Hansson swept the fly events with her second top time in the NCAA, this time in the 200 fly. Stanford’s Katie Drabot was runner-up in the event to also take second in the NCAA behind Hansson.

USC Trojan Madison Wright took third place to stay ahead of Stanford’s Brooke Forde (1:53.67). Wright and Forde are now #7 and #11 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S PLATFORM DIVING:

• Pac-12 Record: 368.75, Haley Ishimatsu, 2015
• Championship Record: 368.75, Haley Ishimatsu, 2015

1. Mia Paulsen (Stanford)- 256.30
2. Naomi Gowlett (USC)- 252.30
3. Darla Lenz (Stanford)- 242.20

After just sneaking into the top 8 in prelims, Stanford’s Mia Paulsen walked away with a platform diving title by a narrow 4 points over USC’s Naomi Gowlett. Stanford teammate Darla Lenz also took top three in the platform diving.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY:

• Pac-12 Record: 3:07.61, Stanford (S. Manuel, K. Ledecky, J. Hu, L. Neal), 2017
• Championship Record: 3:08.51, Stanford (S. Manuel, K. Ledecky, J. Hu, L. Neal), 2017

1. Cal (Neumann, McLaughlin, Bilquist, Weitzeil)- 3:07.41
2. Stanford (Ruck, Pitzer, Goeders, Eastin)- 3:10.43
3. USC (Hansson, Schlicht, Transom, Ciesla)- 3:13.10

Before getting to Cal’s final time, Taylor Ruck led off Stanford’s relay with a 46.76. That lead-off time from Ruck is now #5 in the NCAA this year as well as tied for #9 on the all-time NCAA performers list.

After Robin Neumann‘s 48.17 lead-off, Cal immediately caught up with a trio of 46s from Katie McLaughlin (46.55), Amy Bilquist (46.30), and Abbey Weitzeil (46.39). Cal’s final time of 3:07.41 not only set a new Pac-12 conference and meet record, but also eclipsed the NCAA record (which was the same as the Pac-12 record).

FINAL RESULTS:

The Stanford Cardinals secured their 3rd-consecutive Pac-12 title by a substantial lead.

1. Stanford           1775   
2. Cal-Berkeley       1352
3. USC                1183.5   
4. Arizona State      932.5
5. Arizona            837   
6. UCLA               835
7. Utah               531.5   
8. Washington State   284.5
9. Oregon State       172