Cal Women Take On Stanford At Home To Close Out Regular Season

Courtesy: Cal Athletics

SATURDAY, FEB. 17
STANFORD (6-1, 4-1 PAC-12) AT CAL (6-1, 4-1) | NOON PT | SPIEKER AQUATICS COMPLEX | BERKELEY, CALIF.
LIVE STREAM: PAC-12.COM | LIVE RESULTS: MEET MOBILE

BERKELEY – TheCalifornia women’s swimming & diving team wraps up the regular season Saturday with a Pac-12 dual meet against Stanford at noon at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The Golden Bears will be looking to snap a three-meet losing streak against their rivals.

Before the meet, Cal will honor six seniors and four graduate students who will be competing in their final home meet for the Bears. The seniors are Ashlyn Fiorilli, Emily Gantriis, Jade Neser, Isabella Riley, Isabelle Stadden and Danielle Killeen. The fifth-years are Hannah Brunzell, Rachel Klinker. Mia Motekaitis and Eloise Riley.

TOP-10S: Cal has a handful of times that rank among the top 10 nationally this season, including Isabelle Stadden’s No. 1 time in the 200-yard backstroke (1:49.21). Stadden also has the No. 3 time in the 100 back (50.26) while junior Mia Kragh possesses the No. 8 time in the 100 butterfly (51.30). The Bears also have three relays that have registered top-10 times nationally this season – 200 medley relay (7th -1:34.23), 800 freestyle relay (9^th – 7:01.70) and 400 medley relay (7th – 3:29.05).

MOVING ON UP: Several Cal swimmers have reeled off times this season that have put them among the program’s all-time top-10 leaders, including freshman Kathryn Hazle in two events. Two weeks ago at USC, Hazle reeled off the ninth-fastest time in program history in the 1,000 free at 9:45.19 while earlier this season she recorded the eighth-best mark ever at Cal in the 400 individual medley (4:08.70). Meanwhile, the program’s leaderboard in the 200 breaststroke has been reshaped, thanks to junior Alicia Henry and grad transfer Hannah Brunzell. Henry now ranks fifth all-time at Cal with a time of 2:08.84 while Brunzell is right behind at 2:09.70. Fifth-year senior Rachel Klinker’s time of 1:53.77 in the 200 fly is the program’s seventh-best ever.

SPIEKER SUPERLATIVES: The Bears set three pool records during their dual meet against No. 19 Arizona State last month at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Senior Isabelle Stadden established new marks in the 100 back (50.55) and 200 back (1:50.58) while junior Mia Kragh set a new pool standard in the 100 fly (51.30).

OTHER-WORLDLY: Fifth-year senior Rachel Klinker may have a little jetlag as she races against the Cardinal on Saturday. Klinker will have just returned to the Bay Area from Doha, Qatar, where she competed in the 200-meter fly at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. Klinker opened some eyes by finishing second in the semifinals with a career-best time of 2:07.70 – a mark that firmly puts her in the Olympic conversation in the event. Klinker ended up just missing the medal stand with a fourth-place finish in the finals.

DIVE RIGHT IN: Freshman Caroline Li and Ariana Drake each won diving events during Cal’s dual meet against Arizona State, marking the first time a Cal women’s diver has won an event since Briana Thai three seasons ago. Li took the 1-meter event with a score of 247.73 while Drake finished first in the 3-meter at 307.35. Drake’s winning score ranks eighth all-time at Cal.

NEW-LOOK STAFF: The Bears have a new look on deck this season with the addition of Associate Head Coach Josh Huger and Assistant Coaches Kim Williams and Noah Yanchulis. Huger spent the past four seasons at Tennessee, whose women’s program finished in the top-10 nationally every year he was there. Last year, he helped the Vols’ men’s program to a seventh-place finish – its best in seven years. Huger also helped coach Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, the 2023 SEC Swimmer of the Year, to the 2023 NCAA championship in the 50 free. Williams was a three-time NCAA champion and six-time All-American as a swimmer at Stanford who spent last season as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern. Yanchulis spent the past five years on the coaching staff at Division II Oklahoma Christian and was a two-time Big East Most Outstanding Swimmer as a student-athlete at Seton Hall.

ON THE MARK: The Bears recently won the Newmark Award for large women’s teams at Cal, given annually to the program with the best cumulative GPA on campus. The awards are broken up by gender and size, and the Bears had the top cumulative GPA of any women’s team at Cal that features a roster of at least 25 student-athletes. The Newmark Awards were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark in an effort to recognize team academic success at Cal.

SCHOLARLY SWIMMERS: The Bears were named a CSCAA Fall Scholar All-America Team earlier this month, giving the program 28 straight semesters of earning the honor. Last season, Cal had 14 student-athletes earn spots on the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team. Student-athletes who earned at least a 3.5 grade point average and participated at their national championship were named to the First Team. Those who had a 3.5 GPA and achieved a “B” time standard for their national championship or participated at a diving zone qualification meet were named to the Second Team.