By Sarah Lloyd, Swimming World College Intern
After a surprising and jarring loss to No. 7 USC on Friday, the No. 3 California women bounced back on Saturday to beat No. 19 UCLA. Again, freshman Amy Bilquist played a major roll in the success of the Golden Bears with her multiple event wins on Saturday.
The meet began with California win the 200 medley relay. A team of Rachel Bootsma, Kathleen Baker, Noemie Thomas, and Amy Bilquist touched with a 1:40.29, a second and a half ahead of the UCLA team of Linnea Mack, Emma Schanz, Katie Kinnear, and Madison White (1:41.74). California senior Kelly Naze then dominated the 1000 free, posting the only sub-10:00 swim of the field (9:56.58). UCLA freshman Sandra Soe was second (10:11.42), just ahead of her junior teammate Michaela Merlihan (10.11.63). Senior Rachael Acker won the 200 free (1:49.02) to add to the Golden Bears’ momentum and was followed by two Bruin sophomores, Katie Grover (1:50.88) and Carly Reid (1:51.63).
Bilquist then downed the pool record in the 100 back with a 52.75, about a half second under the 53.35 by Stanford’s Felicia Lee. She was followed by UCLA’s juniors Mack (53.87) and White (54.00), who both logged NCAA B cuts. California’s junior Marina Garica Urzainqui continued the Golden Bears’ win streak with her victory in the 100 breast (1:03.95). She was trailed by UCLA’s freshman Schanz (1:04.00) and junior Bridget Winkler (1:04.31).
California’s sophomore Thomas and UCLA’s senior Kinnear both logged B cuts in the 200 fly, going 1:58.11 and 1:59.23, respectively. The Golden Bears then swept the 50 free, led by junior Farida Osman (22.76) and completed by the sophomore Valerie Hull (23.37) and junior Kristen Vredeveld (23.61). Bilquist then won her second individual event of the meet with a B cut time of 49.74 in the 100 free. She was followed by teammates Acker (50.87) and Vredeveld (51.09) for the sweep.
California freshman Baker and UCLA’s White both nabbed B cuts in the 200 back, with times of 1:56.28 and 1:57.08, respectively. UCLA’s Schanz also logged a B cut in the 200 breast (2:14.31). The 500 free went to California’s senior Liz Pelton (4:57.66), who was followed by Merlihan (4:58.90) and Soe (5:00.54) of UCLA. Three California women then swept the 100 fly and all logged B cuts in the process–Thomas (53.02), the senior Bootsma (54.08), and Osman (54.14).
Celina Li, a California junior, then walked away with a win and a B cut in the 400 IM (4:15.03). California’s relay of Acker, Vredeveld, Bilquist, and Osman then won the 400 free relay (3:20.78), setting a new pool record in the process. The California women came out with a 185-114 victory over the UCLA women.
Full results: 2016 California vs. UCLA Women – Results