Bruins Post Four Top-Five Finishes
December 05, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
AUSTIN, Texas – The UCLA swim team wrapped up the third day of competition at the Texas Invitational on Friday with four top-five finishes in championship finals. Junior Linnea Mack posted the top finish of the day for the Bruins, placing second in the 100 Back.
400 Individual Medley
Arlyn Upshaw kicked off Friday's action with a fifth-place finish in the prelims of the 400 IM. The UCLA senior advanced to the championship final with an NCAA B qualifying time of 4:16.94. Upshaw is the first Bruin to make an A final in Austin. Sandra Soe (4:25.31) and Michaela Merlihan (4:31.51) qualified for the C and D races, respectively.
In the evening session, Upshaw improved to third place with a 4:12.04 in the A final. Soe finished 21st overall (4:23.27), while Merlihan placed 26th (4:26.09).
100 Butterfly
Two more Bruins advanced to a championship final on Friday, as Katie Grover and Caroline McTaggart recorded top-eight finishes in the 100 Fly prelims. Grover posted the third-best time (52.96), while McTaggart was eighth at 53.57. Both times were NCAA B qualifiers. Madison Applegate and Katie Kinnear made the consolation final after finishing 12th and 14th, respectively, in their morning swims. A pair of Bruins also qualified for the D race—Marie-Pierre Delisle (55.97) and Alex Hubel (56.28).
Once again, Grover swam the third-best time. The UCLA sophomore swam a 52.74 in the championship final, while McTaggart finished seventh at 53.25. Kinnear nabbed the top time in the consolation final (53.72). Close behind in third (11th overall) was Applegate at 54.56. Delisle and Hubel went 2, 3 in the D race.
200 Freestyle
Posting a 1:47.49 to finish seventh in the 200 Free prelims, Grover advanced to her second A final of the day. Hubel, McTaggart, Soe, and Merlihan also qualified for the evening finals.
In the championship final, Grover improved to fourth place with an NCAA B qualifying time (1:46.43). McTaggart and Hubel finished first and third, respectively, in the C race, while Soe and Merlihan went 2, 3 in the D final.
100 Breaststroke
Both Elena Escalas and Brigitte Winkler made the evening session in the 100 Breast. Winkler posted a top-25 finish in the morning swim (1:04.76) to make the C final, while Escalas qualified for the D race (1:05.16). Winkler recorded a top-20 finish overall, swimming the fourth-best time in the C race (1:04.09). Escalas finished second in the D final (26th overall) with a 1:06.84.
100 Backstroke
Five Bruins advanced to the 100 Back finals on Friday, led by Mack and Madison White's top-six finishes in the prelims. Mack finished fourth with a 52.81 and White placed sixth at 52.98—both advanced to the A final. Kinnear and Delisle qualified for the C final, while Sabrina Kwok made the D race.
In the evening session, Mack finished .07 seconds behind USC's Hannah Weiss to place second in the championship final. White posted the sixth-best time of the race (53.08). In the C final, Kinnear swam a 55.38 to finish second (18th overall) and Delisle was fifth (21st overall) with a 56.17. In the last individual final of the night, Kwok posted the second-best time (56.18) in the D race, just .05 seconds off the top mark.
200 Medley Relay
A pair of Bruin relay teams competed in the 200 Medley Relay. Recording a top-10 finish, White, Winkler, Mack, and Mary Pelton placed eighth (1:41.78). The other UCLA quartet—Kinnear, Escalas, Applegate, and Kwok—finished 16th at 1:45.77.
Saturday's action will include the 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, and 400 Free Relay. Preliminaries will begin at 7 a.m. PT, while finals take place at 4 p.m. PT. Live results will be available through the Meet Mobile app, available on iTunes. Daily results will be posted here.
