Bruins On Top at A3 Performance Invite
November 21, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Bruins remain on top after two days of competition at the A3 Performance Invitational. With wins from Arlyn Upshaw, Linnea Mack, and Katie Grover, UCLA extended its lead to 142.5 points over second-place UC Santa Barbara.
200 Medley Relay
In the first event of the evening session, Mack, freshman Emma Schanz, Grover, and freshman Caroline McTaggart teamed up to post the second-best time in the 200 Medley Relay (1:39.14). The Bruins finished half a second behind the first-place USC quartet (1:38.63).
400 Individual Medley
In the morning session, Upshaw swam a 4:24.13 to finish second and advance to the championship final. Junior Michaela Merlihan and senior Shannon Cheung placed 12th and 20th, respectively. With a 4:33.79, Merlihan advanced to the B final, while Cheung made the C race after swimming a 4:37.61.
Improving her time by eight seconds, Upshaw swam the top mark in the championship final (4:16.18). Merlihan finished third in the B race (11th overall), while Cheung posted a 4:33.59 to finish third in the bonus final (19th overall).
100 Butterfly
The Bruins made a strong showing in the prelims of the 100 Fly, with six advancing to the evening session. Grover, Applegate, and McTaggart were joined by 2015 UCLA grad Noelle Tarazona in advancing to the A final. Tarazona recorded the top mark (53.83) of the morning. Grover finished third (54.74), Applegate fifth (55.53), and McTaggart eighth (55.80).
Sophomore Maddy Burnham qualified for the B final after posting the 14th-best time (56.24), while freshman Alex Hubel and junior Savannah Steffen advanced to the C and D races, respectively.
Trading places from the morning swim, Grover won the championship final with a time of 53.20 while Tarazona placed third (53.48). McTaggart and Applegate finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Burnham recorded the fifth-best time of the B final to finish 13th overall. Hubel placed second in the C race with a 56.47 and Steffen posted the top time in the D race (56.77).
200 Freestyle
A pair of Bruins qualified for the A race with their morning swims. Sophomore Natalie Amberg finished sixth with a 1:51.47 and freshman Mary Pelton placed eighth with a 1:51.56. Tarazona swam the seventh-best time of the prelims (1:51.54), to join her fellow Bruins in the championship final. Advancing to the C race were junior Hayden Walker and sophomore Carly Reid.
In the evening session, Amberg and Pelton went 4, 5 in the A final, while Tarazona finished seventh. Walker and Reid went 3, 4 in the bonus final to pace 19th and 20th overall.
100 Breaststroke
Freshman Elena Escalas tied for 11th in the morning session. Her time of 1:04.94 qualified her for the B race in the evening session. Escalas recorded a 1:04.66 to finish second in the consolation final and to place her in the top 10 overall.
100 Backstroke
The Bruins advanced four from the morning session, led by Mack's fifth-place finish (55.39). Also making the A final was Schanz with the eighth-best time of 56.16. Freshman Sabrina Kwok qualified for the B race (56.31), while junior Nina Hayes made the bonus final (58.59).
After winning the 50 Free on Thursday evening, Mack nabbed her second win of the meet in the 100 Back on Friday. The Bruin bested the competition by two seconds, swimming a 52.79. Schanz finished fourth with a 55.46. Kwok won the consolation final to finish 9th overall, while Hayes placed sixth in the bonus final (22nd overall).
800 Freestyle Relay
To end day two action, the Bruin quartet of Mack, McTaggart, Grover, and Pelton posted the second-best time in the 800 Free Relay. With a 7:21.85, the foursome finished second behind the Trojans.
The final day of the A3 Performance Invitational will include the 200 Back, 1650 Free, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, and 400 Free Relay. 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.
