Isabel Ivey Debuts for Cal with 100 Fly Win in Victory Over ASU

CAL VS. ARIZONA STATE

• Results
• Friday, January 25th
• Hosted by Arizona State
• 25 Yard Course
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• MEN: Cal 178, Arizona State 118
• WOMEN: Cal 190, Arizona State 110

Freshman Isabel Ivey has now joined the Bears and made her college swimming debut after taking to the pool on Friday against Arizona State. In her first meet, Ivey dominated the 100 fly by nearly 2 seconds to take the win in 53.32. She also took 3rd in the 200 free (1:48.18) behind teammate Abbey Weitzeil (1:47.35) and ASU’s Cierra Runge (1:47.92). Notably, Chloe Clark is enrolled at Cal and on the roster, but is not expected to compete with the Bears until the fall.

Another freshman, Reece Whitley, was a standout for Cal in the men’s races with double wins, as was Trenton Julian. Whitley led the way with a 53.11 in the 100 breast. He followed that up with a dominant 1:55.29 in the 200 breast, where he was the only man below 2:00. Julian swept the distance races, posting an 8:59.06 in the 1000 free and a 4:21.17 in the 500 free.

Amy Bilquist was a triple winner for the Bear women. She was the only woman sub-23 with a 22.65 win in the 50 free. Bilquist also swept the backstrokes, putting up a 53.18 in the 100 back and a 1:56.58 in the 200 back. Weitzeil picked up a double as she won the 200 free and 100 free (48.80). Katie McLaughlin contributed 2 as well with a 4:48.02 in the 500 free and a 1:55.78 in the 200 fly.

PRESS RELEASE – CAL MEN:

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Cal men’s swimming and diving team returned to the dual meet portion of its 2018-19 schedule Friday and notched a resounding 178-118 split squad victory at Arizona State.

While a chunk of the Golden Bears were dominating the water in Tempe, another group traveled south to take part in the UC San Diego Invitational, where Cal holds a 100-48 lead over the Tritons after the first day of the event.

In the desert, sophomore Trenton Julian and freshman Reece Whitley were each double-winners, with Julian taking the 500 freestyle (4:21.17) and 1000 freestyle (8:59.06) and Whitley capturing the 100 breaststroke (53.11) and 200 breaststroke (1:55.29). Senior Andrew Seliskar, sophomore Daniel Carr, junior Pawel Sendyk, sophomore Ryan Hoffer, sophomore Bryce Mefford and junior Zheng Wen Quah each had a first and second-place finish.

The Bears (3-0) took the top three spots in both the 200 backstroke and 500 freestyle. Cal won every individual event except one.

In San Diego, the Bears dominated as well, taking the top four spots in the 100 back and the top two in three other events. Freshman Chris Jhong won the 1000 freestyle (9:15.26) and placed second in the 200 butterfly (1:48.88) while sophomore Nate Biondi (50 free – 20.73), junior Jack Xie (200 butterfly – 1:47.32), junior Andy Song (100 backstroke – 48.63) and senior Ken Takahashi (100 backstroke – 48.63) also all won individual events.

Both split squads will be back in the pool Saturday as the Bears will visit Arizona and the UCSD Invitational wraps up.

PRESS RELEASE – CAL WOMEN:

TEMPE, Ariz. – California got back into racing form in its first meet of the New Year Friday, surging past Arizona State, 190-110, as the Golden Bears won 12 of 16 events.

Senior Amy Bilquist claimed three events, taking the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes and the 50-yard free, while senior Katie McLaughlin (200butterfly, 500 free) and junior Abbey Weitzeil (100 and 200 free) were double-winners on the afternoon.

The meet also marked the Cal debut of freshman Isabel Ivey. She claimed the 100 fly in an impressive 53.32 with a nearly two-second advantage and also swam legs on the winning 200 medley and 200 free relays.

“I thought we did a nice job today, especially in a busy week that included starting the spring semester and traveling to the meet this morning,” said head coach Teri McKeever, whose team visits Arizona Saturday. “We’ve got to turn it around and put together another good one tomorrow.”

The Bears went first and second or first, second and third in seven of the individual races. Weitzeil was the first to gain an individual win with her time of 1:47.35 in the 200 free. She later posted a two-second victory over teammate Robin Neumann in the 100 free, touching the wall in 48.80.

Bilquist earned the win in the 100 back in 53.18, and soon after was timed in 22.65 in the 50 free and 1:58.58 in the 200 back. McLaughlin’s pair of victories were 1:55.78 in the 200 fly – almost four seconds ahead of the field – and 4:48.02 in the 500 free.

Other Bears to post wins on the day were Briana Thai on the 3-meter springboard (season-best 319.58) and Sarah Darcel in the 200 individual medley (2:00.29).

Cal and Arizona will face off at 11 a.m. PT from Tucson on Saturday morning. The Bears return to Berkeley next week, hosting UCLA Feb. 1 and USC Feb. 2.

PRESS RELEASE – ARIZONA STATE:

TEMPE, Ariz. — Despite strong performances by the divers and four individual swim wins throughout the day, the Sun Devils fell to the No. 1 Cal men’s team, 178-118, and the No. 4 Cal women’s team, 190-110.

“Since I’ve been here, this has been our best men and women’s meet against Cal,” said head coach Bob Bowman. “I thought we had good energy throughout the meet.”

David Hoffer and Youssef Selim took the top two spots in both the 1M and 3M dives, with Hoffer taking first in 3M and Selim taking first in 1M. On the women’s side, Ashley McCool placed first in the 1M and second in the 3M, while Frida Kaellgren earned points for ASU with the second spot in the 1M and fourth in 3M.

The Sun Devil youth shined in the meet as well, with 13 different freshmen contributing points in the competition. Three of those instances came in the men’s 200 fly, an event in which the Sun Devils sent four freshmen to the block. They were highlighted by Khalil Fonder, Liam Bresette and Lana Berry who all put up five points on the afternoon. Fonder continues to impress in his first year in Tempe, posting five podium finishes so far this season including a first place finish in the 100 fly at USC.

Emma Nordin (1000 free), Silja Kansakoski (100 breast), Nora Deleske (200 breast) and Grant House (200 IM) earned individual victories for the Sun Devils. In her win, Nordin swam a personal best of 9:59.85, eclipsing her previous record of 10:07.73 set in last year’s dual meet at Cal. The 1000 free was also the Devils’ only sweep of the day – Nordin was followed on the board by Kendall Dawson and Caitlyn Wilson taking second and third place respectively.

The Sun Devils have a quick turnaround as they return to the pool tomorrow, hosting No. 7/3 Stanford.

“We want to come back tomorrow to put together a meet at a better level then we had today,” Bowman said. “Typically when teams swim back-to-back the second one is not very good, so our goal is to swim as fast or better than we did today.”

Tomorrow’s meet will also be Senior Day for nine graduating Sun Devils. The seniors will be honored on the pool deck at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center at 11:40 a.m. and the meet will begin at 12 p.m. The meet is free and open to the public and will be broadcast on the ASU Live Stream.