University of California vs. University of California, Los Angeles (Women Only)
- January 28th, 2023
- Spieker Aquatic Complex, Berkeley, California
- Short Course Yards (SCY)
- Full Results
- Final Score
- Cal: 165 – UCLA: 127
In a battle of two of the top ranked teams in the NCAA, the Cal Golden Bears celebrated their women’s team’s senior night with a decisive victory over UCLA. SwimSwam has the Cal women ranked 9th in our latest Power Rankings.
A day after swimming her fastest 100 back in a dual meet this season, Cal junior Isabelle Stadden lowered her time even further. Swimming against Stanford on Friday, Stadden won the event in a time of 52.39. On Saturday she was over two-tenths faster in the event, taking first in 52.13. That swim is Stadden’s third-fastest in the event this season, ranking only behind her performances of 50.88 and 50.81 from the Minnesota Invite earlier this year. She’s currently the second-fastest performer in the Pac-12 this season behind Claire Curzan. Stadden also won the 200 IM later in the meet, touching in 2:00.23.
Outside of her pair of wins, Stadden also added a second-place finish in the 100 free, finishing just behind Rachel Rhee of UCLA. Rhee, a senior, finished in 49.73. That was her second win of the meet, as she won the 50 free just one event earlier as well, touching out teammate Claire Grover by .01 with a time of 22.20.
Joining Rhee in winning a pair of events for the Bruins was sophomore Eva Carlson, who swept the breaststroke races on the day. Carlson kicked off her day by taking top spot in the 100 breast, finishing in 1:01.00 to edge out Cal’s Leah Polonsky. In the 200 breast it was Carlson and Polonsky again battling for the top spot, with Carlson getting a decisive victory in 2:16.52.
Cal claimed the top spot in the 200 medley relay. With only two tenths of a second separating the top three teams in the race, the team of Isabelle Stadden, Alicia Henry, Mia Kragh, and Ella Mazurek were able to hold the top UCLA relay, winning by .13 in a time of 1:40.53. The Cal C-team rounded out the top-3 in 1:4073.
Cal followed their relay victory by finishing sophomore Fanni Fabian grabbing the win in the 1000 freestyle. Fabian, who ranks within the top-12 of both the 500 and 1650 freestyles within the Pac-12, finished in a time of 10:00.36. Fabian swept the freestyle events on the day, going on to win the 500 free in 4:52.64. Her time in the 500 was her second-fastest performance of the season, behind only her mid-season time of 4:44.17.
Competing in her final collegiate meet in her home pool, senior Mia Motekaitis edged teammate Ayla Spitz in the 200 free for the victory. The 2022 NCAA Championships qualifier finished with a time of 1:46.99. Spitz would go on to win the 200 back later in the meet, touching in 1:57.50 for the win.
Cal had its first double event winner in Lizzy Cook, who swept the butterfly races as Cal took the top-3 places in both events. After leading the sweep in the 200 fly, she claimed her second win in the 100 with a time of 53.67. That time is just off of her lifetime best of 52.87, which she swam earlier this season at the Minnesota Invite.
With Cal not having any divers entered in the meet, UCLA picked up major points on the boards. On the 1-meter it was freshman Eden Cheng who finished with the top score (262.40), while sophomore Zoe Jespersgaard won on the 3-meter (326.15).
Cal closed out the meet by winning the 400 free relay. The team of Emma Davidson, Mckenna Stone, Ella Mazurek, and Ayla Spitz finished in 3:20.42.