Stanford successfully defended its Pac 12 championship tonight in Federal Way, WA.
The Cardinal led by 202.5 after last night's epic 400 Medley Relay. Hope tonight's closing 400 Free Relay brings more of the same.
1650 free:
Stanford started out with its best possible finish, a 1-2 from Megan Byrnes and Leah Stevens. Stevens led through the 750 mark, then Byrnes slowly pulled away for a 1549 to 1552 victory (about 45 seconds back of Ledecky's best. kal 7th. Lead grows to 239.5.
200 Back:
kal's Kathleen Baker wins with 3rd fastest ever 148.27.
Hu and Howe silver and bronze with 149.49 and 1:50.05. Szekely, Voss, and Glavinovich complete a 2-3-5-6-18 finish.
kal 1-4-7-12-17. Lead remains at 239.5
100 Free:
Abby Weitzell took it out FAST, splitting 22.16 with her feet at the 50, but she paid the price for that early effort. The freight train that is Simone Manuel's closing speed brought her from 6/10 down to 2/10 ahead in the last 25, for a 46.43 win.
Meyers, Pitzer, and Volpenhein add to a 1-10-11-17 score.
kal 2-3-5-12 to cut the lead to 218.5. Free relay could be trouble.
200 Breast:
$c frosh Aroesty wins in 206.85.
Brooke Forde (207.43), Grace Zhao (210.57), and Kim Williams (209.07) finish 3-7-9.
kal 6-11-13, and the lead is up to 232.5.
200 Fly:
$c's Louise Hansson goes out in an insanely fast 51.81 for the first 100 (which would have placed 13th at last year's NCAA meet). Gorilla carrying piano in arms with refrigerator strapped to back climbed on during 5th lap of 8, and she barely broke a minute for the final 100.
Ella Eastin opened with a much more leisurely 53.51, but was able to come back in a blistering 56.00 to set all of the records, beating former Stanford Olympian Elaine Breeden's supersuited 2009 American record with a 149.51.
Drabot, Engel, Green, and Kukurugya top it off with 3-7-11-16.
kal gets 5-8-9, and Stanford leads by 272.5.
10 meter Diving:
Frosh Mia Paulsen (from Menlo-Atherton), Farnsworth, Gallagher, and Gardner 6-8-13-19.
kal magically finds divers that were not on the psych sheet and grabs 12-15-16-22.
Lead 297.5, the largest of the meet so far.
Stanford clinched the win 3 events ago, by the way.
400 Free Relay:
Hu/Ledecky/Meyers (not Howe?)/Manuel v. Baker/McLaughlin/Bilquist/Weitzell.
Janet Hu PR's a 47.57 to Baker's 47.79. Card up 0.22
McLaughlin outsplits Ledecky 47.4 to 48.0. kal up 0.43.
Bilquist beats Meyers 47.2 to 48.0. kal up 0.94.
Manuel closes on Weitzell 46.1 to 46.3, but the lead was too big.
kal wins relay 309.04 to 309.76.
Stanford wins meet 1776.5 to 1487, with the final margin 289.5.
NCAA's in two weeks. Stanford is heavy favorite, but needs a 4th sprinter to step up for the free relays. MR's should be fine as long as Williams can hold serve, and Howe and Hu don't leave their best swims in Tacoma like 2017. Stanford won with them not at peak form last year, but that was with Lia Neal as the 4th sprinter. Her loss to graduation is huge.
Go Cardinal!
The Cardinal led by 202.5 after last night's epic 400 Medley Relay. Hope tonight's closing 400 Free Relay brings more of the same.
1650 free:
Stanford started out with its best possible finish, a 1-2 from Megan Byrnes and Leah Stevens. Stevens led through the 750 mark, then Byrnes slowly pulled away for a 1549 to 1552 victory (about 45 seconds back of Ledecky's best. kal 7th. Lead grows to 239.5.
200 Back:
kal's Kathleen Baker wins with 3rd fastest ever 148.27.
Hu and Howe silver and bronze with 149.49 and 1:50.05. Szekely, Voss, and Glavinovich complete a 2-3-5-6-18 finish.
kal 1-4-7-12-17. Lead remains at 239.5
100 Free:
Abby Weitzell took it out FAST, splitting 22.16 with her feet at the 50, but she paid the price for that early effort. The freight train that is Simone Manuel's closing speed brought her from 6/10 down to 2/10 ahead in the last 25, for a 46.43 win.
Meyers, Pitzer, and Volpenhein add to a 1-10-11-17 score.
kal 2-3-5-12 to cut the lead to 218.5. Free relay could be trouble.
200 Breast:
$c frosh Aroesty wins in 206.85.
Brooke Forde (207.43), Grace Zhao (210.57), and Kim Williams (209.07) finish 3-7-9.
kal 6-11-13, and the lead is up to 232.5.
200 Fly:
$c's Louise Hansson goes out in an insanely fast 51.81 for the first 100 (which would have placed 13th at last year's NCAA meet). Gorilla carrying piano in arms with refrigerator strapped to back climbed on during 5th lap of 8, and she barely broke a minute for the final 100.
Ella Eastin opened with a much more leisurely 53.51, but was able to come back in a blistering 56.00 to set all of the records, beating former Stanford Olympian Elaine Breeden's supersuited 2009 American record with a 149.51.
Drabot, Engel, Green, and Kukurugya top it off with 3-7-11-16.
kal gets 5-8-9, and Stanford leads by 272.5.
10 meter Diving:
Frosh Mia Paulsen (from Menlo-Atherton), Farnsworth, Gallagher, and Gardner 6-8-13-19.
kal magically finds divers that were not on the psych sheet and grabs 12-15-16-22.
Lead 297.5, the largest of the meet so far.
Stanford clinched the win 3 events ago, by the way.
400 Free Relay:
Hu/Ledecky/Meyers (not Howe?)/Manuel v. Baker/McLaughlin/Bilquist/Weitzell.
Janet Hu PR's a 47.57 to Baker's 47.79. Card up 0.22
McLaughlin outsplits Ledecky 47.4 to 48.0. kal up 0.43.
Bilquist beats Meyers 47.2 to 48.0. kal up 0.94.
Manuel closes on Weitzell 46.1 to 46.3, but the lead was too big.
kal wins relay 309.04 to 309.76.
Stanford wins meet 1776.5 to 1487, with the final margin 289.5.
NCAA's in two weeks. Stanford is heavy favorite, but needs a 4th sprinter to step up for the free relays. MR's should be fine as long as Williams can hold serve, and Howe and Hu don't leave their best swims in Tacoma like 2017. Stanford won with them not at peak form last year, but that was with Lia Neal as the 4th sprinter. Her loss to graduation is huge.
Go Cardinal!
