Bruin Trio Picked for USA College Challenge
October 05, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. โ Senior Katie Grover, junior Sandra Soe and sophomore Kenisha Liu have been selected to compete in the second annual USA College Challenge, the Pac-12 Conference announced Wednesday. The trio is part of a roster of the conference's brightest swimming stars, which will face off against members of the USA Swimming National Team on Oct. 21-22 at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The event will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Across both teams, 15 Team USA Olympians will be in action over the weekend. To view both rosters, visit usaswimming.org.
Grover had a breakout 2016-17, earning the team's Most Improved Swimmer award. She was part of all four of the Bruins' new school record-attaining relay teams and played a role in five 200 Medley Relay wins. Individually, Grover won the 100 Fly twice and posted a season-best mark of 51.95 in the Pac-12 Championships B Final. The Atlanta, Ga. native also notched a time of 22.77 in the 50 Free at the conference's meet, before tallying a mark of 48.83 in the 100 Free at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis.
For her debut season, Liu was named the team's Outstanding Newcomer. Alongside Grover, Linnea Mack and Madison White, she recorded a new school record in the 800 Free Relay (7:04.59). She notched multiple individual wins in the 200 Free (four times), 200 Breast (three) and 200 IM (two), including a string of first-place performances down the stretch. The Chino, Calif. native won the 200 Breast (2:14.36) at Stanford on Jan. 27 before topping the list of 200 Free (1:45.38) participants at rival USC on Feb. 10. Liu recently won the 100 Free at the 2017 Speedo Junior National Championships in East Meadow, NY on Aug. 9.
Soe, who like Grover and Liu was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for fall, winter and spring, also achieved success in the pool. The San Jose, Calif. native notched wins in the 1650 Free (16:21.61) at the A3 Performance Invitational in November and the 500 Free (4:59.63) at Hawai'i in December. Soe posted a mark of 4:42.53 in the 500 Free at the Pac-12 Championships in February and times of 9:45.56 in the 1000 Free and 16.13.17 in the 1650 Free at USC on Feb. 10.
UCLA will host its Blue vs. Gold intrasquad meet Friday, Oct. 6 at 2:00 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Center. The Bruins will officially open their season Friday, Oct. 13, when the team opens at San Diego (12:00 p.m.) and the SMU Classic (4:15 p.m., PT).
Players Mentioned
