Grover Wins 200 Fly at Texas Invite
December 06, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
AUSTIN, Texasย โ The No. 19 UCLA swim team wrapped up competition at the Texas Invitationalย on Saturday. ย Sophomore Katie Grover nabbed the team's only first-place finish of the meet, swimming a personal best in the championship final of the 200 Butterfly on Saturday evening. ย ย ย ย ย
Meet Highlights
On Friday, Caroline McTaggart broke one of the oldest freshman records in the 200 freestyle with her 17th-place time ofย 1:46.90. ย The previous record of 1:47.16 was set in 2001 by Malin Svahnstrom, a former All-American. ย In the relays, Linnea Mack, Madison White,ย Katie Kinnear, and McTaggart's 1:30.83 in the 200 Free Relay was a season best. ย White, Mack, Alex Hubel, and Madison Applegate also posted a season-best 7:15.49 in the 800 Free Relay on Friday evening. ย
Grover'sย time ofย 1:55.45 in the 200 Fly on Saturday moves her to fourth on UCLA's All-Time list. ย
1650 Freestyle
Sandra Soe and Michaela Merlihan were the only Bruins to compete in the 1650 Free. ย Soe posted a top-10 finish, swimming the seventh-fastest time of the evening (16:26.89), while Merlihan finished 13th with a 17:00.82. ย ย
200 Backstroke
White advanced to the championship final of the 200 Backstroke with her fourth-place finish in the prelims on Saturday morning. ย Her NCAA B qualifying time of 1:54.99 was 1.36 seconds off the top mark. ย Marie-Pierre Delisle's 2:00.77 and 19th-place finish qualified her for the B race. ย Posting a top-25 finish in the prelims, Sabrina Kwok also advanced to the evening session. ย Her mark of 2:02.33 was good enough for the C final. ย ย
White improved to third place in the championship final Saturday evening, swimming a 1:53.75. ย In the consolation final, Delisle finished eighth (16th overall) at 2:00.06. ย Kwok recorded the second-best time in the C race (2:00.02), improving her prelim time by two seconds. ย
100 Freestyle
Four Bruins advanced to the evening session of the 100 Free, led by McTaggart's fourth-place finish in the prelims. ย Her 48.63 was an NCAA B qualifier and secured her a spot in the championship final. In 14th place, Mack made the consolation final with a 49.84. ย Applegate qualified for the bonus final (51.05), while Hubel made the D race (51.52). ย
McTaggart slipped to seventh in the A final, while Mack swam the top mark in the B final (49.10), edging Arizona's Taylor Schick by .15 seconds. ย In the C race, Applegate finished fourth (20th overall) with a time of 50.89. ย Hubel nabbed the top spot in the D final to finish 25th overall at 50.33. ย ย
200 Breaststroke
Elena Escalas and Brigitte Winkler represented the Bruins in the 200 Breast. ย Escalas finished in the top 20 with a 2:18.89 to advance to the C race, while Winkler qualified for the D race (2:23.88). ย In the evening session, Escalas placed fifth in the bonus final (21st overall) and Winkler was second in the D final (26th overall). ย ย ย ย
200 Butterfly
Six Bruins advanced from the morning session of the 200 Fly. ย Grover and Arlyn Upshaw both qualified for the championship final. ย Grover recorded the top time in the prelims (1:56.29) and Upshaw finished seventh (1:57.94)โboth times were NCAA B qualifiers. ย A pair of Bruins made the consolation final as wellโKinnear and Delisle in 10th and 16th place, respectively. ย Applegate swam a 2:03.37 to advance to the bonus final, while Hubel posted a 2:04.80 to make the D race. ย ย
Grover nabbed the Bruins' first win of the weekend, swimming the top time in the championship final of the 200 Fly. ย Grover edged USC's Chelsea Chenault by .13 seconds. ย Upshaw finished sixth in the A race with a 1:57.71. ย In the consolation final, Kinnear placed fourth (12th overall) and Delisle finished seventh (15th overall). ย Applegate and Hubel both recorded top-25 finishes in the evening session--Applegate was 23rd at 2:03.88 and Hubel placed 25th with a 2:01.60. ย ย ย ย ย
400 Freestyle Relay
A pair of UCLA relay teams competed in the 400 Free Relay. ย The quartet of White, Mack, Grover, and McTaggart recorded the fourth-best time (3:17.78), while the UCLA B squad--Mary Pelton, Upshaw, Escalas, and Winkler--finished 13th at 3:30.78. ย ย ย
