2017 Pac-12 Women’s Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2017 WOMEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25
• Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: USC (results)
• Live Results (also on Meet Mobile)
• Live Video 
• Pac-12 Record Book
• Championship Central

The 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are set to kick off tonight in Federal Way, Washington. Swimmers will be competing in the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay. Tonight, we’ll get a first look at Stanford freshman Katie Ledecky in Pac-12 conference meet action, while fellow Cardinal standout Simone Manuel returns to conference action after redshirting last season. The loaded Cardinal squad will be chasing records in both relays, but a star-studded Cal team will be in the hunt as well.

Stanford owns the 200 medley relay record with their 1:34.15 from last season, and will return 3 of their 4 swimmers. The only missing piece is breaststroker Sarah Haase, who graduated at the end of last season. The 800 free relay record was set by Cal at the 2015 meet, and stands at a 6:50.18.

WOMEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY

• Meet: 1:34.15 2/24/2016 Stanford University (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)
• American: 1:34.15 2/24/2016 Stanford University (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)
• US Open: 1:34.15 2/24/2016 Stanford University (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)
• NCAA D1: 1:34.15 2/24/2016 Stanford University (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)
• Pac-12 Conference: 1:34.15 2/24/2016 Stanford University (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)
• NCAA A Qualifying: 1:37.21
• NCAA B Provisional: 1:37.71

1. Stanford 1:34.32
2. Cal 1:34.42
3. USC 1:35.18

The Stanford women pulled out the win over Cal— with neither team having a star sprint breaststroker. The three legs were pretty similar, but it was Stanford‘s Simone Manuel who threw down a 20.78 to solidify the win for the Cardinal. Ally Howe led off in 23.63, followed by Kim Williams‘ 27.25 breaststroke split and Janet Hu‘s 22.66 butterfly split.

The fly splits were fast across the board– in addition to Hu’s 22.66, Cal‘s Noemie Thomas (22.52), USC‘s Louise Hansson (22.76), and Arizona’s Annie Ochitwa (22.78) were all under 23 seconds on fly, as was Cal’s Maddie Murphy on the B relay (22.90). Cal‘s Amy Bilquist (23.81) lead-off leg was followed by Abbey Weitzeil‘s 27.00 breast split, while the Bears were anchored by Farida Osman in 21.09.

Other notable splits included a very quick 23.46 lead off from UCLA’s Linnea Mack, a 26.68 breast split from USC‘s Riley Scott, a 26.95 breast split from Arizona’s Kennedy Lohman, and a 21.27 anchor leg from Arizona’s Katrina Konopka. The Wildcats finished 4th in 1:35.47.

Cal’s Kathleen Baker, meanwhile, had a 23.57 backstroke split on the B relay, which was actually the 2nd fastest split in the field. That split, if on the “A” relay, would’ve been enough to put Cal ahead of Stanford at the finis, all else equal.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE RELAY

• Meet: 6:50.18 2015 Cal (Runge, Pelton, Piehl, Franklin)
• American: 6:50.18 2015 Cal (Runge, Pelton, Piehl, Franklin)
• US Open: 6:50.18 2015 Cal (Runge, Pelton, Piehl, Franklin)
• NCAA D1: 6:50.18 2015 Cal (Runge, Pelton, Piehl, Franklin)
• Pac-12 Conference: 6:50.18 2015 Cal (Runge, Pelton, Piehl, Franklin)
• NCAA A Qualifying: 7:05.68
• NCAA B Provisional: 7:08.93

1. Stanford 6:49.42
2. Cal 6:53.37
3. USC 6:54.24

Stanford shattered the 800 free relay NCAA, American, and US Open records with a blistering 6:49.42, thanks in part to a 1:40.28 anchor leg from Katie Ledecky. Olympian Lia Neal led off in 1:43.34, followed by Katie Drabot (1:43.43) and Ella Eastin (1:42.37). Ledecky was out in 48.42 (23.02-25.40) and back in 51.86 (26.03-25.83) for an incredible anchor leg.

Cal went with Kathleen Baker (1:43.17) for the lead-off, followed by a strong 1:42.82 from Katie McLaughlin, signifying that she is well-recovered after a neck injury last season that plagued her into the summer. Abbey Weitzeil (1:43.84) and Amy Bilquist (1:43.54) rounded out the relay as Cal touched 2nd once again.

USC had a great 1:42.10 lead-off from Louise Hansson, with Tatum Wade (1:43.36) and Kirsten Vose (1:43.42) following up. Anika Apostalon anchored in 1:45.36 for the Trojans. Also impressive was Kristen Vredeveld with a 1:43.66 lead-off on Cal’s B relay.

TEAM SCORES

1. Stanford 128
2. Cal 112
3. USC 108
4. UCLA 102
5. Arizona 102
6. Arizona State 96
7. Washington State 90
8. Utah 90
9. Oregon State 84