Bruins Dominate Day One of A3 Invite
November 20, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Bruins dominated day one of the A3 Performance Invitational on Thursday, winning four of five events in the evening finals. UCLA swept the relays, while Emma Schanz and Linnea Mack won the 200 Individual Medley and 50 Freestyle, respectively. At the end of day one, the Bruins lead the rest of the pack with 367 points, 80 points ahead of second-place UC Santa Barbara.
200 Freestyle Relay
In the first event of the evening session, the Bruin quartet of Madison White, Mack, Katie Grover, and McTaggart posted the top mark of 1:30.87, edging second-place USC.
500 Freestyle
The best swim in the morning came from junior Hayden Walker, who advanced to the championship final with the fifth-best preliminary time (4:55.69). Freshman Sandra Soe also made the A final after posting the eighth-best time in the morning session (4:58.62), while junior Michaela Merlihan reached the B final and sophomore Natalie Amberg made the cut for the C final.
Soe and Walker went 4, 5 in the championship final, swimming a 4:53.61 and 4:54.28, respectively. Merlihan placed second in the B final (10th overall) with a time of 4:57.53, while Amberg posted the top mark in the C final (4:56.37).
200 Individual Medley
Four Bruins finished in the top 16 in the prelims. Schanz led the way with a fourth-place finish (2:03.53), followed by senior Arlyn Upshaw in eighth (2:04.16), freshman Mary Pelton in 14th (2:06.48), and junior Nina Hayes in 16th (2:06.67). Schanz and Upshaw advanced to the A final, while Pelton and Hayes made the consolation final.
In the evening session, Schanz edged the competition by .03 seconds to finish first in championship final. Upshaw placed fourth with a 2:02.02. In the B final, Pelton posted the third-best time (2:04.90) while Hayes finished eighth (2:07.89).
50 Freestyle
The Bruins had five swimmers qualify for the evening finals, led by McTaggart's first-place showing (23.02). Mack finished close behind in third, with a 23.38. The pair advanced to the championship final. Sophomore Maddy Burnham placed 10th in the morning session (23.72), qualifying for the B final. Juniors Savannah Steffen and Rachel Owen also made the cut, reaching the D race.
Mack and McTaggart went 1, 2 in the championship final. Mack swam a 22.52, edging her teammate by .28 seconds. In the consolation final, Burnham finished second (10th overall) with a 23.65. In the D race, Steffen placed second with a 23.91 (26th overall) while Owen finished eighth (32nd overall) with a 24.26.
400 Medley Relay
Ending the evening session as they began it, the Bruins came away with another relay win. This time, Mack, Schanz, Grover, and McTaggart posted the top mark and new pool record (3:35.32), edging second-place USC by .04 seconds.
Friday's action will include the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, and 100 Back. Preliminaries will begin at 9 a.m., while finals take place at 5 p.m. Live results will be available through the Meet Mobile app, available on iTunes, while daily results will be posted here.
