Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
PALO ALTO – The Stanford swimming and diving team hosted UCLA today, winding down the dual meet portion of the season with a rout of the Bruins.
Stanford won the meet 151-92, with Katy Campbell’s two victories in the distance freestyles preventing Stanford from winning every race on the schedule. Campbell, the reigning USA Swimming long course national champion in the 1500 freestyle, won the 1000 free today with a 10:02.47 and the 500 free with a 4:52.83. Teammate Michaela Merlihan gave UCLA a 1-2 sweep in the distance frees with times of 10:06.40 in the 1000 and 4:55.25 in the 500.
Though Stanford would win the remaining 11 events, UCLA didn’t make it easy in some of them. Lia Neal held off UCLA’s Monica Dornick in the final strokes of the 200 free, with Stanford’s Neal winning in 1:48.22 to Dornick’s 1:48.33. Ally Howe held a 1.6-second lead after the backstroke portion of the 200 IM over UCLA’s Arlyn Upshaw, and Upshaw made a big move on breaststroke but couldn’t catch Howe on freestyle. Howe’s 2:01.23 was enough to win over Upshaw’s 2:01.94.
Stanford freshman Janet Hu, normally specializing in the sprints, took on the 200 butterfly and had a race on her hands with UCLA’s Katie Grover and Noelle Tarazona, both of whom turned four tenths behind Hu at the 100-yard mark. Hu turned on the gas in the final 100 and won by a second over Grover, 1:57.12 to 1:58.20. Tarazona took third with a 1:59.42.
Neal and Howe each were double winners today. After her close win in the 200 free, Neal had no trouble dispatching Dornick in the 100 free with a 49.52 to Dornick’s 50.46. Howe also had a comfortable win in the 200 backstroke with a 1:57.05, beating out the 1:59.14 by UCLA’s Madison White.
Simone Manuel only swam in one individual event, winning the 50 free with a 22.41 as Hu placed second with a 22.81. The other individual event victory for Stanford came in the 200 breast, as Sarah Haase dominated with a 2:13.26.
In diving, Cassidy Cook gave Stanford big points, winning the 1-meter with 292.58 points and the 3-meter with a score of 294.15 points. Annika Lenz, who is one of USA Diving’s rising stars like Cook, nearly upset Cook on 3-meter with a runner-up score of 291.38.
Stanford showed that it will remain a dominant relay force in March at the NCAA championships, posting strong times of 3:38.82 to win the 400 medley relay (without Manuel on the freestyle leg) and a 3:19.18 in the 400 free relay.
maybe if UCLA had a men’s program it would also attract a more competitive women’s team, thanks Title IX